Wednesday, April 18, 2001

After reading a recent article in The Citizen Newspaper concerning the city clerk position, I feel that it could have been misconstrued by some of your readers that I had initiated a sexual harassment complaint against Councilman Dan Tennant.

To me, the operative word in "sexual harassment" is "harassment." And, I feel that such harassment would have to be a persistent effort to cause adversity for me. I want to be very clear in no uncertain terms was Councilman Tennant ever guilty of harassing me. To my knowledge, he has never used his position of power in any way to try to control or damage my career, livelihood, integrity or reputation. I suggest to you that any allegations being thrown at him in that regard have been thrown at him from glass houses.

I have been shocked and devastated by the realization that people I have admired and respected for many years, appear to have consistently used their position of power and influence in a methodical attempt to destroy my life, chosen profession, and reputation for their own political agendas. I have yet to conclude whether or not the main political agenda was to deter open government in our community, or if it was merely retaliation against me for refusing to take part in an unwarranted sexual harassment allegation against Mr. Tennant. I have now come to a personal conclusion that the motive for such allegations against Mr. Tennant was to provide information in a dissertation concerning Tennant entitled "Portrait of a Liar."

On Oct. 31, 2000, [Council member] Annie McMenamin, [Mayor] Bob Lenox, [City Manager] Jim Basinger and [City Attorney] Rick Lindsey did indeed meet, discuss and evidently agree upon a strategy to terminate my employment with the city. I learned of this meeting as I successfully defended a disciplinary action filed against me on Oct. 20, 2000, concerning an open records request that I filed on Sept. 4, 2000, that asked for information about the proposed pay plan study.

My request for information about the pay plan study originally had nothing to do with my salary appeal because I had no knowledge an appeal would be necessary. I filed the request because an ongoing, half-million dollar expenditure was submitted to council from the city manager and director of administrative services without any financial details to substantiate such.

I had asked for this information from the finance director several times in my official capacity as city clerk and keeper of the records, but he advised that the director of administrative services told him that the information did not exist.

The thought that our finance director had not been given the opportunity to scrutinize such a substantial expense concerned me, and I had learned from experience that things were not always done in an open and honest fashion where personnel matters were concerned.

Another matter that concerned me about the pay plan was that staff had told council that the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) could not conduct the survey as they had in the past. When I verified that the ARC was indeed available to conduct the study at no cost, I suspected staff's intention to solicit bids and recommend the expenditure of $25,000 for an out-of-state consultant (who was not the low bidder) to conduct the study was to ensure customized service with controlled results. I felt a moral obligation to pursue the matter with an open records request.

Ironically, on Sept. 5, 2000, just one day after I submitted my open records request and just a few short months after I received an outstanding performance evaluation, the city manager began to document statements and false allegations that were being made against me. The documentation clearly outlines a plan to take action against me, up to and including my termination, by appointing the city manager as the city clerk in January. The rational for such was that my termination would have to be placed on a public agenda as long as I was appointed by council.

The city manager's documentation stated that the basis for such termination was that McMenamin had said I had confided in her that I had lied under oath to protect Dan Tennant's reputation from sexual harassment allegations, and that I had supposedly asked her to lie for me about obtaining information about the pay plan. I emphatically deny both allegations.

In any event, the mayor continued with the Oct. 31 plan to appoint Jim Basinger as city clerk when he made a motion to do so in January.

Ironically, at the next meeting, it was McMenamin who used the argument of sexual discrimination to try and convince Lenox to reappoint me as city clerk. And soon after, she did not support my pay plan appeal, although she had initially encouraged me to file such with specific instruction to take the appeal all the way to council so that she could publicly address some of the issues surrounding the entire pay plan study.

During the time of the disciplinary appeal, a severance package was suggested to me. I would not consider it at the time because I loved my job and I knew I had done nothing wrong. I considered my first priority to protect the interest of my citizens and I had the false impression that my appeal was more about protecting open government in our community than it was protecting myself.

After successfully defending the disciplinary action, council began discussing the charter, the city's form of government, and how they should view the position of city clerk. I felt that the mayor's opinion on the subject was clouded by his personal feelings and that it was in the city's best interest if council were allowed to make such an important decision about the position without having to consider the person in the position.

So, after 12 years of service and many months of adversity, I finally realized that it would be best if I resigned and found a more healthy work environment. I had no idea where I would go or what I would do. I felt it would be impossible to find a city clerk position with a city close enough to allow me to continue living in Peachtree City, so, I approached the mayor, through the city attorney, about the severance package that had been suggested earlier.

The severance package and joint agreement to terminate my employment gave the city the opportunity to address the management structure problem that caused the impediments of having a city clerk with responsibility, but no authority, support or guidance. It also gave me the resources to further my education and, thankfully, the time and opportunity to find a wonderful new job in a healthy productive work environment.

As disheartening as recent events have been, we should not dismiss all of the good things that we have to be thankful for in our city. I want to publicly thank [council members] Carol Fritz, Bob Brooks, and Dan Tennant for all they have done. Although I believe there is still a long way to go, Carol Fritz should be given full credit for making great strides in promoting open government in our community.

No one will ever agree with every decision made by an elected official, but as someone who has worked on the inside of our local government for the past 12 years, I assure you that Ms. Fritz is the most dedicated person I have ever met in researching issues and making informed decisions, in spite of the impotent flow of information that comes her way.

Bob Brooks was always the voice of reason and I feel a great amount of gratitude toward him for ensuring that I was treated fairly and that the disciplinary action was dismissed. Without his integrity and personal commitment to the truth, I feel certain that my situation would have turned out much worse.

I do not believe his decision in January to support the appointment of the city manager as the city clerk had anything to do with the plan to terminate me because Lenox did a fine job of making the argument that having an independent city clerk to provide checks and balances in our government was similar to Russian communism and that my reappointment would somehow undermine the powers that be. Even with my firsthand knowledge of the situation and the purpose of having a city clerk, I was almost mesmerized with Lenox's arguments.

Brooks has truly proven himself, to me, to be a fine man who was willing to stand up for what was right. I am sure he will continue to do a fine job of serving our community with his recent appointment on the Development Authority, despite Mayor Lenox's objection.

The personal adversities I have faced recently have been difficult; however, I will strive to follow Dan Tennant's example of having strong fortitude and a friendly and forgiving nature. Perhaps the author of the dissertation concerning Mr. Tennant should note these admirable qualities and give thought to the dissertation's title for his own autobiography instead.

Annie McMenamin was once my mentor and one of my closest friends. I attribute her involvement in recent events to what I can only hope was a misunderstanding of great proportion. I am not as naive as I once was, but for me to believe otherwise is beyond my comprehension. I have always known her to be a benevolent woman of integrity and strength. She has my unsolicited forgiveness and in about 40 years I may be able to forget, as well. I am greatly saddened by the loss of her friendship, but I will always cherish what we once shared and wish her well in her future endeavors.

And, as for Mayor Lenox, he has his good qualities too. I admire his ability to influence people and situations. He is a wonderful public speaker, and he is a businessman of great intelligence. I am grateful for his final decision to help me leave my employment with the city in a positive direction. The Dale Carnegie classes he sent me to have been invaluable to me and I look forward to the opportunity to further my education.

There are many qualified, good-hearted and decent employees and elected officials who work for our fine city. My thoughts and prayers are with them as I wonder who will be the next victim of the political venom that festers inside our local government.

I'm not certain if promoting a city clerk from within or hiring one from the outside would be best. There are pros and cons to both scenarios. A certified and seasoned city clerk would be a great asset to our city, but he/she may become disillusioned if expecting support from council and management to get the job done.

Perhaps an existing employee will be better accustomed to the micromanaging criticism and discouragement of motivation that I faced. I'm sure that [newly appointed Councilman] Steve Rapson's prior experience as a city employee (finance director) has given him the insight needed to initiate positive changes and insure that existing problems are not compounded. His vote on the appointment of our next city clerk should give us some indication if he is the type of proactive leader that we need to elect in November.

I want to publicly thank all of my friends, and the many citizens who have expressed their concern and support for me over the past few months. It has certainly been a trying time, but your words of encouragement and appreciation have been comforting. Your cards and e-mails gave me courage to survive one of the worst periods of my life.

One of you sent me a card with the following words: "When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened before us." Helen Keller.

Well, my eyes have been opened and I see that I have many wonderful friends and opportunities. I look forward to the next chapter of my life with enthusiasm.

Nancy Faulkner

Peachtree City

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