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

and tell Ms. Shanahan how much the community appreciates her leadership to the community. He said she is President of the United Way this year and is giving decisive leadership in the way the community responds to citizen' s needs and they are glad to have her. Ray Seip, 121 Nebraska Avenue, mentioned he has been working with the City for two years trying to correct some of the problems with the CRA Plan and the Land Development Code. He mentioned the first time he met Ms. Absher is when John Hofstad asked for an increase in impact fees where a figure of 226, 000 was mentioned of having been acquired but no mention of how much had been spent or remained. He met with Ms. Absher in her office and found out there was some money left and he questioned why there is a request for an increase in impact fees. He attended a briefing on accounts given by Ms. Absher which was a very good briefing on accounting. He said the retirement fund movement of money has also been explained and he now understands why there are two budgets; the loophole that is built in allows movement of money to. cover budget shortfalls by not following the first budget. - He commented Ms. Absher has tried to get the City staff to follow procedures normally associated with good financial practices, but it seems what was established by Ms. Shanahan is the only way the City Manager wants it and that is the way it is going to be. He said he has read Ms. Absher's folder presented to Council at the first termination, and he also read Ms. Shanahan' s folder and asked himself who controls those folders. He said he would have asked Melissa Jones not to come to work because of things she could do to damage the financial system. He said Lisa Absher is someone they need for checks and balances. He referenced a meeting he had with Ms. Shanahan and Missy McKim that to him did not go good as he got tired of being told he misunderstood and that it was in the ordinances. He also mentioned emails when he was told he misunderstood, what the ordinances meant, said in the past or was going to say in the future.  Special Council 3 -11 - 08 40 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS cont. Mr. Seip mentioned he tried to talk with Ms. Shanahan about her sprinkler spraying over the sidewalks and commented on her tone of voice when she told him not to worry about it, she had shut it off. He relayed he told her there was an ordinance that forbid that and she said he was lying. He mentioned he asked Missy McKim if he could go with a Code Enforcement Officer to see how things went and the request was turned down by Ms. Shanahan. He said after an email was sent to all Council members he was given permission; he did learn a lot and found something Ms. Shanahan did that was of great help to the Code Enforcement Officer. He said he had Missy McKim ask if he could attend one of the City Manager's meetings at 9: 00 am on Tuesday morning and he waited in the hall until Ms. Shanahan came out and told him the. meeting was not open to the public. He said he asked how he could get the minutes and she said she didn't know there was any taken. He commented if he were an employee and had to work with or for someone Like the present Manager, he would look for another job. He said if he was a General and had a Manager staffed like the one here, they would be looking for another job. He commented about the statements being signed by employees and stated that is not an impartial investigation, and if they did not sign they might get fired. Kabe Woods, 240 Brooks Street, mentioned something has to be done with the situation; it is divisive and has turned into a public spectacle. He commented it is not right for Council to let something go on this long that it divides the citizenry and tonight Council has the opportunity to take action. He acknowledged it is a hard job and expressed appreciation if Council would take care of this business for the City and the citizens. Joe Sasso, 18 Oak Dale Road, commented all the negative press is disturbing and wished to share his observations. He expressed that Mr. Hartwell' s comments about Joyce Shanahan before the Mattimore report were inflammatory, mean -spirited, rude and very unprofessional and thought a public apology was owed Ms. Shanahan. He questioned why Mr. Garvie would suggest firing both the City Manager and the Finance Director when the report shows that Lisa Absher is the problem. He mentioned Mr. Garvie stated he did not know how he will vote, that the report was one -sided, and it was obvious Mr. Garvie had not made up his mind, he expressed hope that Mr. Garvie would this evening. He commented that Mr. Miller was disappointed in the one -sided report, that it was a popularity contest, that Lisa is not doing her job. He hoped Mr. Miller would re -read the Mattimore report, it should be enough to sway his decision. He mentioned Dr. Pullen called the investigation a ploy to discredit Ms. Absher, it was biased, whitewashed, if he was treated the way she was it could be a possibility of a law suit, and he did not want the Mayor to launch the investigation. He mentioned when any investigation or consultant is ordered, no one agrees with the report and questioned when they are going to take facts as facts. He thought they should save the City money and dismiss Ms. Absher, and they should have let her resign in May 2007 when after six or seven months on the job she already had problems. He said that should have been a wake up call, instead Council gave her a contract. He asked if someone had not looked at Ms. Absher's baggage when she arrived, the previous lawsuits she is involved in. He said Joyce Shanahan is very professional, the City under her direction has won many awards, she has a sense of civic responsibility, got them back on their feet after hurricane Ivan with her employees and everyone who works here, and the Annual Report looks like a City that is on the move. He said he has met with Joyce and found her open to any suggestions for change and very easy to communicate with. He applauded the Mayor for his good sense to call for the report. He stated the Council members who voted to give Lisa Absher a contract now need to consider leaving with her. Bob Rettie, 317 Sudduth Circle, stated the Friday, March 7, 2007 email from the Mayor indicates, in particular, the issue to be investigated is interaction among the Charter Officers and the Officials and employees of the City. He said to then be relevant for the investigation, to consider that there allegedly seems to be a history of Ms. Shanahan being abusive. He said that history started some years prior to Ms. Absher being hired. He stated when he was interviewed for the investigation he furnished a document that described Ms. Shanahan being abusive to a City official in 2004, and he also provided other documents showing other improprieties in regard to Ms. Shanahan and people working under her supervision. He said none of that is in the Summary of Findings, and learned tonight that Mr. Mattimore does not seem to consider Board and Committee members officials.  Special Council 3 -11 - 08 41 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS cont. Mr. Rettie said the Summary of Findings appear to be merely notes of a summary of a complete report. 7th He stated the Mayor's March email indicates there is a large file of additional material collected during the investigation to be delivered after the Summary of Findings. He said it seems a complete report means this file in addition to merely the document received last week. He expressed his belief since the document submitted last week admits at least one serious item, and possibly several other relevant items pertaining to Ms. Shanahan, that Council should postpone any actions on this report until all pertinent information is collected and can be reviewed by all concerned. Gerry Chalker, currently President of the Rotary Club, said he has known Joyce through the Club for the last four years and he has never known her to be abrasive in any way, always professional, has never known her to speak in any kind of vulgarities or be rude or mean to anyone. He stated she has always conducted herself in a very professional manner; she currently serves on the Board, serves as the Public Relations Chair, and serves on the Board of the United Way. He said, he has never known her to be anything but professional and he did not believe she could conduct herself in any other manner. Sam Kinkaid, 240 Brooks Street, expressed disappointment in how the meeting was set up with people waiting outside and believed it is rude to the taxpayer and the people who support them and elect them. She realized an attorney did the investigation and questioned whether he was a psychologist or a management analyst. She commented the investigation asked for the workplace and working relationship and questioned what happened to the things that spurred the investigation, why did the investigation start. She said there were so many items they were supposed to see and background to it. She asked, until the complaint, if there had been any reprimands, any comments in people' s files, or if people had come and asked any of those questions. She stated until this complaint it has just been gossip and talk. She would have found a little more respect for the report if they had come in and said there are problems, we' re going to fix them, this is what we' re going to do, but it seems like a witch hunt to a lot of them sitting out there. She commented there must be more to the report and she could not understand how they could make a decision without having the report. She would have thought the full report before the meeting was held could have been given to everyone. She said the editing of the testimony makes her cautious; it is someone' s pure opinion of what and who should be in the report. She understood from the paper there was a letter that went around with a lot of signatures. She said in her opinion a true leader and a true ethical person would have stopped that letter and said that all the comments will be found in the investigation; nothing needed to be signed by people, that people are going to sign things just in fear of their jobs. She said the City Manager was brought up twice to be let goof her position and .said not to weigh one over the other, they both have come to Council to be removed. She questioned if it is the City Manager who hires the Department Heads and there are any problems if there are any consultations that go on during the hiring as professionalism. She stated she has not had any dealings with the Finance Director but she has with the City Manager, and she has stood in front of Council and they know she does not get very far and she gets a runaround. She said she has asked again for some information and she is getting a little bit of a runaround again. She said professionalism and ethics are lacking. She said the investigation did ask for working relationships but did not understand why it did not ask for all of the workings of the Departments. She asked for a Manager that could lead with ethics and professionalism and she did not think they have that right now. She voiced