Managers and Politics Should Rarely be Mixed

Is this a new way to stifle the opinions of a vocal resident, just appoint them to a municipal committee? – Pat

from: Ted Noftall 9:02 PM
Greg,
I have to take exception to several of your comments to Corey.

•   His  comments should not be  part of your concern.  If you believe any sunshine prohibitions are being broken you should be  referring  them to the  City Attorney who is aware of far more  serious indiscretions  on other Boards than any Corey might be accused  off and can better judge the criteria being applied for taking action on possible sunshine violations  in Port Orange.

•   Port Orange residents have been poorly served for at least the past  decade. I applaud any that are willing to both serve and voice their opinions.  It was for that exact reason and from the lack of clarity stemming from the discussion you reference at the 1^st  A&B Advisory Board meeting that the  City Attorney was tasked to develop specific guidelines for the A&B Advisory Board members.  She was reminded of that request at the 2^nd A&B meeting also,  and when that document becomes available  perhaps many of these concerns will be more clearly understood.

•   Your suggestion that the comments of  budget advisory board member,  regarding the elimination of employees or positions  for cost cutting purposes,  could constitute a hostile work environment is fascinating.   If incorrectly understood or applied however it could create a chilling effect on the dissemination of information vital to the budget process.

Would you please cite the sources that have  led you to the conclusion you shared with Corey ???
 
Ted Noftall
 

—–Original Message—–
From: Kisela, Greg [mailto:gkisela@port-orange.org]
Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2013 9:05 PM
To: REALTORCOR@aol.com
Cc: City Council; Ted Noftall
Subject: Re: positions that can be eliminated
Corey: I am very concerned about this e-mail. First you are expressing opinions on matters that will and have come before the Board you were recently appointed. The City Attorney and I cautioned the Board members at your orientation session to please refrain from expressing opinions outside properly noticed meetings to prevent possible sunshine law violations. You specifically copied Mr. Noftall who is the Chairman of this Board.  As we stated at the orientation session, violations of this law can have both ethical and/or criminal sanctions.
Second, as an appointed public official, your e-mail on eliminating specific positions and terminating employees could be construed as attempts to create a hostile work environment.  All City employees are entitled to a work environment that is free from intimidation.  Consequently I must request you stop sending these e-mails.
If you are unclear on these matters, please contact me so the City Attorney and I can review these matters further with you.
 
Greg Kisela
City Manager
 
Sent from my iPad
 

On Jul 24, 2013, at 12:04 PM, “REALTORCOR@aol.com<mailto:REALTORCOR@aol.com>” <REALTORCOR@aol.com<mailto:REALTORCOR@aol.com>> wrote:
 
I stated last night I have looked at the personal projections and stopped after looking at just upper management.  I have found major cost savings and positions that can be eliminated since I cannot see the jobs being preformed to the job description.  I also think we have major redundancy in some of these positions.  I have had casual conversations with the people at Daytona State College previously and they showed interest in having their students intern for our POG tv andf also any photo needs we have.  I do not see the excessive salary for Mr. Donahue for the job he performs when he does not  go out to scenes for police and fire where he should be.  I believe the Police and Fire Departments can have the highest ranking officer working give information and not diclose more information then the city would want.  So my list of positions I would ask to be terminated at the end of this fiscal years employment contracts are:  Stella Gurnee, Kent Donahue, Donna Steinebach, and Ken Burgman.  The issue I have with Mr. Burgman is just by viewing the employee climate survey I feel he is hurting that department more then helping the department. Donna who is in charge of economic development is not doing the job what so ever and has not brought any business into the city.  The other jobs she does can be facilitated by a much lower salaried person.  Stella as I watched last night at the meeting makes many facial remarks without speaking if it is something she does not like. I also disagree with her entire conversation over the new phone system the reason and cost. Ask the city of Holly Hill how they handle it they did not add a new phone system and have it outsourced at no or very little cost to the city.  Stella is also asking for more positions in finance that are more duplicate positions.  A Accountant 3 is suppose to do grants according to the job description but she wants to hire someone just for grants.  Please take heed to this email and consider terminating these positions as it is all of these would really place a major cut into our budget.  If we need some of the jobs to be completed lets bring in people that will do them at a far lower cost without the benefits we have paid these people.
 
Corey Berman