Good News: Wray Has a Job

The News and Record reports that David Wray has a new position.  He will be Federal Security Director for eastern Tennessee for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

He is a good man the city of Greensboro treated in a horrendous fashion.   It is fitting that, after his prolonged tribulation, he is now able to go on to a better job, in a better place, and work for a better employer.

David, best wishes with your new position.  And try to remember that the relatively small group of individuals who engineered the coup two years ago are not representative of the people in the Piedmont Triad.  You know that because you were born and raised here; but it is nonetheless important to remember.  Many folks here understand the injustice that took place.

Update: Sam Spagnola has more, especially with respect to how this reflects upon the credibility of the current city administration.

Update II: Mary, Tony, Billy Jones and Meblogin also have something to say.
 

Comments

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

Good for David Wray. My very best wishes to him. I guess that lawsuit everybody wanted him to file is no so important now?

Alas, it speaks volumes about the city of Greensboro and the N&R. None of it good.

[Jeffrey Sykes]

I too was happy to see David pop up in a new place with a fresh start.

[Spag]

I found this out around 7 pm tonight and had a conversation with the source who is very close to the matter and my immediate comment was "So David is good enough for the Feds, just not Mitch Johnson".

If the Feds believed there was ANY merit to the accusations against Wray, they would not have hired him.

Johnson has struck out every time someone other than RMA has looked at the Wray matter. No wonder he won't release the RMA. A better man would have come out and said that he made some mistakes regarding Wray. But not Johnson or the dupes on the City Council that are relying on information provided to them by Johnson and City Legal- who are working for Johnson. No, his ego won't allow for that.

That ego is blinding him and will be his downfall. He won't be around much longer and I am fairly certain that he will never again make as much money in any job as he is making now as City Manager, which may explain why he refuses to acknowledge that he blew it on the Wray case.

[Tony Wilkins]

Johnson should be squirming at this news.
An official apology and full restoration of benefits from the city of Greensboro are in order and have been for some time.
It amazes me that one man so be so detrimental to the beautiful city of Greensboro and leaders who have been entrusted sit idly by and watch it happen.
Johnson has been curiously quiet since he was scolded, spanked, and put on probation.

[Tommy]

David,
Congratulations!!! It is about time for a celebration dinner.

[Tony Wilkins]

Joe or Sam,
Are you aware of a "host of lawsuits" filed against David Wray as reported in the N&R?
I'm aware of only one.

[Bubba]

"But not Johnson or the dupes on the City Council that are relying on information provided to them by Johnson and City Legal- who are working for Johnson. No, his ego won't allow for that."

Their handlers won't allow for that either.

[Billy The Blogging Poet]

Wait, I feel a disturbance in the force! Ah, this is good news.

[Matt Lojko, Jr.]

In their book, “Firing Back – How Great Leaders
Rebound After Career Disasters”, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld & Andrew Ward write:

No one can truly define success and failure for us – only we can define them for ourselves.

No one can take away our dignity unless we surrender it.

No one can take away our hope and pride unless we give up.

No one can take away our love for those others around us who believe in us – unless we elect to ignore them.

No one can take away our concern for our community unless we retreat from it.

No one can steal our creativity; imagination, and skills unless we stop thinking.

No one can take away our humor unless we forget to simile.

No one can take away our hope and opportunity for tomorrow unless we close our own eyes.

Congratulations and best of luck in your new position. I was honored to work with you.

Matthew A. Lojko, Jr.
Captain, Retired
Greensboro Police Department

[Joe Guarino]

Thanks for the comments. And of course, I also offer my congratulations to David Wray.

Mary, you are absolutely right. This does speak volumes about the city of Greensboro.

Sam, you make an excellent point about the federal government having to vet applicants for such responsible positions thoroughly, and my understanding is that it's a very lengthy process.

Tony, I agree there should be a formal apology and full restoration of benefits from the city. And as far as I know, the city has been the object of a "host of lawsuits", or threatened lawsuits, not Wray.

Tommy, you are right. A celebration dinner is in order.

And Matt, thanks for your post, which is very appropriate and fitting for the moment. I am sure David must appreciate it also.

[Stormy]

When I read the N&R report on David Wray's new job, my reaction was that it was basically that newspaper's usual hit job on Wray. My sense was that it was a grudging report, but I thought that it was just me. but, when I read Ben Holder's post, I knew that my initial reaction was correct.
http://thetroublemaker.blogspot.com/2008/04/ed-cone-links-to-n-my-nitial-reaction.html

Same old News-Record. Ryan Seals is in the old mold of News-Record reporters, who just regurgitate old news reports and add something new to it, without really investigating whether the old reports were accurate. I noted this same thing in another reporter who wrote a report and mentioned that the black book had been circulated around to every prostitute and drug dealer in town trying to get information on Wray and Co. When I asked him how he knew that to be accurate, he just said that he assumed it was accurate as another reporter had previously reported it.

I can't decide whether the News-Record is just being biased against Wray and Co. or are just lazy in their reporting, or both. Investigative reporting is a foreign concept to the News-Record reporters, who just deal in sound bite reporting.

[Spag]

Staff cutbacks. Ed Cone is right about quality suffering.

[Fred Gregory]

David,

Sorry I missed your call. A mutual friend told me about this possibility. I am so glad it worked out. Golly.. East Tennessee , my old stomping grounds, where I was busting drug dealers 1967-1970. I still have a few contacts over in that neck of the woods. Give me a holler before you set sail. Congratulations and best wishes in your new career.

Fred Gregory