The Fayette Citizen-News Page

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Longtime Public Works Director Halterman on unrelated leave

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

Assistant City Manager Colin Halterman, who headed Peachtree City’s Public Services division for nearly 18 years, has taken a voluntary leave of absence from City Hall, it was confirmed Monday.

But City Manager Bernard McMullen was emphatic that Halterman’s sabbatical is completely unrelated to the criminal probe into alleged wrongdoing within the Public Works Department, stating only that Halterman was taking advantage of the federal Family Medical Leave act to attend to private, personal matters.

McMullen said that by law, he could not elaborate further on Halterman’s reasons for requesting the leave, but said it came well before the investigation into alleged corruption and theft among Public Works employees even came to light.

“We’ve checked with our Human Resource representatives and we can’t disclose the details of that leave due to confidentiality,” said McMullen.

The city manager added that he fully expects Halterman to return to work eventually.

Police Chief James Murray, describing the depth and intensity of the internal investigation, said detectives went to Halterman’s home to question him privately and came away convinced that he had no knowledge of the misconduct.

Said McMullen, “The police did interview him and the assessment I was told was that he was cleared of any involvement.”

Halterman was public works director until fall of 2002, when he was elevated to the interim city manager position after the retirement of longtime city manager Jim Basinger.

When Bernard McMullen was hired as city manager in May, Halterman’s knowledge of the inner-workings at City Hall and lengthy tenure were rewarded with the permanent assistant manager’s job, despite a loud outcry from citizens dismayed at the creation of another six-figure salary just as the city was facing a budget crisis.

On Friday, Murray said evidence suggests the “culture of corruption” that led employees to casually steal city equipment, tools, gasoline and other supplies might have been going on for nearly 10 years, during the time Halterman was ultimately in charge of the division.

Murray said the investigation was ongoing, but would not speculate as to the potential for more arrests.

McMullen, while acknowledging the city suddenly has six empty positions it must fill, also used the opportunity to praise the hundreds of city employees who remain honest, particularly those who volunteered information to police.

”We have a professional, accredited police force that identified the problem and the people involved,” McMullen said. “We also have a dedicated city staff, roughly 240 employees who were not involved in the activities associated with this case. In my eight months here, I’ve seen their efforts to provide excellent services to Peachtree City. Our residents need to know that those efforts will continue, and with some changes, will improve.”

McMullen also said the shakeup, while unpleasant, will force the city to reexamine its policies, procedures, staffing needs and the like “to prevent this type of event in the future and to reinforce the city’s commitment to honesty and integrity.”

Mayor Steve Brown, speaking at Friday’s news conference at police headquarters, said the latest turn of events was just more evidence that city government needed cleaning up.

“Two years ago, I entered elected office as a grass-roots mayor pledging to create a level playing field in Peachtree City and to usher in accountability. I made no secret of the fact that the city had some challenges ahead and that I was going to take each one of them head-on,” Brown told reporters.

Later, Brown added, “I was shocked at the level of impropriety and the utter lack of principled management in that department. [Bernie McMullen] has been ordered by the City Council to install whatever measures are necessary to insure complete accountability for the future.”

McMullen said interim solutions were being sought to maintain the city’s vehicle fleet, and reassured residents that street and path repair projects would stay on schedule.

Randy Gaddo, head of Leisure Services, was named interim public services director, and Kedron Field House manager Jim Miller is interim public works superintendent.

An inventory of public works equipment has already been completed from top to bottom, McMullen said, and the temporary managers are investigating security options for the public works compound, including key cards and security cameras, McMullen said.

“They and the rest of the city’s management team are also reviewing the policies and procedures to identify deficiencies that could have allowed this situation to arise,” he said.