May We Arrange to Meet Regarding Public Utilities Director Jason Yarborough
From: Vince Champion [mailto:vchampion@cfpba.us]Sent: Friday, April 11, 2014 3:59 PM
To: Kisela, Greg
Subject: Meeting Request
Dear Mr. Kisela –
I am writing to see if we may arrange to meet regarding Public Utilities Director Jason Yarborough. Recent events in the Public Utilities Department have caused our association concern, as they have affected our members in adverse ways. Making it more of a concern is the fact that Mr. Yarborough resigned abruptly in Palm Bay at the conclusion of a lengthy internal investigation over similar concerns, just a few years ago. I will be happy to provide you with documentation supporting this.
Mr. Kisela, in an effort to serve our members who work in your city, my staff and I would very much like the chance to discuss this further at your convenience.
Vincent L. Champion, President
386-304-2393 * 800-625-5451
386-788-2126 – facsimile
e-mail – vchampion@cfpba
Mr. Champion:
By copy of this e-mail I am asking my Administrative Assistant, Cindy Rivera, to arrange the requested meeting.
Greg Kisela
City Manager
My wife and family recently purchased a home in Port Orange and moved here from the Groveland area. My brother in law works for the public works department and recently introduced me to this political blog and all the drama which is occurring at city hall.
When I came upon this blog entry I immediately was hit with a burst of “Deja Vu”.
Having been involved politically in civic activities and community affairs in Groveland for many years I became intimately familiar with all of the antics that Mr. Yarborough had visited on our quaint rural community. We all breathed a sigh of relief when the proverbial door hit him in his abundant hind quarters on his way out.
diplexer.net/a-troubled-director-for-a-troubled-department
Deja Vu indeed. Utilities director problems, finance problems, meter problems and city manager problems. It seems like we just went through this about a year or so ago. We just keep doing the same things the same way and getting the same results…
Council wise up and grow a set!
Interesting.
Groveland as well. It would be nice to know some more about Groveland.
Here is what we know in Port Orange. He was under investigation in Palm Bay and abruptly resigned before the investigation was complete.
http://saybarefootbay.com/images/UtilitiesInvestigationReport.pdf
He then gained employment at Barefoot Bay somehow hiding from them his troubles at Palm Bay until after they hired him. Pretty slick.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/sep/28/new-community-manager-hired-for-barefoot-bay/?print=1
He then was employed by Port Orange. What we do not know is how the Port Orange job application below was handled.
https://www.port-orange.org/documents/hr/EmploymentApplication.pdf
What was the reason stated for leaving Palm Bay?
How was the question answered on the application that states: Have you ever been dismissed or forced to resign from any employment?
What has he done adversely here in Port Orange?
Was the Port Orange employment application filled out truthfully?
How did this information not surface before hiring him?
If it did surface who the Hell hired him anyhow and why?
It appears that some of these unknowns will soon be answered.
Palm Bay utilities chief quit days before critical report released
7:23 AM, Aug. 16, 2011
Written by
SUSANNE CERVENKA
FLORIDA TODAY
Filed Under
News
Local News
The head of Palm Bay’s water and sewer department resigned days before the release of an investigative report that described employees being mistreated — including at least one worker threatening physical harm on others.
Former Utilities Department Director Jason Yarborough said his Aug. 9 resignation was not related to the investigation into his department.
“After six years, it’s just time for me to move on to new opportunities,” he said. …
Continue reading in our paid archive
This is very clearly the final chapter of this saga. The resume’ looks much better with resigned instead of fired. The APPLICANT’S STATEMENT below is right off of the City employment application and signed by the applicant. The last sentence of the statement clearly states that misrepresentations or omissions of facts will be cause for dismissal. With all of the documentation provided on this subject it shall be Déjà Vu to the Palm Bay incident. There are clearly both omissions and misrepresentations. Can he resign before he is fired? Resignation out of decency would keep the egg off everyone else’s face. It may have walked in Barefoot Bay but not here.
APPLICANT’S STATEMENT
I certify that the answers given herein are true and complete to the best of my knowledge. I authorize the investigation of all matters contained in this application and hereby give the Employer permission to contact schools, previous employers, references, and others, and hereby release the Employer from any liability as a result of such contact. I understand that misrepresentations, omissions of facts or incomplete information provided in this application may remove me from further consideration for employment. In addition, if employed, any misrepresentations or omissions of facts in this application will be cause for dismissal at any time without any previous notice.
Since I left the city several months ago I still stay in touch with a number of my former colleagues in the public utilities department and I really empathize with what they are going through these past few years. It is very difficult for those highly skilled employees who care very much about their jobs and the city of Port orange to have no cohesive administrative management.
A number of the employees that I have talked to recently have affirmed all the negativity on this blog regarding the utilities director. I am hearing that some of our best and longest term employees are so disgusted with the mismanagement of the department that they are contemplating retirement sooner than they had planned. There are also a number of core technical staff that are actively seeking employment elsewhere. Some damn good employees have already left the city over the last couple years. Among other reasons this is in part due to the fact that their sound advice to solve the major problems in the utilities department has fallen on deaf ears.
The current city management has rejected any advice on real solutions to metering and reclaimed water problems. they have chosen to take their own path with no critical analysis from utilities staff and without any clear explanation to council or our citizens. It is abundantly clear that the hiring of the utilities director was done without a thorough employment background check. Maybe the results from the check were selective depending on the agenda of the person doing the hiring.
Does he have the knowledge and skills needed to solve the problems of our utilities. It is also clear the his past is one of serial employee abuse which has been investigated and documented. It appears that he may be replicating his past and visiting it upon some of our best employees here in Port Orange.
Do we really want to run off what remains of our institutional knowledge base in utilities? Does the city manager want to stand behind an individual that most of the utilities employees have no confidence in?
Does council support this?
In Palm Bay Utilities Department there is a contingent of people that sympathize with Port Orange employees that have been plagued by the presence of their new utilities director. Much was endured in the way of the creation of a hostile work environment until accountability eventually prevailed. During this time numerous employees suffered the direct assault and collateral damage inherent in this kind of disfunctional work environment.
A specific tactic that was employed to discourage and create potential negative paper trails on employees that were targeted was to over load a targeted employee with excessive information requests in writing over the internet. Much of the information being redundant or non-esential and never being utilized for any purpose. The intent being to over burden a targeted employee to the extent that they might have difficulty performing their primary duties and being unable to meet deadlines would become vulnerable to potential disciplinary actions. Discretionary information requests were made to targeted employess solely, and the information requested was subject to analysis and scrutiny in the event that it was not impeccable. This report link will give you an idea of some of the problems that existed if you do not already possess this information. http://saybarefootbay.com/images/UtilitiesInvestigationReport.pdf
In defence of these potential actions it would be prudent for any of your people that may be experiencing this same tactic to retain electronic files on all the information requests and communications that regularly burden you with compositing information that is either redundant, not used for any valid purpose, or should be a discretionary communication in person. By saving all of these communications you will be able to demonstrate that this has been methodically perpetrated on you in order to interfere with your primary job function and to create an occasion to develop a paper trail of adverse actions against you. This hyperlink demonstrates Mr. Yarborough’s philosophy about this and his modus operandi in achieving his objectives. http://www.mswmag.com/editorial/view/712/Tough-Duty
Ultimately the city manager and Human Resources Department took accountability for all the mismanagement in Palm Bay Public Utilities and intervened in behalf of the employees that were being subjected to a hostile work environment and rooted out the problem before it destroyed their workforce. Hopefully the city manager and Human Resources people in your organization will take the same responsible action and be accountable for the abuses perpetrated on your people and not insulate anyone that does not respect the workforce and abide by the rules and regulations to protect us all. When there is no accountability by the managerial structure that oversees an organization that is when union representatives or private legal counsel is forced to intervene on behalf of workers that are not protected and treated fairly by those responsible in their organization.
Keep the faith. You have our support and best wishes!
Bob Ford says:
September 16, 2013 at 12:19 pm
Greg;
Is the City conducting backgrounds on key new hires?
If so, who is conducting these investigations?
best, Bob Ford
GREG says:
September 16, 2013 at 12:21 pm
Yes. Human Resources is or has conducted the background checks
(Unfortunately in the case of key new hire Jason Yarborough they did not check very well or perhaps the findings were irrelevant to Mr. Kisela. Apparently Mr. Yarborough was on paid administrative leave pending the release of a scathing report generated by the Palm Bay Human Resources Department related to managerial improprieties, the creation of a hostile work environment and treating long term employees like disposable commodities by the public utilities management team. Mr. Yarborough resigned before the release of the report. He was hired for about a year as the manager of Barefoot Bay mobile home community in Palm Bay without disclosing this on his application. The question is, did Port Orange Human Resources really conduct a background investigation on Mr. Yarborough? Did Mr.Yarborough fill out an employment application and submit a resume that disclosed this information? If so, did Mr. Kisela hire him in spite of this? And the final question is, are we about to discover that Mr. Yarborough is a compulsive serial offender and has actively been replicating his behavior here in Port Orange that the Palm Bay internal investigation disclosed? Hopefully we will find out soon.)