Mr. Conley: I absolutely if I have to get permission to talk to a Dept. Head? I am still confused on what conversation to listen too? We are constantly scolded for going to a Dept. Head, you are saying don't talk to him?
Ms. Smith: I am not sure what Dept. Head you are referring too, but today got a call pertaining to the PD. I know for a fact that Police Chief would have answered that question, but he was not asked. He could have answered much quicker.
Mr. Conley: So I contacted wrong person?
Ms. Smith: You are asking Police information?
Mr. Conley: I was just asking numbers and nothing to do with finance, just numbers?
Ms. Smith: Police Chief could have easily answered that.
Mr. Conley: Have never worked with any company that you did not go to H/R to get those questions answered?
Ms. Smith: You need to go to Police Chief to get those answers.
Mr. Conley: You go to H/R because that is what H/R does.
Ms. Smith: I am just saying.
Mr. Conley: That is H/R, that is what they do.
Ms. Smith: Now you are saying you have to have permission to contact Dept. Head. You could have contacted the Dept. Head and got whatever information?
Mr. Conley: Stephanie (Broffman), Dept. Head for H/R. That is where questions go.
Ms. Smith: If yo have a conversation with Police Chief, you will get more information than anything you want to know.
Mr. Conley: That would only be in the City of Vienna.
Ms. Smith: Why didn't you reach out to him for information on Police Dept.?
Mr. Conley: I asked for employee numbers and that is an H/R issue.
Mr. Rapp: Let me explain this so you understand the logic behind this Roger. (From this point on, if one is paying attention, one will find where Mr. Rapp is spinning and outright lying to Mr. Conley. I noted earlier that if one challenged long time employees, they would circle the wagons against the new person. This has and is clearly going on. We have people who do not know what their job is and accordingly do not do it. When challenged, there is suddenly a "hostile work environment"? 1. It is apparent that the City Administration is more in chaos than organized at this point? Asking questions of Dept. Heads on subjects that they should be doing and don't know how is hardly a "hostile work environment". 2. I for one am firmly of the opinion from speaking to some of the higher ups at the State Auditors Office and reviewing the paperwork that I have been able to obtain from the City, that the financial documents while as I have noted all the numbers add up, do not appear to be in the right places? I could go on and on in defense of some of Mr. Conley's positions, but as you will read, this is a very long posting.
But note that in the last few Council Meetings there have been almost no Dept. Heads for any Council Member to ask questions of if they wanted too.? This is NOT by accident). As we explained in our last meeting, we have an issue in one of our Dept.'s right now. Where we are short handed because an employee is off. Due to the overwhelming amount of paper work, I asked that you go to Mr. Leach. Now the Dept. Heads in the City of Vienna have all been here with the exception of Chief Pifer, have been here for an extended period of time. They run this City better than anyone can do it. Craig Metz knows more about Public Works than anyone. Ami Roberts has been here for 32 years. No one understands budgeting and all that. Steve Black was Finance Director before Parks Director and has 25-30 years with City. All have vast amounts of knowledge and problem is I have a responsibility to protect Dept. Heads from what I consider at times to be creating a hostile environment (First time). Where these constant accusation and innuendos of things that are not transparent. Our Financial Audits for over 30 years have been the best in the State of West Virginia. We pay money to the State Auditors to come here because they are the best there is.
Others have outside Auditors and they got the State Auditors for Review. We go to step one. If you want to say things are in the black and not transparent. Fact of the matter is that I am not going to allow someone to go to a person who has worked for the City for many years and badgered for the sake of being badgered. Will not let that happen. Will not have long term employees look at me and say I don't have to put up with this. I'll quit and it has happened. (Only Dept. Heads that have left was Mr. Black to go down to County with Mr. Stephens and Mr. Harris who I questioned left either to make room for Mr. Black to return OR due to internal problems with the Sports Programs)? We have policies in place and people who can get you answers. I wish every Council Member spent more time in their Departments so they understand when it comes to budget time. When Cathy (Smith),(Police), comes and says we have 3 cruisers that are over 100K miles and we have to get them replaced. Or Roger (Bibbee) (VFD), says we have a Ladder truck that cost a million replace and we need to do a repair, so it will be good for the next 20 years. That is info you get from your Department as you learn how it works. I am liaison to Public Works and know more about how it works than anyone except Craig (Metz). He is so knowledgeable.
I am not picking on you, I have known you for 30 years. I am telling you that there are long term employees who do not appreciate it when their integrity is questioned and I am not going to let us lose all of the Senior Dept.. Heads we have putting up with which I consider to be a hostile work environment (Second time).
I have a responsibility to the City that Chief Pifer, Chief Scholl, Craig and all the Dept. Heads that built this City come to work each day. That they enjoy their jobs.
Mr. Conley: It sounds like you are insinuating that I have created a hostile work environment (third time) with some of these Dept. Heads? I would like to have a meeting with them and you. It has never happened. I have treated any of them with anything but respect.
Mr. Rapp: I never said that, if you want a meeting, I can sit down with you and do that.
Mr. Conley: You just said you instructed the H/R person not to give me the information because you did not want to subject them to a hostile work environment (fourth time), and they were instructed to go to Mr. Leach. I have the E-mail.
Mr. Rapp: No you don't. It is so easy when you put words into a sentence. My exact words were "Mr. Leach is taking care of all of these details. It is better to go to one department, one person than have six different people to insure your questions or anyone's"?
Mr. Conley: So we don't go to the Dept. Heads than?
Mr. Rapp: No you don't, you are welcome to go as Cathy said and have a conversation about the Police Department. I am sure Chief Pifer would welcome that?
Mr. Conley: But you just said no I don't.
Mr. Rapp: No, I am just telling you that if you want specific answers and you put them in writing, I will give you an official answer back which is what you asked for.
Mr. Conley: We need to have a meeting.
Mr. Rapp: You want to have a meeting, we can have a meeting.
Mr. Conley: Lets do a Town Hall, just you and I.
Mr. Rapp: I am not going to discuss this in Public. You have issues you want to talk about, lets do it. I have nothing I would not say in a Town Hall.
Mr. Conley: Than lets do it?
Mr. Rapp: NO. You know it gets to the point where we have the greatest city of our size in the entire State of WV. We have accomplished so many things in past years that put us head and shoulders above every other town our size. I am tired of the back and forth bickering. I want to get along. I want to be part of this governing body. I am proud to be part of that.
Mr. Conley: You send out an E-mail telling the Dept. Heads not to answer my questions.
Mr. Rapp: Read my answer, it is exactly as I said.
Mr. Conley: I have been instructed by the Mayor that all correspondence be sent to Mr. Leach. That way everything gets answered in the same manner.
Mr. Rapp: That is exactly what I said, not what you said.
Mr. Conley: So if a Dept. Head gets anything from me, they ae to come to you to see if it is answered or not?
Mr. Rapp: It will be answered exactly. But if you want to contact someone, Mr. Leach or myself. I prefer to have Mr. Leach do it because he is very well versed. You got your answer and that is what the important thing is. (Mr. Rapp has just tripped all over himself, yet again. He just loves to dig and dig). So we have four (4), instances where a hostile work environment was implied or inferred. I have noted where in many of the recent Council Meetings, many of the Dept. Heads were not in attendance to be asked questions? This is supposedly the only time Council can ask questions? For those who are not blindly drinking the Kool Aid, this is where Mr. Rapp has shut down the City Government by not allowing the Council to question what is going on? Again, if they be it the Dept. Heads and most especially Mr. Rapp does not want something known and in the open, they will and have shut down the City to the Public?
Mr. Conley: Yeah, I did, but we all know it is another of your games I'm done.
There is of course a Council Meeting tonight. "nuff said'.