BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — A Starke city commissioner appears to be in hot water with employees as well as his fellow commissioners, who have launched an investigation.
According to the allegations, Commissioner Danny Nugent angrily confronted employees of the city and tree trimming contractor Asplundh over trimming that was taking place on his street on Nov. 15. Employees have documented the incident in multiple reports. The confrontation allegedly included profanity as well as threats against their employment.
City Manager Drew Mullins, who also submitted an incident report, asked the commission for direction and a possible investigation at their Nov. 16 meeting.
Mayor Janice Mortimer recommended appointing two commissioners to an ad hoc committee to investigate the incident, saying this was not the first time that it had happened.
“In my opinion, we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our employees, and we owe it to our citizens to get all of the facts,” Mortimer said.
City attorney Clay Martin explained that direct interference with an employee by a commissioner in a city manager form of government was generally considered inappropriate. Based on the incident, Mullins said the roles need to be clarified.
While not explicitly stated at the time, the process of elimination for deciding who would sit on the committee made it clear the commissioner under investigation would be Nugent.
Nugent has not responded publicly at this point.
The incident
Commissioners Shannon Smith and Scott Roberts held the first of several planned ethics and discipline committee meetings on Nov. 19 with City Clerk Jimmy Crosby and the attorney present. While it was primarily a procedural discussion, Mullins also distributed copies of the complaints that were submitted.
There are six in total, and they paint a picture of an irate public official speaking abusively to employees and exceeding his authority. One of the tree trimming contractor’s employees said Nugent entered their work zone “raising hell,” cussing at the workers and telling them they didn’t know what they were doing.
Another worker said when Nugent ran out of his house and into the work zone, he was nearly hit by a falling limb that missed him by inches. He said that during the tirade Nugent insisted that he was in charge of the city, and that whoever they were working under could “bite his (expletive).”
The equipment operator said Nugent was very disrespectful and wouldn’t listen to anything being said. He said Nugent claimed they were trimming on a private road and that the city had no easement rights.
“He said he was the boss and that we were only looking for a lawsuit if we kept on cutting the way we were,” the operator claimed.
The workers were forced to move on until someone from the city could explain the work taking place.
“The only thing he (Nugent) said then was, ‘Good. Let them come talk to me. They know where I live.’”
The contractor’s general foreman contacted the city and spoke with an employee about the Nugent shutting down the work crew. That employee reached out to Operations Director Scott Anaheim, not wanting to meet one-on-one with Nugent after allegedly being cussed out about tree trimming on Church Street last year.
When Anaheim went to see Nugent, the commissioner was with the city manager touring the area. According to the operations director, Nugent asked him if he ever left his office to see the way his crews were butchering trees.
Anaheim said he explained they were cutting “from ground to sky” as always and would continue when they received the survey proving the city had a 30-foot easement on Powell Street. Anaheim claimed Nugent threatened to personally sue him and have the commission fire him. Anaheim cussed at Nugent and told him to fire him because they were going to continue doing their jobs.
Mullins’ account reflected the same exchange. He said both men spoke several obscenities to the other.
After Anaheim met with Nugent, he and his employee spoke with the Asplundh’s workers who detailed the way the commissioner had “cussed them up one side and down the other.”
When Nugent was shown a survey of the Powell Street easement, he let the workers proceed with trimming 10 feet from the trees as directed.
In his report, Anaheim wrote, “I understand how folks can get emotional about trees especially when we’re trimming around our power lines, but we haven’t had any issues in the area other than the commissioner and his very unprofessional manner in the way he talked with everyone. The next time one of our employees or myself included is confronted like this by Mr. Nugent, an ethics complaint will be filed or an EEO complaint due to the threats made.”
The consequences
Once its work is completed, the committee will submit a recommended action to the entire commission for consideration and approval. If disciplinary action is recommended, Nugent could be reprimanded or censured. Censure is considered the more severe reprimand as the full admonishment is read into the record during a public meeting, Martin said.
The city charter also gives commissioners the authority to remove one of their own for misconduct, misfeasance or malfeasance. Misfeasance can refer to a legal action that was performed incorrectly and, perhaps, unintentionally. Malfeasance refers to intentional wrongdoing or illegal actions. Misconduct is unacceptable or improper behavior.
Based on discussion at the meeting, one recommendation could include creating a policy that directly addresses chain of command. Such a document doesn’t appear to exist currently, although in a city manager form of government, it is generally the manager who oversees human resources and directing employees.
While the committee was urged to have a recommendation ready for the commission’s Dec. 7 meeting, Roberts and Smith may ask for more time to consider statements and interviews from both sides. Martin said they don’t want to interfere with due process by imposing a deadline that would restrict anyone from being heard.
The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 23, at 4 p.m. at city hall. Employees involved in the incident will be interviewed. The committee is tentatively set to meet a third time on Monday, Dec. 6, at 4 p.m., at which time members hope to hear from Nugent in person. Like the employees involved, they also want Nugent to submit a written report.
