Ono's rejection is classic example of GOP power grab
If Florida citizens haven't noticed, you best should. There is a concerning trend affecting almost every corner and aspect of Florida governance. It's called 'power grab' and it is evidenced most recently by the Florida Board of Governors' rejection of Santa Ono, the University of Florida's President-elect chosen by its board of trustees.
You may believe - or not - Ono's self-distancing from DEI policies he once embraced at the University of Michigan from whence he came. His beliefs (like President Trump's ever-changing views and policies) are not the point. What is germane are the facts of how the situation was decided:
Fact 1: The folks who stand closest to the situation and who would be most adversely affected should their choice for president go wrong, the UF Board of Trustees, made a choice - Santa Ono.
Fact 2: They were overridden by the Florida Board of Governors, who rejected Ono, sending trustees 'back to the drawing board.' (Chalk up the 'sunk costs' - time and money for the search).
What's wrong with this picture?
First, it violates every rule of efficient and effective decision-making. Decision making is delegated downwards to those nearest the situation and most exposed to the effects of bad results should something go south. This is a key tenant of Fredrick Taylor's 'Theory of Scientific Management' and Kaizen, an offshoot of Edward Deming's Quality Management theory.
Second, the US fought a Civil War in small part over the policy of 'state's rights' - states asserted the federal government was going and deciding where it shouldn't.
What happened with Ono - as it has with many issues in Florida lately (education and municipal prerogative especially) - is that the 'higher authority' who by constitutional law, case law, common law, civil codes and historical tradition should not be interfering with lower policy makers, is taking proper and legally delegated authority away from duly authorized decision makers.
Why is this wrong?
More: Santa Ono barred from UF presidency amid mounting pressure from GOP officials
First, it is not the 'American Way.' Second, it is not legally sound. Third, (and for Democrats the laugh provoking reason) it sets Republicans against Republicans. They really do 'eat their own.'
As laughable as the Republican intra-party battles may seem to Democrats, the centralizing power grab is a dangerous policy. It becomes an inefficient way to make decisions with potential large and expensive negative outcomes on not just the 'argument principals' but a wide swath of Florida's population.
We at the local level are losing legal rights to a Tallahassee group, a dominant segment of the Republican Party, whose aim is to grab power - and perpetually keep it.
Neil C McMullen is a retired United Methodist Church minister living in Clearwater, Fl.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Ono's rejection is classic example of GOP power grab | Opinion
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