Letters to the Editor: Pete Buttigieg is honoring his McKinsey NDA. That’s a good thing

To the editor: Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., signed a nondisclosure agreement with his former employer McKinsey & Co. and therefore cannot talk in much detail about his three years working at the management consulting firm.

Accept that and move on. He cannot and should not speak about it. Buttigieg is following the law and his contractual commitments.

Instead of reporting on the fact Buttigieg must keep quiet, enlighten us about the type of work McKinsey does. Ask him why he took that job to begin with and why he left the company. These would be more interesting that his nondisclosure agreement.

As a voter, I have to decide if someone who worked for McKinsey is fit to be president. So, I’m not concerned about Buttigieg’s McKinsey client list; I am concerned about the reasons he went to work there and why he left. Then I can decide if his three years at McKinsey bother me enough that I would not vote for him, given what I already know about Buttigieg.

Michael Marsh, Los Angeles

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To the editor: You mean we have the chance to vote for an ethical person for president? One who actually abides by the terms of a legal contract? What a concept.

As someone who was assigned as my department’s point person in a McKinsey project at a former employer, I can guess what Buttigieg was probably doing at McKinsey as a mid-level consultant. For some jobs, he was probably supervising a lot of number crunching with the sole purpose of downsizing the work force.

It was such a soul-killing experience for me trying to get rid of my co-workers that I tried to ensure that I was on the layoff list. I wasn’t the only one.

It’s not surprising to me that this talented, conscientious young man decided to take a significant pay cut after just three years and go into public service instead.

Linda Rose, Carpinteria