Political Talk: Dave Heineman’s Track Record Makes Him Laughably Unqualified to Lead the University of Nebraska

I had to chuckle when Nebraska’s “Worst. Governor. Ever.” decided to publicly announce his candidacy to be the next president of the University of Nebraska.  Like most everything else Dave Heineman has been associated with, he couldn’t even handle the announcement ceremony right, raising an ethics complaint for using state government resources to pursue a new job.

That’s the laughable part.  What’s not so funny is the ongoing saga of failed Heineman choices.  Lorelee Byrd, David Phipps. His “reform” of the child welfare system. Lt. Governor Rick Sheehy.  And now this year, the saga of the department of corrections miscalculating prison terms and Sheehy’s replacement as Lt. Governor, Lavon Heidemann.

It would be funny if it weren’t so sad to see yet another Heineman appointee involved in a controversy. After it happens over and over again, it’s clear that Heineman’s track record is laughably awful when selecting people to key positions. Thankfully, he’ll be out of the governor’s office in January.

But what about the presidency of the University of Nebraska? With UNL chancellor Harvey Perlman (age 72) and UNO chancellor John Christensen (age 65) at retirement age, the next University president could be in position to appoint replacements in the next few years. Is that something you want Dave Heineman involved with?

Seriously.  It’s pretty clear that Dave Heineman isn’t very good at hiring people to key positions. Why anybody would consider naming Heineman to another job where he’ll have to make similar choices is simply inexplicable.