Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Fayetteville, Planning Commision Dust-up

I'm with Ward 4 Alderman Lioneld Jordan and Ward 2 Aldermen Kyle Cook.
Jordan also said, during the meeting, that such an issue should be dealt with as soon as it’s made known to the administration.
" If somebody’s out of line, somebody needs to get in line," he said.
Cook was also of the sentiment that if a commissioner was abusing staff there would be no reason to let it go on for month.
The issue of a commissioner being abusive to staff should have been taken care of long ago and not before a nomination committee or the City Council. If staff really felt that strongly about Candy Clark they should have said something when it first started instead of presenting a statement before City Council.
Gary Dumas, director of operations, also read from a prepared statement, dated March 19. Dumas urged aldermen to consider the potential impact on the morale of employees as they consider the appointments. " I believe that most will agree that there are problems within the Planning Commission, " he read. " I believe that a change in commission composition at this time can help recreate a Planning Commission which serves its important function while maintaining a level of respect and dignity for staff and others."

City staffers should have a resource to make complaints. It is the responsibility of the Mayor to make sure that they do and also to make sure that their complaints are resolved instead of brushed off. What I saw last night made me angry that this whole situation was handled so badly by Mayor Coody. If I were Jordan and Cook, I'd started questioning staff to make sure there isn't any other situations festering and also make sure there is a mechanism in place so that issues with people sitting on City committees are appropriately resolved.

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