Steeped in the controversy over our deputy city manager that has been given a pass into our retirement system on our dime is the persistent discussion about whether our west-side city representative lobbied to have the deputy city manager fired.
You will recall that months ago the city representative was charged with threatening a city employee. Some people have been saying that the city representative demanded that the employee be fired. According to the stories the deputy city manager refused.
At the time of the accusation against the city representative we were told that she would be treated “the same as any other citizen” by the then current city manager. Do you know who I am? discussed this in October of 2013.
We of course have heard nothing of the investigation.
Then again
Further clouding the issue is the fact that the deputy city manager openly disagreed with the city manager in front of city council over whether proposed expenditures for downtown “way finding” were related to the ball park. The city manager said no. The deputy city manager said yes.
Soon thereafter the deputy city manager was placed on administrative leave.
Our city charter places the city manager in control of personnel. Only the city manager could fire the deputy city manager.
Once again we pay
The deputy city manager’s contract was changed to allow her to stay employed (but not reporting to work) long enough for her to become eligible for retirement.
Is she being paid to keep quiet?
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
No one in City Hall wants to own up to the real cost of the stadium. So much so that it is a firing offense to imply a major expense is associated with the ball park when the CM’s line is that it is not. I wonder why Leeser hasn’t asked for a full accounting as he has no political capital to lose in the matter.
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The Des Moines Register quotes Joyce Wilson as saying she [Wilson] helped Shang obtain a “favorable exit agreement with the city in light of a new city manager who was hired and ‘relationship issues’ with some council members. …. It was a simple transaction …”
Pay attention to her choice of words. While Wilson was city manager, SHE helped SHANG financially at the expense of taxpayers. Her emphasis is on the fact that SHE helped Shang, not the city. By her own admission, the terms were favorable to Shang, not the city.
In the same interview, intended to help Shang get a job in Des Moines, Wilson dared to label as “inappropriate” council members’ discussion about the Shang “transaction”. That’s disingenuous. It was her own actions that were inappropriate.
In helping Shang, did Wilson change the terms of a contract that had previously been approved by council? If so, did she truly have the authority to act unilaterally?
Meanwhile, the Times wrote a lengthy article about the city CFO taking a job in the private sector, but either (a) did not ask the name of her new employer, (b) chose not to print it, or (c) failed to say that the CFO would not provide the name of her new employer. The absence of a name suggests that it is not going to look good for the parties involved.
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Concerning the cost of only one aspect of the demolition of City Hall and the relocation of City employees into at least three separate buildings; how much did the relocated telephone system cost? I heard it was about $800,000!
Wilson has exhibited behaviors indicating she could care less about taxpayers. She waited around in the position of City manager long enough to be vested and also felt an obligation to garner as much as she could for her deputies. Covering up her “gift” to Shang as a personnel issue and using administrative and vacation leave to assure Shang is vested is an action which should be investigated by federal authorities. The action is just wrong!
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According to the Times today, Ms. Wilson stated to the Des Moines Register that she “helped Shang execute a favorable exit agreement with the city in light of [a new city manager] and ‘relationship issues’ with some council members. It was a simple transaction that some council members for some reason are discussing in a way that is not appropriate.” Translation – How dare these peons question anything that I, A Powerful Woman,’ did!!!
A “simple transaction” indeed. Remove a deputy who is a long-time associate if her “relationship issues” threaten to raise questions about some of your own behavior, buy her silence by giving her six months of paid leave, which added to time in office and saved vacation will provide said deputy with a lifetime pension from the taxpayers who did not receive any of her services for nearly eleven months. Assure officials where this deputy is interviewing for a new job (presumably to be concurrent with the paid leave, if she is hired?) that it was just the cantankerous council members who caused any problems. Nothing to see here, move along now.
Gonzalez is quoted this morning as saying that he might consolidate some functions, including the structure of deputy city managers. Given that the city will operate the functions previously assigned to Shang by redistributing them to others, or simply not doing them, he would be advised to consider eliminating her post, and saving the $175K now allocated – particularly given the city’s budget problems. How he deals with this will be a good indicator of what kind of city manager we will have for the next five years.
It would be interesting to know if any of the other managers hired by Wilson have contract provisions that give them half a year’s pay if they are fired. Are there any examples of this in other cities in the region of a similar size, such as San Antonio, Albuquerque, or Tucson??
Episodes like this simply confirm the impression held by many that there is no point in participating in city government, as the power structure does not care what the citizens think. Why bother to vote? Why indeed?
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The criminal element is in the hands of those elected officials who conspired with staff and investors to make the stadium a reality. The beautiful stadium is proof that dreams come true. The question is will the new administration request an inquiry as to how the entire project was funded and expose the current elected who played ball to cover and protect the alleged wrongdoings that all the critics have claimed.
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So… what happened with the investigation into Lilly’s threat to a city employee? Does anyone know?
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