The Thing With Two Heads

I guess when you have a mayor who only has two and a half years of government experience, it makes sense to have a public safety director whose closest experience in that field was as the late Bob O'Connor's driver (public safety, traffic safety, it's all the same...).

In case you haven't heard, Director of Operations Dennis Regan has been nominated by Mayor Ravenstahl to take on the position of Pittsburgh's Public Safety Director in addition to his current title.

As the Tribune-Review notes:

Regan is viewed by some as a peculiar choice for public safety director.

He has no experience in public safety or emergency management. The last two public safety/operations directors -- Robert Kennedy and Sal Sirabella, both under then-Mayor Tom Murphy -- had experience in managing public safety departments. Kennedy, who left as public safety director in July 2005, was a veteran paramedic and EMS chief. Sirabella had been Allegheny County chief clerk and administrator.

As Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto said in the Post-Gazette:

The director "should be someone who has dedicated their lives to public safety," Mr. Peduto said, mentioning Fire Chief Mike Huss as a good candidate. "I cannot find any city in America with someone as its [safety] director who has no experience."

[snip]

Mr. Peduto contrasted that resume with public safety directors of other cities, including Cleveland's Martin Flask and St. Louis' Sam Simon, former police chiefs; Columbus' Mitchell J. Brown, who rose through the ranks of paramedics; Indianapolis' Earl S. Morgan, whose background is with the Army and in counterterrorism; and Denver's Alvin J. LaCabe Jr., a police officer turned prosecutor turned director.

The P-G also quotes Yarone Zober on the appointment:

In an e-mail sent to council Monday afternoon, Chief of Staff Yarone Zober called the nomination "simply an administrative matter" since Mr. Regan already oversees all departments.

Well, cool! Let's see what else we can make him director of since he already knows everything about everything.

Seriously, as if there weren't already questions being raised about Dennis Regan and what power he already has...

Those questions started back at least as long ago as the Thursday Morning Massacre and haven't exactly let up.

You can see questions being asked about who is really in charge all over the 'Burg Blogosphere (with Jim Ferlo's name also being thrown into the mix):

"DENNIS REGAN PROMOTED TO KING OF THE WORLD
Well Not Quite, But A MacYipper Questions His Qualifications For Pub. Safety Director"

and

"WHO'S IN CHARGE IN THE 'BURGH?
MacYapper E-Mailbagger Curious About Just Who's Running Things"
at MacYapper

"With today's appointment of Yarone Zober to the URA board, the Ferlo household now holds 40% of the votes on that board. Might as well hold board meetings in the kitchen." at The Angry Drunk Bureaucrat

"FIRST PICTURES: DENNIS REGAN ORCHESTRATES PURGE OF MAYORAL OFFICE DISSIDENTS " at The Carbolic Smoke Ball

FIRST TOPIC EVERY MORNING AT MAYOR O'CONNOR'S DAILY BRIEFING
"THERE, THERE, DENNIS -- JUST TELL ME WHO'S IN YOUR WAY TODAY, AND WE'LL TAKE CARE OF IT." atThe Carbolic Smoke Ball

As well as in the comments section of this blog, Progress Pittsburgh blog, and others.

Having Regan add the title of public safety director -- a job that he seemingly isn't qualified for -- isn't going to help this one bit.