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At least two qualified officials will be finally selected as Executive Director and Assistant Executive Director to head the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota, OLM, and the selection process is pitching three emerging candidates against each other in a race that is reminiscent of the recent elections in the United States.
With impressive educational and working credentials that will let many politicians elsewhere pinch their noses, OLM’s nominating committee, headed by Mr. Kamaty Diahn, seeks a candidate who will be consistent to achieve its mission, as well as its financial objectives.
In an eight-point primary responsibilities and additional eight point core qualifications or requirements, the committee insists OLM needs a candidate to provide strategic directions in an integrated manner.
In the race are Mr. John Jenkins Bartee, Jr, Mr. John Kerkula Foeday and Mr. Christian Harris. Mr. Harris is presently responsible for managing the association’s employment services program.
Christian Harris
“I work with families,” his dossier reports, “and find jobs through the maze of information that is available.”
With background in budget and development, Harris’s credentials include community services, programming and management, report/grants writing and computer literacy.
With an educational journey through Zion University College and Hamline University of St. Paul, and working experiences from the Press Union of Liberia, and several others, he served as A ssistant Director of operations and social services, and was responsible for relief and immigration issues. Click Here to See Harris’ Resume
Kerkula Foeday
Mr. John Kerkula Foeday, of Brooklyn Park is the second candidate, whose dossier says he is able to work in difficult and challenging situation, and under pressure to meet tight deadlines and achieve optimal results.
Foeday’s resume insists, he is a, “visionary, agency-oriented, well-knowledgeable grant developer and creative problem solver…” From University of Liberia to the University of Iowa (US), Mr. Foeday bears an impressive number of employments, professional and educational awards.
A classroom teacher for 13 years, he is, “energetic self-starter and action leader...with very strong social advocacy skills, and with over 15 years of involvement and participation in civic and community organizational activities.” Click Here to See Foeday’s Resume.
John Jenkins Bartee, Jr.
Holding on as the acting Executive Director of OLM, Mr. John Jenkins Bartee, Jr of Plymouth, whose experience includes providing, “executive leadership for Minnesota’s premier Liberian community organization, administering staff, social service programs, budgets…and other related tasks…”
Mr. Bartee’s dossier describes him as having, “coordinated activities of a group home with six developmental disabilities, and managed a team of eight staff with the role scheduling, monitoring, planning and supervising.”
With an educational journey from the academic halls of Liberia to the University of Minnesota, Mr. Bartee claimed to have directed the organizational reform of the OLM through the drafting and implementation of a revised constitution. Click Here to See Bartee Resume…
John Bartee's Constitution fight with members of the former OLM Board
The successful candidate, according to the Nominating Committee, “will undergo a vigorous vetting process and the best qualified candidates will be recommended for the positions of Executive director and Assistant Executive Director.”
According to the nominating committee, salary for the positions are negotiable, but information received put the salary at $40,000 to $50,000 per year.
Concerns about the Process
Concerns about the transparency of the process have grown louder in recent days and weeks. The different stages of interview process are shrouded in mystery, with members of the search team releasing information in tidbits fashion to friends and those referred to as “allies”.
“They [Search Committee) have also failed to release updates on deadlines, let alone information on the number of applications. This is a community-based organizations, and they have not engaged the community enough about the process itself”, said Richard Johnson, a Liberian based in St. Paul. “I have no confidence in the integrity of that so-called committee”.
Others have questioned the very requirements set by the committee, with worries that the biases of members of the committee would eventually overshadow any imaginable professional standards.
A member of the OLM Board of Directors, speaking on conditions of anonymity, said the process was flawed from the very beginning, because the composition of the search team was politically motivated. “Few search committee members were selected because the past leadership of Mr. Kerper Dwanyen wanted to make sure certain candidates are reflected in the final selections or final list”, he said. “That is why some of the requirements seem more political than what we expected”.
The Liberian Journal has confirmed that four members of the ‘Search Team’ have long decided which candidates they will support, with or without resumes or interviews. The four spoke to editors of TLJ in separate interviews. Although they asked for anonymity, two said they would cast their votes for Mr. Bartee, while the other two were privately campaigning for Mr. Harris even before the request for submission of resumes and credentials were publicized.
Many observers are disturbed that the search process is now reduced to a pure political game, leaving another applicant, Foeday Kerkula at the mercy of the deep biases and political backroom deals that are at the heart of the search.
Mr. Kamaty, Chaiman of the nominating committe [search committe] , was not available for comments or interview.
As the applicants race to the finish line, the community holds its breadth.
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