Scottsboro City Council Work Session

Tonight was a short meeting with 2 items on the agenda. 1) Police Chief Ralph Dawe spoke about cages for the new Animal Shelter. It was mentioned that kennels or cages were not budgeted in the original plans. 2) Presentation of Ben Sanford Youth Center Awards, 2 young people were presented Certificates of Appreciation from the City of Scottsboro. 3) Citizen Presentations. a)Mr. Bob Starkey made presentation to the City Council concerning his property at Goose Pond Island Industrial Park. b) Mr. Garry Morgan- I received an anonymous letter Friday outlining 6 allegations pointed toward City Department Head Management. The following is my presentation to the council concerning these allegations:

"This past Friday, Feb. 13th I received an anonymous letter from an alleged Scottsboro City Employee which expresses concerns in 6 allegations related to Management Practices of Department Head(s).

I do not know if the concerns expressed are truthful or false. If the allegations are false they undermine the management practice of the City of Scottsboro.

If the allegations are true they point out short comings of one or more city managers, if true these shortcomings must be corrected. Either true or false the allegations stand to have a detrimental effect for the citizens of Scottsboro if not addressed and resolved properly. This is the reason I stand before you tonight.

There are 6 allegations identified as allegations in the attached letter which I will outline below. These allegations relate to City of Scottsboro Management Practice and /or Organizational Communications up and down a supervisory chain of management.
1) Department Head threats directed toward employees.
2) Unfair application of promotions and pay raises.
3) Unfair application of attendance policy.
4) City Employee working off duty for Department Head in private job.
5) Department Head misconduct...
6) Fear of reprisal for reporting Misconduct

An Objective Based Performance Standards Rating System has been the subject of previous concerns and discussion with the City of Scottsboro in relationship to its management practices. The lack of objective performance standards was identified as a short coming in the personnel management system as it relates to upper level supervisors and Department Heads several years ago.

4 years ago examples of the standards of practice for government institutions for an Objective Performance Standards Evaluation System was presented to Human Resource Management under the direction of Mayor Deason. The problems then are still evident now and have not been properly addressed. It is up to the Mayor and this Council to determine the outcome of the continuing saga of Department Head Performance Evaluations."

Additional Information: It was identified in an official Personnel investigation approximately 4 years ago, paid for by the City of Scottsboro, that a Performance Standard Evaluation system should be implemented. The City of Scottsboro has a performance evaluations system, however it is not an objective, contractual, Performance Standard Based Evaluation System as recommended in the official investigation.

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Prior to the City Council Meeting I spoke with one of the Department Heads mentioned in the Anonymous Letter. I mentioned that I was going to speak with the council about the letter received as I was concerned that either there is a serious management problem or a serious problem with an employee attempting to undermine the management team of the City of Scottsboro. It became immediately apparent that the Department head became irate and irrational. The Department Head threatened me with legal action if I discussed the letter with the council. I stated no name would be mentioned, however it was apparent there was a problem. The department head additionally stated that I did not want to resolve anything and that I was creating a problem. The Department Head stated I should discuss the matter with the mayor. I told the Department Head the Mayor was also mentioned in the anonymous letter and that I was going to bring the letter to the council. The Department Head stated to me that they knew who the letter was from and the letter was not true. (This Department Head had no idea of what was in the letter to me unless he wrote it himself.) I explained that there would be no names mentioned.

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In a subsequent conversation with the mayor he told me he did not know who the letter was from and had not seen this letter before I presented it to him. The mayor also mentioned that he wished I had came to him. Mentioning to me that I was former military and that I should know about a chain of command.

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Well Mr. Mayor I am retired military and it is you who in fact works for me, as well as the other 14,000 or so other citizens. You are not in my chain of command and I am concerned over your and at least one of your department heads reaction to this matter. Since the employee felt they could not communicate with you or any supervisors the letter was sent to me. If an employee takes the time to write a letter, even an anonymous one, to a citizen then it is no longer just a city management problem, it becomes a question of a possible larger management failure and places the citizens in an undesirable position. You sir have the communications problem, it is the Mayors Office and the City Council who is responsible for the lack of an Objective Based Performance Standards Personnel Evaluation System and apparently a lack of communications in your organization. It is the long time historical neglect of the Office of the Mayor and the City Council that has resulted in the few, thank goodness, performance management problems that have occured. It is never so late to implement positive change instead of continuing with the good ole boy system of personnel selection and management.

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Please, Scottsboro City employees, if you have a problem, you should give your Supervisor, Human Resources and the Mayor a chance to resolve your work problems. The buck should stop in the Mayors office. If for some reason you can't resolve your work problems with your supervisor, human resources or the mayor then you should write down your grievances and present them as described in your employee handbook. If all else fails, it is my suggestion that you submit to the council a formal complaint in the open meeting. Anonymous letters, even if they are valid, only displays a lack of fortitude. If all else fails there is always the advice of an attorney who is familar with labor law.