I was injured on the job with the county. The doctor cleared me to return to work within seven to ten days after the accident. Howevever, former County Administrator Chris Cofty and Mark Pullium, the Finance Director, had an unwritten rule that no one could return to work with any restrictions until they were rated at 100 percent by the workers' comp doctor. My rating was no lifting over ten or fifteen pounds for a certain period of time. No problem. As the web person, I did not have to do much lifting. Since I couldn't return to work under this "unwritten" rule, I was out for seven weeks until the doctor cleared me to return work. The day I returned to work they abolished my job. Case of sour grapes? You bet ya. I was led to believe that I would be doing something else in the Information Systems Department when I returned to work; however, that just turned out to be a falsehood so that Mark Pullium didn't have to inform the Director of Information Systems and the Assistant Director of Information Systems (my department) until the day before the Board of Commissioners voted to eliminate my job based on Pullium's recommendation.
The most recent ethics complaint concerned the fact that the company who is currently doing the county's website received over two years of free advertising twenty-four hours a day seven days a week on the county's website. The server upon which the website resides is maintained, updated, and serviced by county employees on county time. So, in effect, Mr. Pullium approved the design of the new website along with the fact that a private company would be receiving free advertising courtesy of Fayette County taxpayers. Each page of the website listed the company's name as well as a hyperlink directly to their business. As soon as this ethic's complaint was made, all references to the company were removed, along with the hyperlinks. There is a reference to the company on the home page with no hyperlink, which is certainly more reasonable than having a private company advertising 24/7 on all the county's web pages.
The Ethics Ordinance states that employees should "Never discriminate by the dispensing of special favors or privileges to anyone, whether or not for renumeration;..." I would say since it was Mark Pullium's decision to approve the redesigned website as it was presented to him represents the "dispensing of special favors."
You can call that petty or whatever but it still merits an investigation and an investigation was not done. Period.
The first ethics violation filed by me concerned the fact that no disciplinary action was ever taken against Mr. Pullium with regard to the fact that he condoned and participated in the misuse of the county credit card system, a system he developed. As Finance Director, it's his responsibility to set the highest standards with regards to ethical behavior and fiscal responsibility. I'll let you decide if you think that he acted in a professional manner by using your taxpayer money to pay for his supposed "business lunches." Oh, by the way, Cofty and Pullium decided to eliminate my job during the time that they were ordering up their steaks at the county's expense. Was an investigation done into that Ethics Complaint? No, there was not. Have any changes been made to the county's credit card handbook since these misuses occurred? No, there has not been. So long as Dunn has Pullium as his lap dog, nothing will change.
It's interesting to note that Mr. Pullium would do a morning inspection to make sure that everyone was at their work station promptly at 8:00 a.m. (that is, if Mr. Pullium was there at 8:00 a.m. himself). No matter the fact that Information Systems employees are on call 24/7 and may have to respond to an emergency at the EMS center or a fire station at 3:00 a.m. to fix a computer or the network, that did not concern Mr. Pullium at all. He would suspiciously question those IS employees who were there on time about where the other employees were. Funny thing is, in one of Mr. Pullium's first personnel evaluations, the County Administrator, Chris Cofty, voiced concern over Mr. Pullium being late to work on a continuing basis.
To the writer so concerned with my health, maybe you need to, as the cliche goes, walk a mile in my shoes before making such condescending remarks. I hope that you nor your children ever get treated by an employer in such a shameful way. I also feel the same way for Mr. Pullium's children. I received excellent annual reviews. I think you would be hard pressed to find a county employee who disliked working with me. While I'm in complete sympathy with the Delta employees and their situation, at least they have had some notice that far-ranging changes were in the offing. Having your job jerked away from you without any warning at all will tend to make you a bitter person. Looking for over a year for a job without any responses will tend to make a person bitter. Maybe you need to look at yourself and decide if the same situation happened to you, how would you feel?

So I read through all this stuff, and here's what I've got to ask:

Please help me understand where the ethical violations are in the following situations:

1. The county's government decides to eliminate a position they do not otherwise need due to an outsourcing arrangement with another company. The outsourcing company creates a new website design structure for the county. As a part of the design, and as a normal practice from what I've seen on the Internet, a link to the company's website who did the work was placed at the bottom of the pages they designed.

Doesn't sound unethical to me, if the business was performed under normal government business negotiations. Was it not?

2. Government employees, in the course of their county duties, claim reimbursement for "business lunches" by using the County credit card. Were these lunches with potential vendors, current vendors or other citizens? Were business functions discussed? If I was in a situation where I was going to lunch with a potential vendor, I would assume the ethical thing to do would be to pay for my lunch so as not to appear to be courting favors.

Mr. Rogers - care to shed any light on these two topics? Have any detail to elaborate on the "lunch scandal," as I vaguely remember something in the paper, but your information might be otherwise beneficial to help the general public understand your plight. Details are always important; feel free to elaborate as much as you can.

It's lamentable for you to have lost your position, regardless of the circumstances surrounding it. It appears, however, more regrettable for you to take your plight against your employer, who appears on face value to have justification for the things it does, to the media in what might be a deseperate attempt to gain either sympathy or revenge.
Please remember Georgia is a right to work state and I'm not sure if County employees are unionized as the Clayton County Sherrifs, etc.

As for your year-long search for a job, if you are as motivated a web designer as you consider yourself to be, why didn't you work for yourself? If that didn't pan out, I would hope you are at least performing some occupation to make sure the mortgage gets paid. If you're not even doing that, you should really stop typing now and get your rear to monster.com or something...unfortunately, change happens in life, sometimes outside of our control and without warning. That's what proves the character of a person - how they deal with adversity.

From your writings, you're not handling adversity really well at all.

Get a job; get a life; leave us alone with this crap.

First, you are right that it is a common practice for web firms to post their name and have a hyperlink on their work for private companies; however, this is not true for county websites. Please take the time to check out various counties like the official websites for Forsyth County, Clayton County, Henry County, et cetera. Second, I direct you to the April 13, 2005 edition of The Citizen for more information on these "supposed" business lunches. The Board of Commissioners believed it was serious enough to fire the former county administrator for doing the same thing that Pullium took part in as well. On The Citizen's main home page, click on Fayette and then follow the link to Archives. This article should answer your questions regarding those "business lunches."

I don't know this fellow in contention. He obviously was fired for some reason which we may never know. How many others do you know that have ever been fired from the county? None, or hardly none. Especially those on leave for an on the job injury. Worst time to can someone. Even if the job was farmed out, people are never fired they are reassigned and let attrition take care of the loss of work--it is always done that way.
I see a law suit that we will lose.

I do not know the fellow in contention either. However, if his explanation of the facts is correct, we are up a creek as a county if he takes legal action. By law you are required to accommodate employees under the American Disabilities Act of 1990 something, not sure on the year. Even if the employees does not file ADA, if they ask to be accommodated and return to work you must accommodate them. We better hope the county has good human resource records to back up why this fellow was let go. (e.g. poor evals, written warning, previous suspensions etc.) I also assume the county’s legal council was consulted prior to this dismissal. We can only hope. But them again, we should have insurance to cover blunders like this by county staff. So Mr. Rogers, do what you need to do. As a county we should be covered. If not we have bigger problems, as to why are we not covered?

I don't believe we are looking at an ADA issue here. I believe I read that Rogers left work temporarily as a result of an on the job injury.

ADA would cover a "Disability" of a more or less permanent nature, and not the result of OTJ accidents.

You do raise an interesting point about how well the personnel files are documented, but even that wouldn't in and of itself make a lot of difference in this case. All employment in Geogia is at the will of the employer and unless an employee's discharge violates some other state or federal law, I don't see that Mr Rogers has much of a case.

I hate to tell you, but if you stayed out that long cause you couldn't lift 10 lbs, I would have fired you too! There is such a thing as common sense. Sounds like you found what you thought was a loophole and ran with it. I think they did right by the taxpayers to cann you. Just my thoughts

That's just it. I wanted to return after seven days. The "unwritten rule" put into effect by Cofty and Pullium prevented me from doing it. I didn't want to stay out of work for seven weeks but that's how long it took the doctor to clear me following physical therapy. I had no problem with the restriction on lifting. I tried several times calling the county about returning to work with that small restriction but until I was cleared by the doctor, Cofty and Pullium WOULD NOT ALLOW ME to return to work. Read the sentences carefully before making such comments.

You spend too much time moaning over the grave injustice you perceived done to you...how THE MAN is keeping you down and whatever. Who'd want to hire a whiner anyway? There are other jobs out there, though I doubt anyone reading your rants is going to be calling you saying "Hey Sour Grapes, want to come work for us?"

NUK

NUK: What I have been trying to do is focus on the fact that serious ethics violations involving the current Finance Director have been ignored by the Board of Commissioners. Greg Dunn is shielding Mark Pullium from any type of retribution because he has Pullium tightly under his control.

The Ethics Ordinance contains a specific set of guidelines to be used when reviewing an Ethics complaint. It does not appear that the Board of Commissioners are following those guidelines. If the Ethics Ordinance is not going to be followed by the Board of Commissioners, who developed the Ethics Ordinance, then they are just pieces of wasted paper.

FR,

Do you know the story here? Do you know the history behind the writer of this letter? He is a former county employee whose job was eliminated when the work he was doing was outsourced....because it could be done as well, using less taxpayer dollars.

How do I know? I asked a marshal who was at a recent commission meeting I attended, because the poor fellow was sitting near me muttering to himself and I was concerned. This young man apparently has as his goal to harass his former boss (Pulliam) for a perceived injustice. According to the county folks I spoke too the complaint was very minor. If you need information then I am sure you can get it as a matter of public record.

You are good at your hobby. You can take any issue and make it Dunn's fault. I have been meaning to ask you....was Dunn the second gunman on the grassy knoll?

With all due respect to the "county folks you spoke to", they are not the ones who are supposed to decide the merits of whether or not there has been an Ethics violation by a county employee. It clearly states in the Ethics Ordinance that that decision must be made by the Board of Commissioners following a review of the complaint. There was no discussion about the ethics complaint whatsoever at the Board of Commissioners' meeting held on March 9, 2006. It's not even clear that any of the Board of Commissioners had even read the Ethics violation listed on the March 9, 2006 Agenda. There was much more time spent between Wells and Frady arguing over a car for the Tax Commissioner's office than there was about an Ethics violation leveled against one of the county's highest executives.

I don't care how "minor" a complaint is, it is still a complaint! So I guess Dunn makes an assessment of the complaint and then he decides whether to pursue further? Is that really how it is supposed to work!? I THINK NOT!

You know as well as anyone that when a complaint is received, there are policies and procedures in place. Even DUNN has to follow these! Was the policy adhered to in this case??? NO! Come on TN, stop trying to protect those at fault.

I think maybe we could outsource Dunn's job because it could be done as well, using less taxpayer dollars (and a lot less harassment)

There is no reasoning with you if you insist on seeing the hand of Greg Dunn behind everything. How do you know that the policy and procedure was not followed to the letter? Do you know for a fact that procedure was not followed, or do you make that assumption because the letter writer says so? You make that assumption and statement solely to construct an opportunity to take a shot at Dunn again. As to the harassment comment, I have asked you before for specifics, when has he (or any other commissioner) harassed someone?
I guess you could say the sheriff, but since when is it harassment to ask some one to do what they are supposed to do?

TN,
Do you not realize that DUNN is the Commission Chairman? It is his job to make sure that the policy is followed! Who else would you like to blame? Maybe one of the other "3 Amigos"? I don't believe for one second that Mark Pullium was or ever will be reprimanded for his actions... that is unless Dunn really starts feeling the "heat" on this one.
Just because the letter was written by a former employee shouldn't make any difference. The FACTS speak for themselves. It seems that you cannot accept the fact that Dunn is done...

Speaking of "comments", do you really want to go there? I'm sure you have heard many of Dunn's comments made "under his breath"... very unprofessional and just plain dumb to mumble loud enough for others to hear!
And yes, there is no reasoning with me concerning Dunn... I was told a long time ago it is wise to choose your battles wisely... this one is worth fighting wehter I win or lose...

It was very clear that when the Ethics Complaint came up on the Agenda, Chairman Dunn turned his head to Commissioner Wells and said, "What? Another ethics complaint?" It's very doubtful that that comment will make it into the official minutes of the March 9, 2006 Board of Commissioners' meeting. Commissioner Dunn then looked over at the table where the county's executive assistant, county attorney, and county administrator sat with a look on his face as if to say "What is this?"

I direct you to the County's own Ethics Ordinance. It states: "...the Board of Commissioners shall review all complaints against covered employees, except those complaints filed against a member of the Board of Commissioners." This makes it perfectly clear that the Board of Commissioners must review these Ethics complaints. They can't simply look at the executive staff members at the time of the Commissioners' Meeting and find out whether the Ethics Complaint is valid or not. If you're going to have a Ethics Ordinance, at least follow the rules.

Marc,
I read your blog concerning your situation and I commend you for being willing to discuss the situation in a public forum. However, based on your description of what transpired and my own experience in the private sector in a similar situation, I do not find fault here.
The parties involved should not eliminate someone's job while they are on leave. That would be wrong. If the decision to eliminate your job was made during your leave, then they should have waited until you returned. I may have waited ...a week..but it was probably a fiat accompli before you ever came back to work. It is done...move on...

As to your other observations, I do not know where you were sitting during this portion of the meeting, but as I said to someone else here, unless you were within 5 feet of the dais there is no possible way that you could have heard anything that was said without the aid of a microphone by anyone up there. The accoustics of the room are not concert hall quality. If you heard anything...it was likely your own wishful thinking. Your "interpretation" of the looks given to the staff by Mr. Dunn are yours. Considering your view of the entire situation, you could hardly be considered unbiased in your interpretation. Marc, give it up and move on.

FR,

Dunn is one commissioner in 5 (currently 4). He does not make decisions on his own. He cannot and does not. Check the record.
All the commissioners agreed that the complaint had no merit. Not just Dunn...you want to give him more power than he has simply because it suits you purpose.

There are really only three commissioners right now because, if you look at the voting records, Commissioner Pfeifer votes the same way his mentor, Greg Dunn, does on almost every single vote.

Whatever personal is going on here it should remind one of our national problems in this area. Such as: spreading democracy in an Arab world, especially a rich Arab City like Dubai (UAE). We apparently work very, very closely with them so they will refuel our ships, park our bombers, and entertain our soldiers, and, and....do bank things we like. Blackmail in other words. Our two Senators and some of the same ilk in Congress went running over there recently to apologize for us not wanting such people running our ports.
I don't know if these Emirs are Sunni, Shiite, or Kurd, or just rich, but we don't need them right now. Maybe we can convince them to allow voting soon!
They also control a lot of Bush's debt and have the third biggest oil reserve. Are you beginning to get what happened?
The Tilman affair is another "ethics" thing. Officers all the way from Lt. to General covered up this fiasco. (football player trying to make a name for himself). Who is teaching our officers?
A serious shooting in the chest and head by the vice president, surely an accident, was not reported in time for alcohol to be checked.It is normal practice after lunch at these bird ranches to drink heavily before going to the field in a car or truck. Vice-Presidents have no more rights than I do. The "mission" certainly hasn't been accomplished in my estimation, but of course it is someone else's fault, and who could forsee such problems? They were forseen, but certain idiots wouldn't listen. Can we make it three more years, I don't know.

I totally don't understand what this last post was all about, Highgreen. Maybe the thread was trying to say Greg Dunn was going to sell our ports to the Arabs? Really, lets try to stay on the topic please. Don't confuse your hatred for Bush with Greg Dunn. Bush hating and Dunn hating seem to be real hobbies for some folks.

By the way, I take great offense to your comment about Mr. Tillman "trying to make a name for himself." He gave the full measure selflessly, wearing our nation's uniform to insure the rights of all of us, including hateful belligerent liberals such as yourself to belittle our President, generally moan about any and everything in this country and level your silly conspiracy theories. The way he died, regardless of what happened, is a tragic thing and something to mourn; its not something to use to get in your ugly political digs.

Your wild eyed tangent and your lack of coherent logic leads to me to believe, Highgreen, that you may be "high" on something. Maybe you overdosed on the Michael Moore KoolAid.

Hey Kid,
"High" is ranting about cover-ups and blackmail... Maybe he's trying to tell us that Dunn is being "blackmailed" to "cover-up" Pullium's ethics violation??