City manager says her comments excluded from report

City Manager Brenda Fischer, who filed a complaint May 25 against Maricopa City Councilman Alan Marchione outlining allegations of inappropriate workplace behavior toward herself and other employees, said she was cut out of the investigative process.

“My response to this report is I did not get the respect from this investigative process to have my statements included in this report and I’m offended by that,” Fischer said Wednesday night, the day after the report was presented to the city council.

She said she was telling her side now in response to remarks Marchione made in a previous InMaricopa.com story.

“I am speaking out because my comments weren’t included in the report (presented to the council) and I wanted my comments on the record as well.

“What (Marchione) said in the article prompted me to respond,” she said.

Fischer said she “reiterated what was told to me” by employees and she “did not edit, did not embellish” anything in the complaint.

Filing the complaint was difficult, Fischer said.

“It was the toughest thing I ever had to do and there are managers of cities, for decades, that never have to deal with something like this,” Fischer said. “But I did it with my head held high and absolute professionalism and I did not get the respect on the back end of that process to have my comments that I made on the record included in that.”

The city hired Phoenix attorney Bill Sims to investigate Fischer’s complaint, which listed nine incidents in which Marchione acted inappropriately with city staff, either through conversations involving sex or by making employees feel their job was threatened.

Two of the incidents directly involved Fischer.

In one, she alleges Marchione spoke to her about his personal sex life inappropriately and in another she said he referred to their relationship in an untrue and vulgar manner.

Sims’ report states Marchione made the comments he did because “he thought that he had nearly a year-long friendship with the city manager that included mutual exchanges of information involving sensitive, personal topics. … (and) that the history of such mutual exchanges led him to believe the topics he raised with the city manager were appropriate.”

Fischer said that was untrue.

“I did not have a personal friendship with him,” Fischer said.  “He’s one of my bosses. I never talked about anything personal or sexual or anything else.”

Regarding the “history of such mutual exchanges” the report cites, Fischer said the conversations “were shocking” and that she’d “never been in that position.” 

“When I’m in an uncomfortable position, I use humor to kind of lighten the moment, but that doesn’t mean I agree with it,” Fischer said. “I reacted in a way that allowed me to survive those interactions in a semi-comfortable manner, as uncomfortable as those conversations were.”

Marchione stood by the report’s characterization Wednesday night saying, “I respect (Fischer’s) opinion, but I feel we have a difference of opinion in that.”

Fischer also said any implication she shared personal information was inaccurate.

“Twice in this thing (the report) it says that I mutually shared personal information,” she said. “That is an outrage to me; that is an offense to me as a professional.”

And although the report examines each incident, Fischer said her input was not included in the analysis of the ones involving her.

“Nowhere in there does the report include what I said in there, in numerous interviews with (Sims),” Fischer said.

The city manager also said she was not alone in thinking the report did not accurately portray events.

“I’ve had five complainants come to me and tell me that they are not satisfied with these findings and that these findings are inaccurate,” Fischer said.

She said she wouldn’t say who they are out of respect for their privacy.