If By “Story Line” They Mean Unilaterally Appointing Someone Without Any Discernable Qualifications To Run The Largest School System In The Country And Not Bothering To Talk It Over With Anyone At All, Much Less The Key Stakeholders And Much Much Less The Constituents He Serves, Then I Think That Story Line Is Clear

Because I’m not sure what the other “story line” is . . . or maybe the “story line” is that the third term has gone to his head:

The uproar has frustrated City Hall aides, who feel as if they have lost control of the story line and who are looking for ways to beat back accusations that Ms. Black is unqualified, said an individual close to the process who requested anonymity for fear of upsetting the mayor.

Then there’s the old “financial peril” argument, which you’ll remember was the reason we’re in this third term in the first place. Nice to see that trope resurrected — I think we were all fatigued by “terrorism” and it’s important to find another ostensible reason to gin up a crisis:

To take office, Ms. Black, the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, needs a waiver from the state to bypass rules requiring the chancellor to hold specific education credentials. Mr. Bloomberg plans to submit a letter to the state this week arguing that Ms. Black’s business acumen is needed in a time of financial peril.

The letter will be made public in an effort to dispel some of the unflattering depictions.

Mr. Bloomberg said Monday that he was confident the controversy would die down and that Ms. Black would receive a waiver. “This is a woman who is eminently qualified,” he said at a news conference.

1) “Business acumen” — yes, of course! — anyone who dramatically exceeds expectations with Food Network Magazine is, to use the mayor’s language, “eminently qualified” to continue the excellence that is the New York City school system.

2) “The letter will be made public” — how magnanimous of the mayor to allow for this crucial bit of transparency — see, he’s not so secretive!

3) “Eminently qualified” — note: not just “qualified,” but “eminently” so. Watch out for people who overuse exuberant adverbs; they’re usually bullshitting you.

You Live In The Absolute Best Place In The World, And Things Are About To Get That Much More Awesome

Lead paragraph of the day from the Brooklyn Paper:

The only bad thing about our borough’s roads is that there’s no place to sit and have a meal.

And If You Choose Not To Receive An Education, 75 Cents Will Be Credited To Your Hotel Bill

First, I’m kind of disturbed that the mayor doesn’t write stuff down:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the confidential search for New York City’s new schools chancellor, saying an open search would have been untenable. The mayor also said Friday that he keeps a list of potential candidates in his head for high-level jobs in his administration.

“We spent a lot of time looking around the world for the best people and we have a list of people in my mind,” he said. “Always trying to think if any of our commissioners or deputy mayors, you know, the way I phrase it got hit by a truck — just as a euphemism — I know pretty much who I would make my first call to to see if we could get somebody to fill in right away.”

Aren’t there a lot of really awesome things — or candidates, even — that kind of slip out of your mind about five minutes later? Doesn’t he own an iPad or something?

Second, you would also think that with a position as important — even it’s only “first and foremost” a “managerial post” — as schools chancellor, that at least one other person would be interviewed or contacted. That’s not the case, and as it turns out, the mayor’s candidate wasn’t even interviewed, either.

This is one of those stories you talk about as you’re getting ready to go work — one of those things you see or read or hear and kind of say “for reals?” It makes me wonder if this is what people who voted for his third term were hoping for. It makes me want to read a snarky Adam Lisberg column.

Now you could argue, as some have, that the chancellor position is a figurehead position that doesn’t require extensive education background, that there are people below the figurehead who do the policy and heavy lifting. Fair enough, but then you see that two top Board of Education officials just resigned and that argument suddenly seems weaker.

And while it’s not unusual to have an “outsider” run a school system, in those cases there is usually a more transparent recruiting process. That makes sense — it’s a leap of faith to allow a business leader or a military sergeant run a school system. But ask yourself this — even if it’s OK to have, say, a school superintendent run Hearst Magazines, wouldn’t the board of directors (and its stockholders) want to make sure that the selection process was as thorough and un-capricious as possible? Or is that how you “run a business”?

Cool. Awesome. Third term.

Maybe She Really Will Shake Up The Schools? After All, She Does Come From An Industry Where They Seem To Excel At Laying Off People

Either that, or they’ll just get by with a bunch of freelancers:

Asked when she last set foot in a public school, [Cathie Black] told the Daily News she was in Harlem Village Academy last year — a charter school where she’s on the advisory board.

Bloomberg said Black is a world-class manager who can rely on city Education Department staffers to fill any gaps in her knowledge.

She’s also a choice from inside the mayor’s social circles.

Black’s two children attended the Kent School, a posh, private boarding school in Connecticut where tuition is $45,000 a year.

She also has a house in tony Southampton, L.I., is a registered Republican and made $500,000 last year just from serving on the boards of IBM and Coca-Cola.

“I did have a public search, and I picked the best person,” Bloomberg said, although New Yorkers never knew he was looking for a new schools leader.

“I thought of Cathie Black . . . somebody I’ve known for a long time,” Bloomberg said. “I could check in terms of what she’s really done, what people have thought about her during her whole career. The check was relatively easy because they happen to be people that I know.”

And then there’s this:

Her departure apparently came as a surprise to colleagues at Hearst, as her appointment did to senior officials in the Department of Education. One senior education official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, said many of the department’s leaders learned of Ms. Black’s selection right before it was announced, and few of them seemed to know anything about her.

Who knows — maybe it some sort of Harriet Miers Feint, and what he really wants is Michelle Rhee or something . . .

Investigate A Smoking Gun Too Closely And Your Eyes Will Burn

And you’ll have soot all over your smug mug and probably resemble Wile E. Coyote like after one of those Acme bombs blows up in his face. And you’ll probably cry a little, too. Because nothing institutionalizes a policy like a memo:

The NYPD will launch a probe into memos at a Brooklyn stationhouse that appeared to set quotas for traffic summonses, Mayor Bloomberg said Monday.

(Don’t not take a look at the copies of the memos at the Daily News link, because they’re awesome.)

Earlier: We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Quotas — We Have Productivity Goals For That!; Abolish The Quota System! Now!; No Ticket Quotas, Eh?; The Urban Speed Trap; It’s Not So Much A Quota As It Is A Make-Work Plan For Its Enforcement Agents; The NYPD Tow Operation Division’s Version Of “Drugs On The Table”; “Productivity Goals” Return.