ABSTRACT: Complaints and allegations against the Mayor of Del Rey Oaks, the City of Pacific Grove and the City Administrator, Mayor and City Council of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea and Responses to the Complaints and Allegations are contrasted and compared. A direct comparison is made between the complaints by twenty-seven Del Rey Oaks staff members and volunteers in their signed two-page "vote of no confidence" against City of Del Rey Oaks Mayor Joseph P. Russell and complaints by residents and city employees against Carmel-by-the-Sea Mayor Sue McCloud, with COMMENTS. Finally, a QUESTION is asked regarding former Carmel-by-the-Sea employees, City Administrator Rich Guillen and Mayor Sue McCloud.
As reported in The Monterey County Herald (Del Rey Oaks workers slap Mayor Russell with list of complaints, LARRY PARSONS Herald Staff Writer, 07/30/2009), twenty-seven staff members and volunteers in the City of Del Rey Oaks signed a two-page "vote of no confidence" against Mayor Joseph P. Russell and read it at the Tuesday, 28 July 2009 City Council meeting. The reasons cited for the “vote of no confidence” include, as follows: "controlling and manipulating City Council agenda items, manipulating and controlling the budget, and manipulating and controlling the Office of the City Attorney;" "micro-managing and interfering with the daily operations of the City of Del Rey Oaks;" "sending inappropriate e-mail to City Staff, Elected Officials and Consultants retained by the City;" "circumventing the City's City Manager form of government when he feels that it is appropriate to his personal agenda or personal needs;" "does not believe in open and participatory government;" "actions have cost the City thousands of dollars in legal fees;" "authorized the expenditures of thousands of dollars to the City Attorney's Office and City Auditor without the prior consent of the City Council;" "uses harassment and intimidation against Del Rey Oaks Staff as well as Elected and Appointed Officials, creating a hostile and confrontational work environment;" "behavior has placed the City, and as a result the city's taxpayers in a position to face potential civil litigation based on the Mayor's actions;" "placing his personal agenda before that of the residents of the City of Del Rey Oaks;" "does not effectively answer questions posed to him by members of the public;" "refuses to facilitate team-building workshops between City Staff and the City Council which provide staff with clearly understood goals and objectives of their respective governing bodies;" "violates the Code of Conduct Resolution passed by the Del Rey Oaks City Council;" and "created an environment where it is now essential that City Staff create employee associations and collective bargaining groups so that our voices can be heard without the fear of retaliation." Furthermore, it asserts that it is “widely known that Elected Officials, staff members, and others have each been the victim of the Mayor's behavior.”
City of Del Rey Oaks Responses to Complaints:
• Vice Mayor Jerry Edelen stated that “the City Council will have to take some kind of action in response to the employee complaints.”
"We are going to have to solve this issue, once and for all," Edelen stated.
• Mayor Joseph P. Russell stated “he wants to have a public council workshop that would air all the grievances and identify possible solutions.”
"Light is the best disinfectant," Russell stated.
In 2007, in the City of Pacific Grove, a Pacific Grove police officer claimed discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
City of Pacific Grove Responses to Complaints:
• City Manager Jim Colangelo hired an attorney to conduct an investigation into the police officer’s claims.
“I want to get the facts,” “I want to know if these allegations are true. If they are true, there will be consequences for the people involved. We don’t tolerate this type of behavior,” Colangelo stated.
• Mayor Dan Cort stated the City “won’t tolerate discrimination." “I can tell you that the City of Pacific Grove does not condone discrimination or harassment based on one’s race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.”
In stark contrast, the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea, when notified in writing by Human Resources Manager Jane Miller’s attorney of her complaints regarding employment discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation in the workplace at City Hall over many years in May 2008, allegedly failed in conduct a thorough and independent investigation and implement appropriate actions.
City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Response to Complaint/Lawsuit:
• Since the filing of Jane Miller’s lawsuit against the City alleging sex-based discrimination, age-based discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation in the workplace in June 2009, the only public statement from the City has been Mayor Sue McCloud’s statement to Squid Fry, “You’re making a lot out of nothing, and I’m not gonna say anything more to you on this,” and then hung up.
Beyond Mayor Sue McCloud’s unresponsive statement in the face of serious allegations of illegal and unethical conduct, it is worth comparing complaints by staff members and volunteers in their two-page “vote of no confidence” against Del Rey Oaks Mayor Joseph Russell and complaints by residents and City employees against Mayor Sue McCloud, as follows:
• “Mayor Russell has fractured the Del Rey Oaks City Council by controlling and manipulating City Council agenda items, manipulating and controlling the budget, and manipulating and controlling the Office of the City Attorney, who the Mayor has a 30+ year personal and professional relationship with.”
COMMENT: Ditto. Complaints by Carmel-by-the-Sea employees and City Council Members years ago similarly complained of Mayor Sue McCloud controlling and manipulating agenda items, et cetera, especially with regard to not being able to place certain agenda items on a City Council Agenda.
• “Mayor Russell micro-manages and interferes with the daily operations of the City of Del Rey Oaks.”
COMMENT: Ditto. Complaints by City appointees and City employees similarly accused Mayor Sue McCloud of micro-managing city affairs and interfering with the daily operation of the City, including the Community Planning & Building Department.
• "Mayor Russell sends inappropriate e-mail to City Staff, Elected Officials and Consultants retained by the City."
COMMENT: It would not be surprising to learn that Mayor Sue McCloud or an employee acting at her behest contacted the Economic Analysis Consultant regarding the timing and receipt of the Economic Analysis on the Flanders Mansion Property, as one example.
• "Mayor Russell circumvents the City's City Manager form of government when he feels that it is appropriate to his personal agenda or personal needs."
COMMENT: Mayor Sue McCloud “governs” according to her personal agenda; as one example, McCloud’s installation of Sunset Cultural Center, Inc. as the non-profit organization to manage the Sunset Center in 2004 without a community consensus as promised by the Interim Executive Director of the Sunset Center.
• “Mayor Russell does not believe in open and participatory government.”
COMMENT: Complaints by residents and Carmel-by-the-Sea employees about the lack of open and transparent government in Carmel-by-the-Sea formed the basis of a 2005 Grand Jury Report on Open Government. One of the Grand Jury’s Findings was that “Over-control of this process by mayors is not in the public interest.” Yet Mayor Sue McCloud persists in over-controlling city government to the extent there is a dearth of open government in Carmel-by-the-Sea; only what Mayor Sue McCloud wants the public to know is known.
• “Mayor Russell actions have cost the City thousands of dollars in legal fees.”
COMMENT: Ditto. Mayor Sue McCloud’s actions regarding the sale of the Flanders Mansion Property in the City’s largest public park, Mission Trail Nature Preserve, has cost Carmel-by-the-Sea taxpayers nearly $400,000 in consultant attorney fees. Moreover, thousands of taxpayer dollars in consultant attorney fees are anticipated for Miller, Jane Kingsley vs. City of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
• “It is widely known that Mayor Russell uses harassment and intimidation against Del Rey Oaks Staff as well as Elected and Appointed Officials, creating a hostile and confrontational work environment.”
COMMENT: Mayor Sue McCloud’s use of harassment and intimidation is well known to her neighbor Susan Page, City appointees and other members of the public. Furthermore, allegations of creating a hostile work environment are made by former City employee Jane Miller in her current lawsuit against Mayor Sue McCloud and the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
• “The Mayor's behavior has placed the City, and as a result the city's taxpayers in a position to face potential civil litigation based on the Mayor's actions.”
COMMENT: Former Human Resources Manager Jane Miller filed a civil lawsuit against the City, City Administrator, Mayor, City Council, et al. alleging sex-based discrimination, age-based discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation in the workplace on June 17, 2009.
• “Mayor Russell does not effectively answer questions posed to him by members of the public. Instead, he relies on and demands that staff, or the City Attorney's Office provide him with cover, and not report to the public that he is the complaining party or the creator of many issues that the City Council and Staff are required to deal with directly.”
COMMENT: Ditto.
• “None of this should come as a surprise to any member of the Del Rey Oaks City Council. It is widely known by Elected Officials, Appointed Officials, consultants and City Staff that Mayor Russell acts in this manner.”
“It is widely known that Elected Officials, staff members, and others have each been the victim of the Mayor's behavior.”
COMMENT: Ditto. None of Mayor Sue McCloud’s conduct should similarly come as a surprise to any member of the Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council.
QUESTION: If Carmel-by-the-Sea’s then Assistant City Administrator Greg D’Ambrosio, Public Works Director Jim Cullem, Community and Cultural Director Brian Donoghue, Library Director Margaret Pelikan, Principal Planner Brian Roseth and Human Resources Manager Jane Miller had similarly informed the public about Mayor Sue McCloud and City Administrator Rich Guillen regarding employment discrimination, intimidation, harassment and threats of retaliation and/or retaliation in the workplace years ago, would Mayor Sue McCloud and City Administrator Rich Guillen still be in power in City Hall today?
5 comments:
The Big 3 media, Herald, Weekly and Pine Cone, have championed Mayor Sue McCloud for years, dismissing the claims of detractors and giving her the last word every time. It is only recently with Jane Miller’s revelations that the Weekly has stepped up to the journalism plate, sort of, and dared to ask Sue questions about her handling of Jane Miller’s claims. I say sort of because the Weekly has not yet dared to demand an investigation or a leave of absence for Mr. Guillen.
Journalism used to be about comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. Not any more, and most certainly not in Carmel. When was the last time Paul Miller wrote an editorial critical of the city and Mayor Sue McCloud? He has never written a negative or critical editorial about the mayor and he never will and that is why he should not be considered a journalist.
Del Rey Oaks could be a teaching moment for Carmel. Carmelites can no longer say they know nothing about the goings on at our City Hall thanks to Jane Miller. The city administrator’s, mayor’s and council’s wall of silence tells us a lot about our city government. Just like in Del Rey Oaks, it is up to Carmel voters to decide whether or not they are going to turn a blind eye or make waves and make a clean break with business as usual, Carmel style. Maybe we do get the government we deserve. Maybe the people of Carmel are just as bad as their elected representatives and do not care about anyone besides themselves. Maybe they will continue to accommodate and cozy up to corrupt power to get favors and preferential treatment and could careless about other people. Maybe the caring Carmel community reputation is a myth. Time will tell.
All of a sudden, I see in today's Herald, the Herald is sympathic to PG and Mayor Dan Cort becasue of the David Dilworth's sensational recall threats. But the allegations in the recall proponents talking points mirror the same things going on in Carmel. The Herald rants on and on about PG, but is silent when it comes to Carmel.
The Herald has a poll about whether of not Dan Cort should resign. Where was a similar poll about whether of not the city of Carmel should have an investigation into Rich Guillen and Mayor Sue McCloud and put Rich on administrative leave regarding the lawsuit claims of Jane Miller?
This should not be construed as endorsing the route of speak no evil by Carmel's former employees who knew about the culture of City Hall prior to Jane Miller filing her lawsuit and did not speak out then, but I doubt if Carmelites would have paid attention or cared as long as they were not directly affected. Even now, I do not see Carmelites speaking up for Jane Miller or doing anything about sending a loud and clear message to City Hall that this possibly illegal and unethical behavior by the city administrator and mayor is unacceptable.
Post a Comment