November 11, 2019
To Whom itmay Concern:
Itis with a heavy heart that I submit my resignation asState Operations Director at
Kamala Harris for the People, effective November 30 , 2019 . This ismythird
presidential campaign and I have never seen an organization treat its staff so poorly
While I stillbelieve that Senator Harris is the strongest candidate to win in the
General Election in 2020 no longer have confidence in our campaign or its
leadership . The treatment ofour staff over the last two weeks was the final straw in
this very difficult decision
Itisnotacceptableto methatweencouragedpeopletomove from Washington, DC
to Baltimoreonly to laythem offwith nonotice, with no planforthecampaign, and withoutthoughtfulconsiderationofthepersonalconsequencesto them orthe
consequencesthat their absencewouldhaveon the remainingstaff. It is
unacceptablethatwewould lay offanyonethatwehired only weeks earlier. Itis
unacceptablethatwith less than 90 daysuntillowawestilldo nothave a realplan
to win. OurcampaignForthe Peopleismadeupofdiversetalentwhichisbeing squanderedbyindecisionand a lack of leaderswhowilllead. That is unacceptable
Whenmorale hasneverbeen lowerandadditionalpeople, even ifonly three,are
laidoff and neitherthe campaignmanagerorthe chair addresses the to
explain, apologizeorreassureusofthedecisionsbeingmadeand thepath forward,
somethinghasgot to give Presidentialcampaignsare incredibly challengingwork
and for good reason.We' reaskingpeopleto trust us to look out for them to have
their best interestsatheart. Campaignshavehighsand lows, mistakesand
miscalculations, lessonslearned andadjustmentsmade. But becausewehave
refusedto confrontourmistakes, foster an environmentof criticalthinkingand
honestfeedback, ortrust the expertiseoftalented staff,wefindourselvesmaking the sameunforced errorsoverand over. And, it certainly doesnothelp the team to read about campaign discord in Politico (or variousotherpublications) because
thosewith things to say havedecided thebestway to airtheir grievances is in the
pressinsteadofto leadership.
This isnot how Iwould have ever imaginedmy time at this campaign ending,and
likeI said, this was notan easy decision . I only hope thatmy departure mightresult
in some serious consideration ofour structure,our goals, our internal
communications andwhatare organizational values are.Wehave really amazing
people on staff and I' d hate for any more to get to the point where I find myself,
writingthis letter of resignation
Sincerely ,
Kelly Mehlenbacher
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