2011-02-28 Reg - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Crow said in order to put this issue in appropriate context; he does not think it was fair to start on February 14. He said it was appropriate to go back to October over a telephone message from Councilmember Price which started this process. The City Manager said that Mr. Price’s abusive language and tone of voice may constitute telephone harassment. He said when he listened to the recording; he had heard nothing in the message that caused him any concern about Mr. Price’s comments. He said Mr. Price closed with a quote, “You got to do what you got to do and I got to do what I got to do,” and that was as exciting as that voice mail got. Mr. Crow said based on that voice mail he received a hand-delivered letter by the police department regarding Mr. Price’s actions. He encouraged everyone to listen to it and decide for themselves and see if Mr. Price in anyway spoke in a disrespectful manor to the City Manager. Mr. Crow also encouraged everyone to listen to the tape of the last Council meeting on Ms. Carr’s website. He said the reprimand letter stated that Mr. Price repeated information known to be inaccurate and therefore mislead members of the community and said if all of Council were charged with that, the dais would be empty but he said the passion on February 14 was about Wilson Ave. and whether or not this City was going to live up to its commitment to its residents to use a million dollars to help Wilson Ave citizens to buy out their homes. Mr. Crow said you can criticize Mr. Price for many things but Mr. Price has been there from day one on the Wilson Ave. buyout. He said from the beginning there has been one Councilmember that has carried the water but we need to give him his due. Mr. Crow said another point was he impugned the reputation of Councilmembers by stating they had contravened the Sunshine Law and if you want to talk about impugning the character he would show anyone the email he got that impugned his character about allege Sunshine violations that evidently he conducted. Mr. Crow said in moving forward we have some level of consistency as to how these rules are going to be applied to all members. He said the most disturbing was the allegation that Mr. Price was physically menacing, he rose from his chair and shook his finger. Mr. Crow said he did not rise from his chair and who cares if he shook his finger. Mr. Crow said this is one of the most critical decisions the Council will have to make for its victims of the flood that need to be bought out and have some level of concern from the Council that they will do what is right. Mr. Crow said there is only one member of this Council that has risen from her chair and shouted. Mr. Crow stated that in talking about reorganization that is suppose to occur, he wanted to make sure everyone understood that HR - gone, IT - gone, Assistant City Manager - gone, new division created – yes, Public Works consultant for possible elimination – there, Public Works and Parks – together, nine positions eliminated with four people terminated on Friday. He said this reorganization isn’t about to occur; by the time the Council votes on the budget, he asked if there is going to be much of a reorganization left. Lastly Mr. Crow said Mr. Price was accused of repeatedly asking the City Manager questions without giving him sufficient time to respond and no one knows what Mr. Price was expecting and could be asking rhetorically. Mr. Crow said it has been three weeks and his questions have not been answered. He said the process has been laid out as a warning, a reprimand and the goal will be to remove Mr. Price from office. He said it is part of a grander scheme to remove him from office. Mr. Crow thanked all for coming in Mr. Price’s defense. Mr. Crow said there are member of this Council that has sent personnel records to an unsecured email account and nothing was done by this Council. He said there is a Councilmember who is frighten of all of you in this room. Mr. Crow said he believes that the essence of the City’s diverse community is under attack by the aggressive tactics that are being deployed by the Council majority. He strongly will vote no on this resolution. 12