Secretary of State Jena Griswold shows no signs of relinquishing her title as the most miserable boss in the state of Colorado.
Griswold is now searching for her third communications director in just over two years since taking office.
In lesst han 2.5 years, @COSecofState Griswold is already on her 3rd deputy, #coleg liaison & legal/policy director, as well as 5th chief of staff. She's now hunting for her 3rd comms director. Nightmare to work for. https://t.co/iv0OxWZlUb #copolitics
— Lynn Bartels (@lynn_bartels) May 7, 2021
Politics aside, Griswold’s departing communications director Betsy Hart’s resume is pretty impressive.
Hart’s experience includes roles on Capitol Hill, an MBA from Northwestern, jobs in management consulting & private equity, leading the University of Denver’s Professional Services program at the engineering school, and a stint on New York City Mayor’s Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign in Colorado.
If Hart can’t handle the “nightmare” of working in that office, it says more about Griswold’s incompetence than anything else.
More likely it probably bothered Griswold to have a communications director who is more professionally accomplished than the sitting Secretary of State.
Aside from some minimal roles as a campaign attorney and a D.C. liaison for then-Gov. Hickenlooper’s office, Griswold never had a real job before getting elected to statewide office in a wave year for Democrats.
Constantly spinning criticism of Griswold’s partisan behavior as sexist probably got pretty difficult for Hart, with even Democrats calling that nonsense “bullshit.”
Hart’s departure seems to comport with sentiments expressed by other Democrats to Colorado Politics, who said Griswold is “a walking definition of shallow hype whom her own employees loathe and then leave.”
Indeed, former Director of Government and Public Affairs Reese Edwards advised against working for the Secretary of State on LinkedIn.
Given the overwhelmingly positive nature of LinkedIn I will keep to the platform’s general ethos by only pointing out that this office has over 200% turnover within its executive team in less than two years under current leadership. There are other opportunities that are better suited for talented individuals looking to make an impact in Colorado.
It should be noted that Edwards has since deleted his comment since posting it several months ago. The nastygram from Jena must have been harsh.
We pity the next poor sap Jena lures into her hellhole.