Institutional Memory

It appears that firing everyone maybe wasn't such a hot idea after all:

There is trouble in the land of legislative paperwork, which could be a big problem, come next month’s session of the Ulster County Legislature. For a little insight into this post, the staff of the Legislative Clerk’s office currently includes people who are, for the most part, inexperienced with the operational matters of a Legislative office. While it is possible to get away with having some inexperienced staff people when a core group of experienced employees exists, having no experienced staff presents a real, serious problem.

[. . .]

With Karen Binder out indefinitely, it appears that Bernardo has a self-created, lack-of-employees situation on her hands. What? No employees?

No Nettie. No Karen (Spinozzi). No Karen (Binder). No Tammy. Maybe it’s time to send Mance, Reggero, and Mathes off to Legislative Staff Boot Camp so they can help Tantillo and Fabella who will likely be working round the clock to get the job done in the coming months. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?

In order for institutions to function, you need experienced people who understand how they operate. This is known as "institutional memory." When you fire all the experienced people, you end up with a bunch of novices who don't, or can't, follow the correct procedure. It's also why I oppose term limits for legislators. When you populate a legislative body with a bunch of procedural ignoramuses, the lobbyists end up running the show.

Either way, it's awfully hard to enact one's self-serving agenda without the people who do the heavy lifting behind the scenes. Langdon Chapman should keep his portable typewriter handy.