"Nearly all of the inappropriate conduct alleged by Employees A, C, and D took place many months
ago, in most instances more than a year ago. The Town responded appropriately by counseling the
Councilmember orally and in writing, and by implementing protocols that minimize direct interaction between
the Council and employees."That is the conclusion of the inquiry into the complaint filed by Oro Valley Economic Development Manager Amanda Jocobs against Council Member Mike Zinkin. (Source: February 14, 2014 Letter to the Town Of Oro Valley from Laura Lawless Robertson, attorney with Squire Saunders, Phoenix)
A vindication of Council Member Zinkin? No. Simply a recognition that what happened was long in the past, was acknowledged, was properly dealt with by the town and Council Member Zinkin. End of story? Not quite.
The report identified four areas where the town can do a better job of improving working conditions for its employees. These include:
- Adopting a voluntary Code of Conduct for the Town Council;
- Implementing in-person harassment training;
- Continuing to implement protocols that minimizing direct interaction between Town employees and council members; and
- Revising and clarifying personnel policies
Once again, LOVE is "leading edge." A year ago we recommended that the town create a code of conduct. In fact, in September of 2012, John Musolf wrote a letter to all member of council asking them to put this item on the agenda. They did not do so.
Our recommendation stated that the code should be applied to not only council, but also to members of voluntary boards and commissions. And how about town employees. Should their use of foul language in any situation be tolerated?
Simply, we felt at that time and today, that a code would have prevented:
- Council Member Joe Hornat from "beating up" on Attorney Tobin Rosen at a council meeting.
- Oro Valley Planning and Zoning Commission Member Don Cox from rebuking 2 sitting council members at a formal commission meeting.
- A town employee from swearing at an elected official
- Elected officials from instigating and leading a recall effort against another council member for spurious, diminimus reasons.
Do you think its time for Oro Valley to adopt a code of ethics?
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5 comments:
YES! As I stated a year ago, "This needs to be completed quickly!"
BRAVO on your speech at last night's council meeting! Don't know if you caught this, but when you got to the part about Betty Dickens complaint against them and how much money THAT complaint cost the town, Snider's body language went from, "I'm overly confident" to "Holy crap! He's exposing my hypocrisy!"
She grabbed her styrofoam cup of water...
(BODY LANGUAGE INTERPRETATION: I'm nervous, I need a prop, I need to do something with my hands to distract myself)
...and she held it up to her face.
(BODY LANGUAGE INTERPRETATION: I'm guilty, I must hide as much of my face as possible).
Our council meetings are not just informative...they're also entertaining!
I see in the Explorer that the dentist is still "thinking" about running for reelection. I hope he thinks long and hard. We do not need his type of leadership in Oro Valley. His term of office has been a disgrace.
How much more fun it would be for us if he is defeated than to not run.
It certainly was interesting listening to Ms. Snider implying Council member Zinken can only meet with staff when Mr. Caton is present. She failed to mention NO Council member is suppose to meet with staff without going through Mr. Caton. That is the way a council/town manager government works.
It would be interesting to learn if staff complains about how many times Ms. Snider bothers them. It is easy to see though her hypocrisy.
It was also interesting listening to the Mayor directing others to be respectful, and immediately after Richard's speech, Mr. Hiremath becomes quite disrespectful.
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