Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 03-18-08 special minutes — reading text

Manager for those records, the people that have those records or know what happened work directly for her and she does not give him answers. He said it is very frustrating but that can come up later about the City Manager, and he will not support the motion. Mr. Hartwell commented it is unfortunate that so many of the citizens who made comments tonight do not have access to all the information Council has, or have not been keeping track of it, or have not attended City Council meetings to know the history. He expressed appreciation for Mr. Main' s concern that he was disappointed that the City Council and Mayor have not taken actions to correct the problem. He said they had, in November the Mayor directed the City Manager to work with the Finance Director and to cease and desist in the actions. The Mayor pointed out in November Council voted 4 to 3 not to go into an investigation and collectively said as adults they should be able to work together and resolve the situation, that the City Manager and the Finance Director needed to work together to resolve the situation. Mr. Hartwell stated there has been testimony that the City Manager works well outside the environment of the City, working with other organizations and other individuals in other capacities. He said the issue is when dealing with the Finance Director and he is of the opinion that the Finance Director has not had the opportunity to do her job. He said he will not support the motion and expressed surprise that she has been able to do what she has done with the constant barraging. He felt it is due to the fact that the City Manager has not let go of the fact that she is no longer the Finance Director. He said considering what has been going on with the harassment, he could not fathom how an individual can look at the 53 pages of harassment as defined by State law and say it is not a hostile environment that the Finance Director has been working under. He thought given the opportunity in a less than hostile environment she can do her job, she has proven it over and over that she can do her job. He did not think the problem is with the Finance Director. 4 6 Special Council 3- 11- 08 DISCUSSION OF MOTION cont. Mr. Miller commented a lot has been in the newspaper lately, he has been misquoted, taken a lot of pot shots. He said he never said anything about friction in the City; what he said was that he thought the report was biased; he said nothing about the testimony. He said everything he read was from sincere citizens, sincere employees of the City giving testimony. He just took to the bias, the exception unnecessary adjectives, and what he considered to be embellishment and testimony not given by employees of the City. He said he has complimented the City Manager many times on her performance as far as running the City, being a very good Manager, hiring good people and they have some good people. He said those nine Department Heads that signed are all good people and he has I nothing but the highest respect for all of their people. He said the 155 people who signed the other document he has the highest respect for them. He said it is not about them, it is what is best for Fort Walton Beach. He stated there are people out there who have called him or sent him emails, he has talked to them. He said he sat here before and talked about leadership in the City of Fort Walton Beach and said before they can fire someone he thought they need to document it in the personnel folder, they need to list things; that the Supervisors have to come out and say you are not meeting the requirements of your contract, you are not meeting the standards, and they need to be documents. He said Lisa was hired November 1, 2006 and they have yet to give her any feedback, any type of documented appraisal or performance evaluation and if they had done their job as her supervisor as she did her job to provide them inputs, they could have put her on restriction, censored her, sent her to sensitivity training; but nothing was done, it has been allowed to fester. He agreed it has been allowed to fester but not one person is all to blame. He said the Charter of the City is not at fault, it has worked perfectly until 2003 when they started getting different interpretations of it and lately when it has been interpreted. He said he reacts to documentation, not allegations, rumors or innuendos as you cannot make them hold up in court. He said he has sat in the chair listening to too much litigation against the City to not think something may come out of this, they have to be responsible. He said lawsuits cost money. He said he has been taught all his life you are innocent until proven guilty, and she has been given no chance to defend herself. He said she is not 1000/0 at fault. He stated with the proper leadership you would not have opened the newspaper to see another article, particularly about the employees of Fort Walton Beach, it is all about them talking to the press. He said someone should have put a gag order of the City employees, don' t talk to the press there' s been enough. He said all it did was inflame the issue, agitate it, the citizens and residents alike. He said before they terminate this employee they need some professional advice from the Labor Attorney, what are the legal ramifications. He said Ms. Absher has already filed a whistle- blower claim against the City of Fort Walton Beach; she is protected under whistle- blower laws. He said before they vote on it they may need to table it and consult the Labor Attorney to see what their options are. He thought it is a bigger issue, they need to discipline the person, given her an appraisal and put her on notice for 90 days as recommended by a letter he received. He said in the end you have to protect yourself, you just cannot let someone go. He complimented Mr. Minich and was touched by what he said, and agreed 100%, but he said this is a difficult situation. Mr. Garvie said when he looked at Lisa Absher coming to the City, he saw a person who came having done contract work meaning she came into Cities and had to, in a very short time, point out all the discrepancies she saw in that City. He said that is a difficult job but then you leave and someone else has to clear those things up" He said she came into the City not as a contract employee but with that of background doing that kind of work; you do not have to get along with the employees when you are a contractor, but when you are a Finance Director or a Charter Officer with the of Fort Walton Beach or City any other City he believed you have to get along with the employees. He believed that is pretty critical to the job. He took a little offense at one of the comments made about him that he said of the employees. He said they had a choice of four they should fire both things, they could do nothing meaning they could look into something like binding mediation; the attorney tonight convinced him that is not an said maybe it was an option some time ago. He said on the option. previous occasions when this issue came up He I he voted to retain Ms. Absher because he always felt, and he spoke to her about it, that she could change and become more responsive or easier to get with along Joyce Shanahan and the other employees. He said he is sad to say this evening that because of what he has read, followed in the news, in the reports and every place else, that he did not think that is possible. He said he will vote along with Mr. Minich.  Special Council 3- 11- 08 47 DISCUSSION OF MOTION cont. Mr. Hartwell said he felt if Council votes to fire the Finance Director for her whistle- blower actions, bringing to light numerous documented improprieties in the budgetary operation of this City, then this Council is voting to endorse those actions. He said he will have no part of it. He felt he took the necessary steps to try to stop the unprofessional actions of the City Manager, privately and publicly, and it is indicated in her appraisals he did. He encouraged every person in the City to look at those Councilmen who vote to endorse the continued actions of the City Manager. f'" I Dr. Pullen added he has found it, and he is referring to the City Manager, that he cannot work with the