Valenti Doubles-Down

In what its probably the worst public relations disaster this side of Gary Larcenaire or the Council of Judges, UMC CEO Jim Valenti doubled-down on the bonus this weekend.

In an interview in the El Paso Times about the bonuses he and other top officers received, Valenti said if he had to do it again, he would and he would give more.

Is he trying to channel his inner Marie Antoinette? Qu'ils mangent de la brioche!

Seriously???

This is how you know it was a bad decision. When it first became public no one from UMC wanted a microphone in their face. No one wanted to talk. Everyone was "unavailable". 

That is a sign that it was a bad move but they didn't have a plan to deal with the fall-out. Huge mistake when it comes to information. You need to be captain of your own ship and determine your own destiny. 

Then UMC people get tracked down and the quotes get worse and worse. Its like watching the Keystone Cops. 

So UMC decides to hunker down and get a plan together of sorts. Only its a terrible plan. I guess they figured if they threw the clergy out there to defend them they would be portrayed in a better light. Yeah nice try.

A lot of us have nothing to fear from the Cathedral Mafia so shoving Brother Nick out in front doesn't help. It only make him look even less connected to the community because he's defending a bad idea that is a slap in the face to those that were let go.

Then there's ABC 7 Xtra.

So Xtra does a show about this and County Commissioner Vince Perez is on but no one from UMC goes on the show. Are you guys trying to make this worse?

Here's a little secret, if there's an Xtra being done about an issue, you damn sure better have someone go on and give your side of the story otherwise you are just going to get pummeled on. Have you learned nothing from the Council of Judges?

And speaking of Commissioners, I'm glad that they are stepping up to be vocal against the bonus. Ultimately they aren't running the show though and anyone that tells you they are is an idiot. They can't force anyone to quite (Perez called for a resignation and it was ignored), they can't dissolve the board, they can't make them not give Valenti the bonus and they can't make Valenti give it back or by a ton of gas cards and give them to employees as a bonus instead. 

They are powerless. 

And for those of you that thought the "progressives" were big Valenti supporters your silence speaks volumes. The biggest critics of this move have been Escobar and Perez. 

There's a reason that the soon-to-be-extinct board members are standing behind their man. They are doing so because of Valenti's talent. I don't mean as an administrator. I mean as a salesman. If you ever speak to Valenti you will see right away that he his one hell of a salesman. Oscar Leeser would be even richer if he had that guy slangin' Hyundais for him. 

Here's a guy who has led the charge in building more stuff when they should be focusing on being efficient. So clearly he's good at the sales pitch. He's sold the board on him. 

And no doubt during this crisis he's had multiple conversations with each board member to make sure they are all solidly behind him. 

All of them have reputations that are going to take a hit. Too bad that Valenti is the only one who's reputation is taking a hit but he's getting paid. The board is just having their reputation take a hit for free.