I inadvertently published an incomplete version of my post earlier. Here it is in its entirety:
Four top level Asheville city employees arrested and charged with multiple felony counts of fraud.
A city government facing financial crisis with a multi-million dollar budget hole.
A former Asheville Police Department “officer of the year” accused of sending racist and sexually harassing text messages to a subordinate.
These recent examples have me wondering about the leadership at Asheville City Hall. The buck stops with Asheville City Manager Gary Jackson, in terms of the day-to-day management of the hundreds of city employees and numerous departments that deliver essential services to residents. Jackson’s paid more than $168,000 for his work. Well, I’ve got $168,000 worth of questions about how things are running under his direction.
Asheville City Council oversees Jackson’s performance, but they’re all really our employees. We elect council, and it’s our money that makes everything go.
So I’m concerned when I see problems like the ones listed above. Jackson can’t be expected to manage every little detail of a complex local government. But the recent problems all lead back to Jackson and his oversight.
It’s my understanding that the H.R. department director reported directly to Jackson. How did that department get into such disarray despite his direct interaction with the department head? Asheville City Council members have praised Jackson’s handling of the situation, but it appears to me that he’s been slow to open up about it all. The issue wasn’t made public until this blogger published a tip about a search warrant at City Hall a few weeks back and media outlets reported the allegations of fraud by city employees. That’s not a very transparent or proactive approach, in my opinion.
In terms of the police officer facing the lawsuit, it’s my understanding that it is the subordinate officer’s contention that her complaints went all the way to the top of the H.R. department, where her complaints languished without action. Jackson must certainly have been aware of such a sensitive allegation. If he was, why wasn’t anything done? If he didn’t know about it, that’s almost a more serious problem, in my view.
This is the second year Asheville has faced a budget crisis, but it wasn’t until this year that Jackson and his department heads issued a white paper detailing what they consider fundamental problems with the way the city finances its operations. Why wasn’t this dire alarm sounded earlier (last year) and more loudly?
These examples point to a laissez faire style of leadership on the part of Jackson. That may be just fine with members of Asheville City Council. It gives them a foothold to exert their influence over individual department heads, or even individual employees.
But that’s not the way our city government is supposed to work. Asheville has a city manager form of government, which means the city manager is the only one who can direct employees. It’s illegal under state law for council members to direct a city employee under this form of government.
I don’t want City Council micro-managing my government. I want them to hire a qualified expert to get the job done. When the job’s not getting done, I want City Council to ask some tough questions.
City council members should put Jackson in the hot seat. Question him, in public, about what he knew and when he knew it. Ask him specific questions about his oversight of the human resources department, the budget department and the police department. Tell us when his performance review is due, and make public its results and recommendations. Stop hiding and be proactive. City Council – instead of talking a good game about government transparency, put your words into action in this case.
There’s a question of leadership at Asheville City Hall, one that every taxpayer deserves to have answered.
What do you think? Is City Council handling these issues, and Jackson, in fine form, or should something more be done? How would you rate Jackson’s performance?
17 Comments
Adding on to the above. $145,000 to audit the evidence room at the Police Dept.
Bumping up.
Add to the previous observations;
Missing evidence at the Police Dept.
$18,000 to pay back taxes @ AB Community Relations Council
$48,000 to settle a lawsuit that should have been effectively dealt with internally.
I must really thank you for a post that finally hits the actual mark on the embarassing and neglectful issues at city hall. I only wish the traditional media outlets of this community had the courage to ask these questions or hightlight the very real situation instead of avoiding it deliberately.
Once again, a sitting council member heaps praise upon an obviously questionable city manager. His motivations are abundantly obvious as are those of other council members who support Mr. Jackson in light of obvious and public shortcomings. Mr. Jackson furthers individual council member agendas in violation of state law and Mr. Smith and others are happy to take advantage. This is the nature of elected officials which is precisely why a city manager’s responsibilities in our form of government are clearly documented by law.
While we’re on the subject of the budget crisis and the City Manager’s "style" of leadership, please someone begin to ask the other obvious questions. Why is the city’s savings fund now drawn down to the bare minimum allowed by state law when it was responsibly managed just a few years ago? Why has Jackson taken more and more of the city’s finance and budget functions out of the finance department and formally put them under the oversight of his personal assistant Ms. Bradley who has zero finance experience or municipal management experience of any kind? How long is the criminal negligence supposed to continue? I hope this blog, in participation with the ACT will pursue these matters to their logical conclusion and serve this community in the way media is supposed to function. We’re still waiting for the follow up on the issue of city department heads not even being city residents and taxpayers. Where’s the professional accountability?
How can you expect anything different when you’ve got people in government who want to turn this beautiful city into a "sanctuary city". Who’s going to pay for the medical care, housing, gang warfare, drug interdiction, and the list goes on, if we’re going to turn an eye to the very basic crime of ILLEGAL ENTRY?
Ash, one point that should be made is that, by this time, Gary Jackson has totally revamped City Staff so that it is shaped in his image, to his desires. He was very brutal in getting rid of staff not perceived to have absolute loyalty to him, or an outlook he liked. He has formed a staff with an attitude he liked, but with little technical expertise in their fields.
In this instance, "Can-Do" has trumped "Know-How." On top of this, he allows Council members to go to individual staff members to push (or force) their projects or friends, which is supposedly illegal in this type of system in this state.
If you surveyed city employees, as gonzovixen suggests, I would add that a common theme would be that Mr. Jackson has no backbone, and shows little leadership. He talks a great game, but waffles and weasels when his back’s against the wall.
His close advisors/department heads have been called a group of "Fear Monkeys," blindly willing to follow without question or adding expertise, in fear of losing highly paid positions they owe to Mr. Jackson and for which they have few qualifications.
I’m glad to see some serious questioning going on in the case of Mr. Jackson. Reading what transpired with the female police officer, how she attempted to handle the abusive situation by going through the chain of command and being virtually ignored…I say something is very wrong. With all due respect to Gordon Smith….red flags are all over the filed. As a counselor, I am surprised at his response…of essentially "all is well, don’t ask any hard questions." Situations like this have got to be looked at closely. Period.
I had reason to contact Mr. Jackson regarding a management agreement that his department writes and oversees. His job is to see that contract terms between the city and local entities, are adhered to. When I alerted Mr. Jackson to numerous issues of non -compliance (at the request of Councilman Bill Russell)….he simply passed the buck. In a similar fashion as was done to the female police officer. Citizens of this city have a right to question a manager who is failing to do his job of oversight.
Lindsey, good thoughts.
Thanks for the comment, gonzo.
I agree if you did a staff survey you would find that most employees are much, much less than enamored with Mr. Jackson. I also agree he should be held accountable, especially considering how much money the city has invested in him. I would love to hear his answers to these questions and more in a public forum as well. I have never felt he was a good fit for the city.
Ash,
I see your point and in retrospect Jackson may wish he had been more forthcoming. However, I think he may have felt it was up to his bosses – the mayor and city council – to be out in front of the issue. He is, after all, accountable primarily to them (in the sense that they are our representatives). I wonder what the communications behind the scenes were, as I know there had to be some talk about public statements. Did the mayor direct Jackson to avoid the media? Just a thought.
Lindsey, it’s true that what Jackson can say is limited. But why not come forward and tell the public there’s an investigation ongoing, instead of waiting for the media to break the story? Why run from the cameras (did you see the one WLOS story where he was literally dodging the camera?) and just address what could be addressed?
After all, what Jackson could say was effective: that the department is being turned over to third-party management; that there’s a new ethics policy that will be installed; that the problem is limited in scope. He could have been out in front with all of that, instead of the media having to pull it out of him.
I just want to point out that regarding Jackson’s perceived slow response in addressing media outlets about the HR issues, please remember that what he can say is very limited. This is both a personnel issue as well as an ongoing investigation through the DA’s office… there’s not a whole he could have said outside of the statement he already made.
Gordon, no worries – my error.
I entered my prior comment when the incomplete version of your post was up. FYI.
Gordon, thanks for your comments. They’re very helpful.
In terms of council members interactions with city staff, I think you should check with your fellow council members. Even sending an email to a specific staff member asking for a piece of information is something that should not be happening – it all must go through Jackson, according to the way our government is set up to operate.
How will I find that Jackson is admired by city staff? I would challenge City Council to conduct a staff survey of their top level managers. Do one of those 360 degree employee evaluations of management and report to the public the findings. I would bet that you receive some surprising feedback.
I agree with you that there are always a few bad apples, but what I’m definitely seeing a pattern starting to emerge. That’s what’s throwing up red flags for me.
Your confidence is certainly re-assuring, but there’s I think there’s more to be done here.
If you’re looking to point fingers, start with city staff and end with city council. city departments are run like fiefdoms. Staffers do the analysis, make policy recommendations, and manage enforcement of policy. It’s pretty common to see, on the day of council meetings, staff "advising" council members on issues on the days agenda. While the makeup of city council has rolled over several times in the last decade, staff goes on seemingly forever. We have a form of governance that favors the bureaucrat over the citizen, the elected official, and all too often the city manager. I’m no fan of Gary Jackson, but I don’t think he’s the root of the problem.
What is needed is a full-time elected mayor who is the person sitting in the hot seat, answerable for everything. What we have is Terry Bellamy, whose signal achievement is the revamping of the Staples sign.
Thanks for giving me another opportunity to state my confidence in City Manager Gary Jackson. You and I agree that the scandals are examples of egregious misconduct, and they look even worse by virtue of coming to light at the same time. That being said…
Cities across the nation are facing budget deficits, so I don’t believe it’s fair to lump this aspect of our city’s situation in with the two scandals you mention.
The Officer in question will be disciplined accordingly. Chief Hogan has made it a point to maintain very high standards of integrity at the APD, and I’m sure he’s going to use this opportunity to improve things even further.
The Human Resources Director, Asst. Director, and employees at the center of the fraud investigation have been terminated, and they are being dealt with by the law from here on out.
These situations are being handled with the utmost professionalism with an eye towards improving our existing systems.
I think it’s easy to find that, having used only five fingers, there are still plenty left to point at people. However, in an organization employing over a thousand people, it is reasonable to assume that there will occasionally be individuals who abuse the public’s trust. As an individual who has made a habit out of being a government watchdog, I am entirely confident that this matter is being handled with integrity.
Gary Jackson’s leadership has resulted in increased stability among our employees, creative belt-tightening over two years of deficits, and an attitude of transparency that is unparalleled in the history of the city. You will find that he is admired and respected by the City’s staff.
I understand that your confidence is shaken, and that’s something the City Manager and City Staff will have to earn once again. However, your assertion that Council members are directing staff is, in my experience, entirely incorrect. Concocting some shadowy menace out of two separate, co-occurring scandals is inaccurate and unhelpful.
If a pattern of employee malfeasance appears, then I’ll certainly reexamine the entire situation. In the absence of a pattern, it’s important that we recognize that sometimes employees make their good managers look bad.
I’m with you J. and it seems like neither the local media (exception noted) or citizens, aren’t interested in a little digging to get more information ….