As we were in northern CA for a few days last week my inbox has been overflowing with new material including the following internal email from Keith Rattay, Director of Public Works in the city of Mission Viejo.
The following is “his email sent May 16, 2008 11:04 AM to Group-PS-Animal shelter; Group-PS-Building Maintenance; Group-PS-Corp Yard; Paul Catsimanes” (assistant to the city manager).
Subject: Council interaction
“Through your busy day each of you have the opportunity to interact with council members. please make sure that all interaction with a council member is communicated to your immediate supervisor either before the need arises or immediately after. The intent is not (to) limit direct comunication but to keep supervisors and myself aware of the interaction so that if the message is inconsistent with our department goals and objectives the managers are aware. Thanks for you cooperation.”
Below the text is the new city logo, the name Mission Viejo, and
1988.20th Anniversary.2008
Juice readers what does this memo say to you?
While I may not always agree with the five members of our city council, they were elected by us to serve this community. In performing that task city staff should not feel threatened in any way while we press for transparency in our city. Nor should these department employees reveal any information shared with council members trying to gather information to better carry out their duties that may not reflect the “party line” of upper staff.
Larry:
Would this have anything to do with the trashing of the 20 th Anniversary easels ? Could this be the start of Easel Gate.??
Or maybe this is in response to city expenditures on the Orange County Fire Authority facility on Margaruit Parkway ??
Grover
The city council discourages public participation in the business of the city; now city management cautions against employee interaction with city council members.
What kind of information does city management want to hold back from the council and the public?
What about interactions with the taxpayers?
This memo obviously chills free exchange between public employees and our elected officials and citizens.
What is Rattay hiding ?
Maybe the city needs an ordinance to encourage whistleblowers to come forward.
This e-mail directive simply tells me that management of the City needs to know what is going on, that’s all. Just like elected officials (such as members fo the City Council)top management in municipalities does not like surprises that spring up in newspapers or elsewhere and seem to orginate from staff within the organization. If the City Manager and his/her top management team is to be effective and accountable, they need to know this kind of information. They also do not need city staff making end runs around the City Manager’s office in advocating policy and budget priorities that are not those of the City Manager’s office from a macro (city-wide) perspective. It is a very reasonable expectation.
Larry,
Councilmembers are to request information directly from City Manager. Most CM’s have a policy that makes director’s also ok for information requests. The assumption here is that they will communicate exchange with the CM.
Councilmembers are educated during training not to go directly to line performers without approval of the CM. Manager/Council form of government has provisions and penalties for circumventing the City Manager role.
This letter looks standard for this type of communication.
SOP? We have been a city since 1988. To the best of my knowledge this is the first time that a Director has issued a memo cautioning subordinates to report back on any questioning by elected city officials so that we are all on the same page. Perhaps this was generated by recent questions being asked regarding project overruns, a questionable/unofficial CIP with construction work on an OCFA stationhouse on Marguerite Pkwy along with unexplained discarding of costly displays. Like each of you I can only speculate and cannot get into Keith’s head.
A former assistant city manager sent an internal email warning staff of my speaking to the press about a public issue and how to “handle it.” What surprises me is that when Dennis Wilberg took over from the prior city manager he literally threw open the door which separated his department from the rest of the world promoting easy and virtually unlimited transparent access.
I can see a reasonable management directive and a certain chilling effect on individuals. If only the employees had some sort of organization that they could belong to. An organization that had a body of law and judicial precedent protecting its agents. Someplace where employees could take real concerns about their employer to have them investigated and acted upon. An organization that hired people who were good at dealing with management, the press, and the politicians to act on their behalf and look out for them in all their employment relationships. If only …
If everyone on the city staff told the truth, it wouldn’t be so critical to know who said what to whom. Rattay’s whopper about easels in the newspaper was a huge embarrassment and made him look like an idiot. Rattay no sooner gave the command “No more pictures in newspapers!” when 20 new photos were online showing the easels at the dump. Hilarious!
Those pesky residents keep interfering with Rattay’s important work of taking over the city and changing it to his liking. He lives in the People’s Republic of Irvine, and he has no taste. (Examples: electronic sign, a logo and slogan of his own making, horrifically ugly banners everywhere.)
Easelgate — I love it! Grover re-brands Rattay.