Steve Mensing, Editor
♦For months now, the RFP heard much from current and former city employees about a large number of employees trimmed from the city of Salisbury’s payrolls due to the city’s financial crisis resulting from Fibrant’s failure to gain subscribers and poor management. We also learned many employees, vanished from the city payrolls, suffered from a pattern of wrongful termination, being harassed into taking psych evals, getting write ups for incidents that never occurred, and other common methods to gain forced resignations or developing grounds for firing. We’ve learned of a number of wrongfully terminated ex-employees who received sizeable legal settlements from the city. Regretfully we can’t interview them because they signed settlement documents with the city forbidding them to discuss what happened or forfeit their settlement. Previously, we interviewed ex-Salisbury Policeman Kenny Lane, a highly regarded officer, about his obviously highly problematic termination. If you haven’t done so we suggest you read his interview and facebook share or email it to your friends. The citizens of Salisbury need to acquaint themselves with what is going on behind the walls of the city government.
In the last several weeks since our Kenny Lane interview, we were approached by a large number of terminated individuals, and several have offered to interview with us with the okay of their attorneys. Today Scott Hunt a former employee with the city of City of Salisbury has just arrived at the Rowan Free Press.
Steve Mensing: Scott tell us something about your former employment. When were you hired by the city of Salisbury? How many years were you employed? In what departments did you work?
Scott Hunt: Steve I was hired back in January of 1999. I worked 3 weeks shy of 14 years with the city. I worked in the Landscape Operations Department and with the Parks and Recreation Department.
Steve Mensing: How would you describe your first 12 or 13 years of working with the city?
Scott Hunt: My first 12 years of working for the city were rather enjoyable. I never feared I would be fired for anything unjust. It was a decent work atmosphere and I enjoyed my job.
Steve Mensing: When did you notice a change in your work climate? Was this around 2011? (In June 2011 Fibrant spent through all of it’s certificates of participation money (33 million dollars) and was lagging badly in signups. The debt crisis was just beginning for the city and Fibrant was dipping into the city’s reserve funds to the tune of millions) Did people at work mention anything about the Fibrant situation and it’s impact on the city employees?
Scott Hunt: Never got involved in Fibrant–I lived outside the city in Faith so they wouldn’t bother me to enroll. I know Fibrant was not held in much regard. You’d hear guys mention it in passing. I know it was known to be a failure. That it cost too much and had problems. Employees felt Fibrant was behind a lot of people being let go. At first it was ordinary workers and then management started taking a hit. I know some city departments actually used Time Warner Cable for internet and phone to save on their department’s budget. Again Fibrant was viewed as costing too much.
By and large Fibrant wasn’t used much by fellow employees in my department–it was never available to anyone who lived outside the city limits. Most of us lived outside the city. Fibrant was seldom used by any of the city departments. While I was employed with the city, our internet and TV (Only available to us during our lunch break) was provided by Time Warner Cable. I heard several department managers state that TWC was much cheaper than Fibrant. The services were paid for out of departmental budgets. So each department head had the choice of which service to use.
Steve Mensing: Now about problems showing up in your work environment. When did you start noticing write-ups?
Scott Hunt: My first indication things were not going so well for any of the former Landscape Operations Department was on the morning of Monday, May the 2nd in 2011. (Landscape Operations was now under Parks and Recreation) That was the day I got written up unreasonably for the first time with the Parks and Recreation Department. I’d only been with the department for 2 hours when I was written up for something completely unreasonable, if not outright fictitious.
Steve Mensing: Did you notice anything odd about your write ups, your conversations with your supervisors, or other exchanges with individuals in Human Resources? Or with any other individuals connected with the city?
Scott Hunt: Yes. The write ups became increasingly more ridiculous and extremely petty. Things that would be considered very minor or minor incidents suddenly became major or problematic incidents, in need of strict disciplinary actions. Normal wear on equipment became careless damage caused by the equipment operator. Something very unnerving was going on. Others noticed it too.
Steve Mensing: Were you learning about a run of terminations in other city departments? Did you hear of any wrongful terminations yet?
Scott Hunt: Yeah word was getting around about terminations. At that point I’m sure many suffered wrongful terminations, but the information regarding their firing got twisted by the city. Employee firings were explained away as early retirement. Or as something an employee did that caused them to be justifiably fired. Just too many early retirements and justifiable firings.
Steve Mensing: How did you get along with your supervisor Stephen Brown?
Scott Hunt: I was initially excited when I heard Landscape Operations was officially going to be disbanded and its personnel and equipment were going to be merged with the Parks & Recreation Dept. I knew Stephen Brown through his family’s reputation as landscapers. What I initially heard about him was positive. Well that changed.
Steve Mensing: When you first contacted me, you told me about having a psych eval being pushed at you. You told me a little about a very odd meeting with Richard Kelly from the city’s Risk Management Department. Could you tell us about this?
Scott Hunt: Steve I’ll do even better than tell you about it–I’ll take you there. Since I had little doubt about what would happen when I met up with the city’s Risk Management guy Richard Kelly, I figured I’d make a recording. I put my IPhone on as an audio recorder. I put it in my pocket so they wouldn’t see it. It’s all perfectly legal as long as at least one party gives consent about others hearing it. I give you consent to publish this in the Rowan Free Press. Here’s a transcript and an MP3 recording of my being threatened with a psych eval by Richard Kelly. (Scott hands over an mp3) Stephen Brown was in the room with me. People need to know how the City of Salisbury treats their loyal workers when they want to get rid of them.
Click here to listen to the mp3 and view the transcript.
Steve Mensing: Okay, after getting fired three days after meeting with Richard Kelly, how did you fare with contacting the city manager’s office about your termination and unemployment compensation?
Scott Hunt: I made several attempts to contact Doug Paris directly, even using facebook and his City email address. He blocked all my further contact with him on facebook after I made several requests for information regarding my termination by the city. He never once acknowledged me or my attempts to contact him. In addition, I made several attempts to contact Zack Kyle and Ruth C. Kennerly to discuss my unemployment situation, but never received answers. No acknowledgements either.
Steve Mensing: I’ve heard the same from others. Apparently this is part of the city’s cost cutting strategies. This is highly unusual government behavior. Kind of a huge blot on the city of Salisbury as an employer. Enough folks have alerted the RFP to a large pattern of wrongful terminations. City council needs to step up–they do have responsibility for hiring, overseeing and terminating city management. They are aware of the challenges occurring in the city manager’s office and of legal judgments against the city.
Steve Mensing: Have you thought about your future?
Scott Hunt: Too many events have clouded my immediate future since my firing. I haven’t found a job. I’ve been looking. It’s tough when your last employer won’t act as a reference or would be a bad reference. Or not even allow unemployment compensation. It’s real tough on my family. I’m not alone in this. Other city employees have been cut adrift without their parachutes either. City council has turned a deaf ear.
Steve Mensing: You and your family are an ultra tough situation due to what happened. A lot of people are disgusted by the city government’s behavior. I wish you all the best Scott–please be in contact. Thanks for coming out.
Scott Hunt: Thanks for hearing me out.
