City employee policies, standards come into question

In light of allegations of an incident involving firefighters at Ramsey’s American Grill last weekend, and talk of an inappropriate relationship between employees at City Hall, residents may be wondering just what is going on with their city employees.

Questions arising are if the City has a policy in place related to off-duty conduct of its employees or addressing inappropriate conduct between employees while on the job. Mayor Kelly Anderson and a couple Council members said they were not aware if a policy had been in place for off-duty conduct prior to the incident last weekend at Ramsey’s.

Councilman Will Dunn, however, told inmaricopa.com that he learned from Human Capital Manager Karen Shaffer that the City’s employee manual does not address off-duty behavior. inmaricopa.com contacted Shaffer on Tuesday to ask if the City had a policy in place, but was informed by her that requests for information must go through the public affairs manager. A request seeking an answer to the same question to Interim City Manager Roger Kolman and Public Affairs Manager Jennifer Grentz received no response. To date, the City has offered only a press release saying it is investigating both matters.

Anderson said the issue of off-duty city employee conduct will likely be addressed at the next Council meeting on Aug. 7.

Anderson and two members of City Council said they want all the facts in both incidents but are confident that investigations into these matters are being conducted in an appropriate and timely manner.

“I learned of the incident at Ramsey’s on Saturday evening,” Anderson said. “I want all the facts before I make a comment and I know the investigation is still on-going. I know that the truth will come out.”

When asked if the City can do a better job of distributing information to the public and the media, Anderson said the topic has come up and is being discussed.

“We’re talking about how we improve the protocol to getting information out,” Anderson commented. “All we can put out there is what we know. We want the information as much as anyone else.”

Anderson also responded to the email traveling around town earlier this week charging two city employees with improper conduct. “I don’t give it any merit,” Anderson said. “It’s business as usual and we’re still a business friendly city hall.”

Vice-Mayor Brent Murphree said he doesn’t have all the facts on last weekend’s incident at Ramsey’s but said he wasn’t sure if an off-duty discipline policy was in place when an event like this occurs.

“Not having faced this before, we haven’t really had to deal with something like this,” Murphree said. “Individual personnel issues have to go through the city manager. We can establish policy but we have to make sure that the policy stays within the guidelines of the equal opportunity employment and the civil rights policy. It is an unfortunate incident and regardless of on-duty or off-duty, it taints the color of the fire department. I think those guys do an amazing job. If we are a public service, everything we do reflects on the City and Maricopa in general. We just want to make sure that those involved in public safety are held to a standard.”

Rich Reeves, a manager at Ramsey’s American Grill, noted that Ramsey’s customers include teachers, coaches, city staffers and Sheriff’s deputies and “they all understand they are held to a different standard and they accept it and behave accordingly.”

Fire Chief William Kelleher had little to say regarding the incident at Ramsey’s last Friday night. When asked earlier in the week to comment, Kelleher responded, “If I sound guarded, it’s because I’ve been more or less instructed to be.”

When contacted Tuesday, Councilman Joseph Estes said he did not know if the fire department or the fire district had specific policies and guidelines on the books dealing with off-duty incidents.

Asked if he’s concerned that the image people are getting of Maricopa is one of a city not knowing how to run itself following last weekend’s incident and other issues it has dealt with, Estes noted, “I am. The frustrating thing is things are being done about it.” Estes added, though, “The City can do a better job of getting that kind of word out to the media to let people know it isn’t sitting back and not actively doing things.

“We’re in a transition period of Roger (Kolman) trying to hold things down as an interim city manager and we have a lot of issues we have to deal with. We need to deal with them on a better basis and make sure the right information gets out there,” Estes said.

On Monday, an email was circulated around Maricopa charging two city employees with inappropriate behavior over the last year. The email was sent to Mayor Anderson, the City Council, local business owners and the media.

Murphree said the email and its accusations need to be investigated.

“That is another thing we’re going to have to look at,” Murphree said. “Both the individuals mentioned have been in the process of some divorces. Everything I’ve heard is hearsay. We need to make sure we go in and investigate it. It falls under the acting city manager to move forward if there is any need for discipline. We’re going to give him (Kolman) a directive to get to the bottom of it.”

Murphree agreed there are all kinds of things in the air right now regarding the issue of inappropriate conduct between two employees at City Hall.

“There is potential that this may be a snuff job on both these individuals’ character,” Murphree said. “It is unfortunate that a major news source is a public forum; there are no checks and balances on truth. We have to be darned sure what we have is the actual truth. Not defending anyone but there are some situations highlighted in that letter (email) that I have a very hard time believing. I haven’t heard these things first hand. What is really bothersome is that it was a broadcast e-mail to everyone and was unsigned. That should throw the credibility of that letter out the window. If it is true, than those people need to be held accountable but let’s get to the facts.”

In talking about a reported inappropriate relationship involving city employees, and asked if he was concerned with the allegations that all the necessary work may not be getting done due to distractions, Estes noted, “I’m confident things are getting done in the city manager’s and planning department offices. I can see how people could let this interfere with their work and distract from what needs to get done on the City’s business. I think overall it is not having a negative impact on what needs to get done in those departments.”

Estes added in both the firefighter incident and the alleged inappropriate behavior involving city employees, he has full confidence that city management will handle it appropriately.

“I was told new policies and procedures will be put in place and will come before Council at our next meeting,” Estes said. “There are also policies and procedures being looked at in general to clarify appropriate relations with city employees.”

On the email referring to alleged inappropriate acts by two city employees, Estes said he was concerned that no one took credit for it.

“It is hard for me as a councilman to respond to an anonymous email,” Estes said. “If it was an employee, they should file a formal grievance. There are procedures in place to protect them if they feel they’re working in a hostile work place. They can seek recourse without fear of retribution. Honestly, I don’t have a feel for who might have sent it. I do have a concern that it might be a city employee who feels they can’t come out publicly. Council will make sure their rights are protected, as well as those referred to in the email. I want to make sure everyone’s rights are protected.”

Photo by Dave Thomas