WDEL’s Al Mascitti lead off this morning discussing the Vince Meconi hiring by the Markell administration. The controversy is in that if Markell fired Meconi once, then why is he rehiring him back? Especially to manage money?

You may remember how Meconi was vilified by Senate Republicans for the shoddy conditions that occurred in Delaware’s psychiatric facility… For that failure he was fired two weeks ago.

But what various pundits fail to realize, is that when in charge, “what looks right” has to take a back seat to “what must to get done”. Sometime one has to take what one has, and make the best of it…

People don’t know government.. They do know sports. None of us would criticize a coach for not recruiting someone off the street and putting them in the game… It just does not make sense… Imagine if at being down at the half, a coach walks up and down the steps of the stadium looking for someone to suit up who will pull victory out of the second half? Can you imagine the ballsy stupidity of someone criticizing Andy Reid after a loss, by castigating him for not even looking for a replacement when the stadium was full of people! Ridiculous?

Likewise are the claims that no one else in the state could count money?

Of course…. there are people who can count money….

But….

Were they available?

And….

Do they know how the funding process for state government works?

And…

Do they know who to call in order to grease the wheels if a glitch occurs?

Of all those writing, talking, phoning in complaining, about the travesty of choosing someone once fired for this position… none could do as good as job on this as Vince Meconi… I have been praised up and down for my cognitive insight and abilities… But even I would be dwarfed by the challenges facing me were I even considered for this position….

I would not want it… And in today’s economy, I certainly would not want to give up a regular job, to take on 3 months of work… for a measly $18,000? No way…

So the question that had to be asked, was this: out of who is available, ……… who can do the best job…

Obviously several candidates had their applications laid down on the governor’s desk… Obviously a comparison was made between those few available… Obviously a choice had to be made…

As someone who has made such choices, I commend the Markell administration for using common sense and not letting the screech of political wannabees dissuade him from making a simple practical decision… We don’t always have a dream candidate at our beck and call… That is especially true in today’s economy… Our job then is to pick the best we have…. suit them up, and give them the best playbook we can come up with….

We then have to turn our attention to other problems…..