City Council Admits City Manager Wrongdoings, Artesia Employees Ask, “Where’s the Investigation?”

 

City Manager William ‘Bill’ Rawlings

At the June 14 Artesia City Council meeting, three councilmembers admitted there were closed session discussions regarding reported wrongdoings of City Manager Bill Rawlings. However, weeks after that council meeting, and more than a month after those reports were first discussed, Artesia employees are asking, “Where’s the investigation?”

For the June council meeting, Union President Andrew Perry (AFSCME Local 1520) organized residents and other union members to write public comments for an agenda item. The agenda item was in favor of a policy that allows employees to report to the City Attorney any discrimination, harassment, or illegal activities that stem from the City Manager. Under this policy, the City Attorney acts as a sort of intermediary between employees and the City Council. All the public comments submitted through this organizing effort were in support of Artesia employees and the ability to make these anonymous reports through the City Attorney.

Misinterpretation of Public Comments Leads to Public Admission

Councilmembers Monica Manalo, Ali Sajjad Taj, and Tony Lima, misunderstood the concerns of residents and other union members, and apparently thought these were pointing to leaks coming from several closed session meetings that took place on May 26 and June 9, under the heading of Performance Evaluation of the City Manager.

A public comment for Item 25 submitted by Perry read, “Who can employees report to if the City Manager himself was engaging in illegal or unethical behavior?”

In response to this and similar public comments, Councilmember Manalo asked, “How did they find out?” She and the two other councilmembers said they were concerned that information discussed during the closed session meetings were leaked.

“While that was a weird way to interpret the public comments, given their context, I thought it was interesting that they basically admitted wrongdoings were discussed,” said Perry. “Given the Council’s reactions, and their admission, leads me to think there should have been an investigation by now. Being that these allegations stem from us employees, we are wondering when it will take place.”

Employees Who Submitted Complaints Concerned Council is Minimizing Their Concerns

Councilmember Ali Sajjad Taj was asked if he felt employees were treated fairly. “Good question,” he said. “I support everyone and I think everyone should be treated fairly.”

Perry said, “I work in City Hall. I might not know the explicit details of all the allegations, but I know generally what they are. Like any office, there is a rumor mill. Most of the time, we can dismiss them as merely rumors. When I first heard these, I knew this was pretty serious. And then there was the two City Council meetings where the Council met in closed session about the City Manager’s performance evaluation, months before it normally happens. I remember the employees were hopeful that the Council would defend them.  Imagine their surprise when the City Council met and three councilmembers tried to prevent employees from reporting to them in the future!  And then at the same council meeting, three of the council confirmed they were talking about some heavy duty topics. Something big was discussed, and now it looks like at least three councilmembers are trying to bury issue. Why?”

Perry continued, “I think an investigation is the right thing to do. I believe the employees have made valid complaints, and they still have not been addressed.  And, to be fair, if an investigation occurs and the City Manager is found innocent - wouldn’t that be a sort of vindication for him?”

So, why are these three councilmembers fighting tooth and nail to prevent an investigation? “I don’t know, but as employees, we are watching the City Council and hoping they are reasonable people who care about things like truth and justice,” said Perry.

“Artesians vote for their councilmembers to uphold standards of morality and ethics while representing their City. Artesia employees have reported on some serious issues regarding the City Manager’s behavior, and these three councilmembers are essentially ignoring them,” said Perry.

“I hope that at least one of these councilmembers will agree to an investigation,” said Perry.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ABC School District Employees Speak Up After District Denies Study Results

Image
  A salary study commissioned by ABC Unified School District (ABCUSD) found that its custodians, bus drivers, food service workers and trade workers are among the lowest paid among other area school districts.  Despite their own research's suggestion to increase wages, ABCUSD is choosing to do nothing instead. ABCUSD and the employee union (AFSCME Local 2229) had previously negotiated to conduct the salary study. Local 2229 represents ABCUSD's custodians, bus drivers, food service workers and trade workers (electricians, carpenters and HVAC technicians).   The study compared six jointly selected school districts and the study was completed in June 2023.  In all job categories, ABCUSD employees were paid below average and in most categories, were last place or second to last. Since the studies completion, the Union has looked at even more districts and has found this situation to be generally true.  For example, the top salary for mechanics at ABC District is be...
Read more

City of Artesia Rewards Bad Behavior in Two Managers, While Completely Ignoring Everyone Else

Image
  By Andrew Perry President, Artesia Local 1520 Vice President, AFSCME District Council 36 Artesia, California - City employees had to do a double take when the City Council decided to offer handsome salary increases for two managers in particular, while maintaining historic low salaries for all other employees. As union president, I take the philosophy of transparent local government to heart. Many Artesians have expressed to me the approval of not just the fight for the City in 2021, but also the reasons behind it - that employees were concerned about the City's finances and the ability of the City to serve its residents. Recent events have again raised concerns about transparency, particularly in light of the roles these two managers played in 2021, when the City was under a different city manager, whom employees contend ran the City like a mafia boss. How Two High Level Managers Compromise Artesia's Integrity When every employee rebelled against the former City Manager for...
Read more

Corporate Money Seeks To Undermine Artesia Residents This Election Season

Image
  Artesia, California - Corporate interests are seeking to undermine the ability of Artesia residents to govern themselves. National Ready Mix, and allegedly others, have apparently partnered with a San Diego corporate activist attorney called Everview Law to create an initiative to alter Artesia’s residential zones. But that’s not how they sold it to the Artesians: in flyers and in person, petitioners have told residents that the purpose of the initiative is to prevent a sales tax increase. Residents who signed the petition are saying that the company lied to them by saying the initiative was about preventing sales taxes. National Ready Mix is a successful corporation in Artesia. For years, National Ready Mix has been opposing a housing development bordering its property line, from the developers at G3 Urban.  Bait and Switch This bait and switch tactic was successful in convincing enough Artesians into signing the petition and therefore qualifying it to go to election. Thes...
Read more