The up to $70,000-a-year gig was a new senior public relations position that, among other things, required regular use of Facebook and Twitter, shooting and editing video and deadline writing.
But just three days after posting the job, Wheeler axed it. When employees at a brown-bag lunch asked how he could create the position at a time when the county must cut the most jobs it has since 2001, Wheeler said he realized the timing wasn't right...
The job sparked backlash from the start. News media voiced skepticism, homing in on the salary and the first line of the job post, which asked: "Do you tweet and use Facebook?" Citizens posted angry comments about government waste online.
There's a case to be made that $70K is excessive for a job that can (and likely will) be handled by more temporary staff, and yet the boldness of the move is what made it so appealing: a plucky county in Oregon getting worldwide attention for embracing technology, for not caving to the kind of consensus decision-making that would oppose "crazy flying machines", that would stand in the way of progress in favor of the status quo.
Multnomah County could have been known globally as a trailblazer...but trailblazing, it seems, is not rewarded in local politics: much safer to keep your head below the parapet.
Wheeler, in his defence, is not backing down completely on his social media advocacy:
Wheeler said it's about accountable and responsive government -- and getting the word out. "Do you see any young people coming to these meetings?" he asked Tuesday morning after a budget work session on public safety.
And it's not just young folks who are missing. Most days, only county staff members attend board meetings. Yet Wheeler has hundreds of Facebook and Twitter followers who get daily updates.
"If we're going to rely on people who come to board meetings, I wouldn't talk to 1,000 people over the course of a year," he said. "The only way we are held accountable is if people know what government is doing."