Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 03-25-08 regular agenda — reading text

report. Dr. Pullen asked about remarks made by Dick Gercak and Bob Rettie that are not in the report. Mr. Mattimore replied they were asked and they did not have relevant information about anything they were looking into in the scope of the investigation. He said they both appeared and spoke about matters that might be important to them but did not address the issue of the Charter Officers and their working relationships with other Charter Officers and employees of the City. Dr. Pullen asked Mr. Mattimore if he is saying their testimony had nothing to do to indicate the actions of the City Manager. Mr. Mattimore replied that was correct. Dr. Pullen asked if Mr. Mattimore was ever told by anyone interviewed of the City Manager throwing papers at them. Mr. Mattimore replied no one testified that the City Manager threw papers at them. Dr. Pullen asked who determined who the key personnel were. Mr. Mattimore replied he thought that some key direct reports of the Comptroller, the Grants Coordinator, and the Administrative Assistant to the Finance Director were important people. He said other peoples names came up in the course of the interviews and they were brought in and interviewed. He said he would have spoken to anyone if anyone wanted to speak to them. Mr. Hartwell asked the definition used for City officials. Mr. Mattimore replied it is the management of the City, and it would include the City Council and the Mayor. Mr. Hartwell asked Mr. Mattimore if he was tasked to interview the City officials why all seven City Officials and the Mayor were not interviewed. Mr. Mattimore believed all Council members had an opportunity to speak with him if they wanted to. He said he did not call the Council members in and interviewed them on tape because they are his client. Mr. Hartwell asked Mr. Mattimore about his criteria and established by who for including or excluding comments of witness statements in the Executive Summary, and why all the witnesses listed in the report were not listed. Mr. Mattimore explained some Council members were given the opportunity to speak with him. He said he took their comments seriously and used what they had, to help direct his inquiry to the facts. He did not view them as witnesses and did not take their statements by audio tape because he believed them to be his client. Mr. Hartwell asked who would have access to the comprehensive investigation material that was not presented before the meeting, and if there was a reason Mr. Mattimore decided not to make that an attachment to the Executive Summary so Council could have access before a decision might be made tonight. Mr. Mattimore replied it is too voluminous to have transmitted with the report.  Special Council 3 -11 - 08 37 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS cont. Mr. Hartwell asked Mr. Mattimore if he received any verbal instructions from any Council member, the Mayor, City Manager, Human Resources Director about how to proceed with the investigation other than what is written in the statement of work. Mr. Mattimore replied the conduct of the investigation is his own that he uses consistently when he does something of this nature. Mr. Hartwell asked if the witnesses were sworn during the process. Mr. Mattimore replied no. Mr. Hartwell asked Mr. Mattimore to explain the impact to the investigation, if there was any that may have j biased the investigation after having received an increase in compensation from the City Manager on j January 15, 2008. Mr. Mattimore replied absolutely not, that is something that generates from his firm on an annualized basis. He said he has no involvement in that whatsoever, it happens to all their clients across the board. He said that is not something that was done here; it was not something that has anything to do with this report, and he does not even know his hourly rate for the City. He said he is AV rated and he believed he has the highest ethical standards. He has never had a Florida Bar complaint in 28 years, he represents the Governor, and he does not influence his work by a rate of pay. He said the letter generated in January is routine. Mr. Minich stated he had no questions. Mr. Holmes asked Mr. Mattimore who the five key employees that described a hostile work environment report to and are supervised by. Mr. Mattimore replied they are all employees of the Finance Director and identified the Finance Director as having authority over them. Mr. Miller referenced Mr. Mattimore' s statement that he was not aware of any prior problems and asked if he was aware of problems in May 2007 that had to do with written complaints against the Finance Director. Mr. Mattimore replied the first time he met or heard the Finance Director' s name, became aware of her, is when he came over for the contract, so he would not have been involved in anything that predated. Mr. Miller asked if anyone on City staff had contacted Mr. Mattimore in May 2007 about consulting because of a personnel problem with the Finance Director. Mr. Mattimore replied no and recalled his first involvement with that was he was contacted by the City Attorney who had a series of communications with the Finance Director and as a result said she thought it best she turn it over to outside labor counsel, and that was the contract. Mr. Reeves asked Mr. Mattimore, even with the five or six key employees directly under the supervisor of the Finance Director, if he felt in his opinion that it leaves the City open to some type of future litigation if they leave the employees under the current administration of their immediate supervision. Mr. Mattimore replied one of the things he is trying to avoid is to recommend any kind of course of action here because he thought that is beyond what has been charged. He thought the City has a legal obligation to provide a retaliatory free work environment, and they have to take all steps to ensure that happens. Mr. Garvie asked Mr. Mattimore in former investigations similar to this if he ever placed witnesses under oath. Mr. Mattimore replied he did not do that, it is not a deposition. He said he audio tapes them, they are aware it is a public record, and he does not promise confidentiality. He said he is not taking sworn depositions as an officer of the court; he is doing an investigation in the work place. Dr. Pullen asked if he had contacted Mr. Mattimore so he could obtain personnel records from the Human Resources Director. Mr. Mattimore replied he and Dr. Pullen have had conversations, and may have had email communications, and a telephone call about public records. Dr. Pullen asked if that was because he was having trouble getting personnel records from Human Resources. Mr. Mattimore believe that was so, the question was the status of documents that may be a complaint pending an investigation and he wanted some clarification on that. Dr. Pullen asked Mr. Mattimore why he did not take depositions when doing an investigation, how else he could arrive at the truth.Mr. Mattimore replied he arrives at the truth by having people come in and speak candidly and honestly on tape so there is a record of what they have to say. He said he has no authority to depose people, it is not a legal proceeding, it is not a matter under the Civil Rules of Florida or Federal Rules of Procedure; it is an investigation authorized by the Mayor. 38special Council 3 -11 - 08 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS cont. Dr. Pullen asked if the Charter said something about taking depositions or subpoena individuals. Mr. Mattimore believed it said they could subpoena documents or subpoena individuals, but he did not need to do that. Dr. Pullen asked Mr. Mattimore if anyone expressed to him their reluctance to talk because of possible retribution. Mr. Mattimore replied yes, people said to him they were concerned they would be retaliated against if they spoke, but then they spoke. Mr. Hartwell asked Mr. Mattimore his definition of hostile work environment. Mr. Mattimore replied hostile work environment is treatment that is pervasive and severe enough so that it interferes with the ability of the employees to perform their duties. Mr. Hartwell referenced the 53 pages of documents sent by the Finance Director indicating harassment from the City Manager and asked Mr. Mattimore if he would define the actions of the City Manager as producing a hostile work environment. Mr. Mattimore replied he did not. He said it is one person' s communications about a series of dialogue between the two of them, but that was not evidence to him sufficient to find a hostile work environment between these two individuals. He said they obviously are not communicating as well as they should, but he did not find it hostile. Mr. Minich asked Mr. Mattimore how many investigations like this he has conducted. Mr. Mattimore replied there have been several this year but he did not have a number over the course of his career. Mr. Miller asked Mr. Mattimore if he would say that Ms. Absher works in a hostile work environment. Mr. Mattimore replied he would say no. COMMENTS FROM GENERAL PUBLIC The Mayor opened the floor for comments from the general public. Maureen Horgan, 187 Rose Marie Lane, expressed disappointment that some Council members have apparently formed an opinion or made a decision before the results of the investigation were known, and voiced those decisions in the media. She commented that city residents want Council members to be open- minded and to make informed decisions based on fact after investigating an issue. She expressed her belief that the issue is not about the relationship between two people but rather the friction and negative work environment within the City that appears to have started about 1 % 2 year ago. She voiced her pride in being a City resident and dislike of anyone speaking negatively about it as she has personally witnessed the Finance Director has done. She mentioned other evidence Council has been given in the past stated the same type of information and expressed that no one, especially a Department Head, should make disparaging and derogatory comments about the City Manager, other Department Heads, and other City employees again and again. She discussed loyalty, loyalty to someone who have given years of excellent, hard professional work and stated she has never known or heard the City Manager say She anything negative about City employees, any of the Department Heads and not about the City. stated the City Manager has always been positive and upbeat, and extremely professional. She discussed loyalty to the City and to its employees who work hard every day and deserve respect and said it is time to listen to the employees, to what they want and what they need, because a wrong decision on Council' s part could be so very wrong. Lee McDonald, 10 Rue de le Roi, asked Mr. Mattimore how long he and the firm have worked for the City. Mr. Mattimore replied he has worked here since the mid 1980's but did not know how long his firm predates his involvement. Mr. McDonald asked Mr. Mattimore if he knew of any other firm that has done this type