Palmer city employees to council: Cut the drama

Palmer’s interim city manager, John Diumenti, asked Palmer’s council to cut the drama and focus on business at the start of a special council meeting Thursday, Nov. 14. He said he was speaking on behalf of the city’s employees.

However, the drama continued.

Diumenti had asked to say a few words at the start of the Thursday meeting.

“The last few months have been very trying for us (the city’s employees). It has had direct effects on employees. Morale is down, and we are struggling,” Diumenti said.

He was referring to the continuing controversy and turmoil at the council after the Oct. 9 resignation of former city manager Stephen Jellie, which has become a huge distraction from the city’s business.

The council was unable to hold a regular meeting last Tuesday, Nov. 12, because an agenda couldn’t be approved, resulting in city business being delayed.

Business not being attended to including the 2025 budget, which must be approved in December.

“We’re trying to pass a budget and there hasn’t been much discussion of it,” Diumenti said. “We need to build a new library. It will cost $16 million and we have $5 million in hand. We’re still short $11 million.”

“We’re going to have to ask the community for donations,” Diumenti said. The continuing drama within the council is eroding confidence in the community.

Staffing has become a problem.

“We have 16 positions open among 77 city employees, a 20% turnover rate. We need to hire a new Human Resources director, and a new city manager,” he said.

With all the criticism within the council it is becoming difficult to attract quality applicants.

“I’m asking you to conduct your business with dignity and respect. Please, let’s move on,” Diumenti said.

However, as soon as Diumenti finished his remarks Thursday council member Victoria Hudson, who is new on the council, continued her criticisms of Mayor Steve Carrington, asking why he went to outside legal counsel, an attorney in Ketchikan, to draft a separation agreement for Jellie, the former manager, and why it was done without involving the city’s contract attorney, Sarah Heath.

Carrington said that Health and Jellie had been at odds and he felt it appropriate that the separation agreement be drafted by a neutral party because Health was biased. The city has used the Ketchikan attorney previously, Carrington has said previously.

Hudson continued questioning the mayor on whether he had authority to act in retaining outside counsel without the approval of the council. Richard Best, a council member, said he had the impression that the Ketchikan attorney’s work to draft the separation agreement was a continuation of work under the previous contract.

Health, the city’s contract attorney, said that because drafting the agreement was a new task it needed council approval.

Carrington said previously he felt the city had to move quickly to get the agreement with Jellie in in place to provide protection against liability. He pointed out that the council had agreed unanimously to the agreement at an Oct. 9 special meeting.

Carrington has prepared a statement for the council’s Thursday meeting explaining his actions:

“At the end of the Oct. 8 regular city council meeting an emergency meeting was called by council for Oct. 9. After that meeting, two things were apparent to me. First, a majority of city council had difficulties with then-city manager Jellie. The second thing was that two of the employees that worked for the city council (Heath and Jellie) were butting heads in that public meeting,” the statement said.

“With this context, I believed it was wise to seek a neutral, third-party for questions I had for what process should be used for closing or ending a contract. I reached out to Attorney (Scott) Brandt-Erichson, an attorney I had worked with a few years before on behalf of the city with the investigation of the private facebook group issue.

“I asked Mr. Brandt-Erichsen if there was a standard agreement that could be used for ending a contract. He explained there was a ‘boiler-plate; agreement that most any lawyer could provide. I asked for a boiler-plate agreement that was (in) according to the terms of Mr. Jellie’s contract,” which allowed for termination, “for convenience” of the city.

“I emailed Mr. Jellie’s contract to Mr. Brandt-Erichsen.The boiler-plate “Separation Agreement and Mutual Release” was emailed to me on Oct. 9. I asked about how we would pay for this and Mr. Brandt-Erichsen said he would send the invoice to our city clerk. I said that would be fine and I would work with clerk’s office to complete any paperwork.

“With the estranged relationship between the city manager and the city attorney, I believed it wise to have a simple option in writing to end Mr. Jellie’s contract. I also thought it was important that it be drawn up by a neutral, third party. Mr. Brandt-Erichsen is an experienced local government attorney that resides in Southeast Alaska.

“Mr. Jellie was not involved in any way in the compiling of this boiler-plate agreement. This agreement was an option for the council to consider using. Since they voted unanimously to use it, it seemed like it was a good idea.

Council member John Alcantra weighed in at the Thursday council meeting with some criticism of the process and the separation agreement. Since Jellie was employed under a contract that allowed for termination there did not seem to be a need for an additional agreement, the one drafted by Brandt-Erichsen. He also criticized Mayor Carrington for not communicating effectively with all members of the council. “You tended to talk with two members of the council but left four others out,” of the loop, he said.

Hudson also said Thursday she had signed the separation agreement but only under “duress” after a stressful closed executive-session city council meeting of the council that day during which she said she was subjected to verbal abuse by unspecified people who were in the meeting. “I just wanted to get out of the room after three and a half hours of being yelled at,” she said.

She did not say who did the yelling (executive sessions are closed) but criticized others on the council, “for failing to protect the women in the room and not intervening,” she said at the Thursday meeting. Council member Carolina Graver (formerly Anzilotti) was also in the room.

Graver said she felt rushed in signing the separation agreement and did not have time to study or discuss it.

Hudson also contested Carrington’s statement that Jellie was not involved in the agreement. There had been a phone call the day before from Jellie to Brandt-Erichsen, the Ketchikan attorney, Hudson said.

Carrington said he was unaware of a phone call and said Jellie had no role in the drafting of the separation agreement, which a standard type of agreement used by attorneys. Hudson did not provide confirmation that a phone call had taken place or explain any details of it.

As the meeting wound down, city attorney Heath was asked to do research on the authority of the mayor and city council, and particularly whether the council has legal authority to remove a mayor. Carrington commented that he doesn’t see how this is possible since the law requires voters to elect a mayor, which implies that only voters can remove a mayor.

Heath said she would research the question but that it may take some time to complete a report.