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    Report of investigation into allegations against Fort Myers City Attorney Grant Alley

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    Read The Report: Investigation Into Allegations Against Fort Myers City Attorney Grant Alley

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    News-Press
    Report of investigation into allegations against Fort Myers City Attorney Grant Alley

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    COLEMAN, FIAZZARD, TAYLOR & D1Az, P.A. Steed Coe Damian © Tas Sonia M Dine Chena Me Torres Keuey Lacan tsk Po Watton October 6, 2017 VIA HAND-DELIVERY City Council, Ciy of Fe Myers City Hall 2200 Second Street Fort Myers, FL 33901 eat Counei! members: Enclosed please find our Report of the inquiry into certain allegations made against the City ‘Asiomey, Grant W. Alley. ‘The Report outlines the scope ofthe inquiry, and sets forth our findings, conclusions and recommendations in detail. The Couscil is Mr Alley's supervisor pursuant © Amicle Il, Section 24, of the City Chaster, and Mr. A ley's employment agreement, ‘We believe the subject of the Report requies the Council to deliberate and to decide on what, if any, aetion to take based on the Report. You will see that with respect to certain allegations, we ‘were able to reach conclusions and make recommendations. However, there were other issues raised by withesses which we are unable to resolve without additional substantial investigation, and we chase not to pursue further investigation of those issues a this time de to the expense and time that would be required, although we are avilable to do saat the Counel's request, Please note that there appears to be no exception to the Sunshize Law that would allow the Couneil, as a group, to deliberate over this Repon in private. Furthermore, under sections 119.071(2\X) and 112.3188, Florida Statutes, this Report and various information eoniained therein may be confidential and exempt from public records ta until the Council makes a decision about what action to take (ie, 10 impose discipline or not) andlor the investigation ‘eases to he ative. Inthe short em, the investigation may be deemed active until you decide how to proceed based on the Report. AAs a result, we recommend that the Council refrain from disclosing the names or specifies ‘of complaints discassed in the Report during your public mesting about the Report until October 6, 2017 Page 2 after you have decided what action if any, to fake. For the same reasons, we recommend that you not provide the Report toanyone until after the Couneil makes its decision about ‘what if any action to take. We understand that some may find this dffcal but i is the safest course of action based on thelegal authority cited above. Additionally, if you decide to take acion based on certain issues but determine that other issues need to be investigated further, the portion of the Report regarding issues to be further investigated may continue to be corfidenial and exempt from public records la, In oer words, part of the Report may become publi after you decide wial to do, while ther portions of the Report may remain confidential pending further investigation, if you decide further investigation is appropriate. Consequently, the Report may need to be reviewed by counsel ‘and redacted belore it ean be disseminated to anyone outside of the Count, ‘We will do our best zo answer any questions you may have about the foregoing or the Repor. Damian C. Tayler Sonia M, Dine REPORT FOR CITY OF FORT MYERS, 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ‘The undersigned law firm was retained by the City of Fort Myers ("City") to conduct sn independent ingury into complaints against the City Attorney, Me. Grant W. Alley, from other City employees. A member of Mr. Alley’s staff, Office Manager Tatum Walker, reported unprofessional and inappropriate conduct (“inappropriate conduc") by Mr. Alley to the Human Resources Deparment ("HR"). Around the same time, two ether City employees, Public Works Director Richerd Moulton and Lt. Rebecca Prince of the Fort Myers Police Department, reported inappropriate conduct by Mr. Alley to their supervisors, who in turn, reported the alleged inappropriate conduct to HR. The existence of suc allegations was then relayed to Mr. Alleys supervisor, the City Council (‘the Council.’ On August 7, 2017, the Council appointed Councilwoman Gaile Anthony a its representative te work with ouside counsel and BR during the investigation ofthe complaints against Mr, Alley. Tre undersigned firm was rettned to conduct an inguiy into the alleged inappropriate conduct. Mr. Alley took an earned leave of absence 50 the inquiry could be conducted outside his presence and appointed Assistant City Attomey, Terry B. ‘Cramer, to be in charge of day to day operations ofthe City Atomey's Office while Mr, Alley was ‘on leave, all to help preserve the integrity ofthe inguy. ‘Asa preliminary matte, itis important to note the the City was commended by many witnesses for its willingness to investigate claims of inappropriate conduct by high-level senior City employees. Inquiries like this, while offen uncamfotable forall involved, demonstrate the City’s commitment to maintaining a professional, efiient and positive work environment, consistent with the City’s Policies and Procedures. 1. SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION ‘The scope ofthe investigation, included, but was not limited to, the following: A Interviews, ‘The interviewer, Sonia M. Dizz, (“nterviewe individuals ("witnesses") interviewed the following 1. Tatura Walker, Office Manager, City Attome’s Office (05/23/2013 - eurent) 2. Adsliz Velez, Paralegal Il, City Attomey’s Office (0831/2012 - current) 3. Lt. Rebecca Prince, For Myers Police Department (07/09/1998 - ure) 4, Marva Kauth, Claims Examiner, Rsk Management, City Attomey's Office (10/23/2008 - current) Richard Moulton, Director, Public Works, (03/12/1990 -exrent) 6. Terence ("Terry") B. Cranir, Assistant City Atorney (01/12/2015 - current) 7. Stephen Ambers, Safety Officer, Risk Management, City Attorey's Office (11/14/2005 - current) "pagar Ordnance No 3679 pases in plc scion of th City Coane on Sapte 3,209 a pore by Abe eets ofthe Cay by spec leton on Noerter 5, 2018, elletve November 6, 2013, Seton 24 of as Cy (Chreswas amended to rovide at ine City Atorney shal be syprvsed by he Cy Come 8. Chelsey Lippke, Paralegal, City Attomey's Offic: (03/30/17 - curren) 9. Jackie Clay, former Paralegal Il, City Attomey's Office (9602/14 ~ 12/29/16) 10, Chief Derrick Digas, Fort Myers Police Department, (08/15/16 -cutent) 11. Grant W. Alley, ity Attomey (08/09/95 - current) 12 Ransll P. Henderson Jr, Mayor 13, Gaile Anthony, City Couneit 14, Teresa Watkins Brown, City Council 15, Michael Flanders, City Couneil 16. Johnny W. Streets, Jr, City Counel 17, Forrest Bans, City Council 18, Terolyn Watson, City Council B. Document review and legal analysis. Dunng the course of the investigation, the interviewer was provided with hundreds of pages of documents believed tobe potetially relevant to the investigation. The interviewer reviewed sll documents provided. Additionally, where. appropriate, Tegal analysis of selected documents and legal research was performed in order to ‘maintain compliance with local, tate and feral law anc any contractual agreements? C. Discussion of allegations with Mr. Alley. The interviewer met with Mr, Alley on Aug, 28, 2017 a 1:30 pan. and discussed the allegations against him in detail. The allegations included those ‘communicated to HR before the inquiry began as well as those communicated by other witnesses doring the inquiry, D. Mr. Alley's verhal response to allegations. Mr. Alley presented his verbal response tothe allegations to the interviewer on Friday, September 1, 2017 and Tuesday, September $, 2017, over the course of more than thirteen hours. Mr. Alley noted tat he was unable 1 access certain fon his City-issued computer which contain legal documents as well as “online archives” Microsoft Outlook, whieh contain older, archived exeails, Mr. Alley indicated his ability to participate inthe inquiry was hampered aa result, These complaints were relay to the Director Of FR, who discussed them with the City’s IT Department. It was reported tothe interviewer that while intially Mr. Alley may have been temporarily locked out of his eompater due 1o unsuccessful login attempts and that other employees were reporting similar problems, the City did not Implement any restrictions on Mr. Aliey's access toi les and drives. During his interviews, Mr, Alley provided the interviewer with hundreds of pages of City e-mails and memoranda which he ‘vas able to access, and which he requested the interviewer copy and read. Mr. Alley did not specifically identify any documents that he was precludod from preseting a8 a result of any Inability to accede certain drives and online rchives, Mr. Alley also requssted thatthe interviewer fobiain and reed the Freeh Group Intemational Solutions, LLC ("Freeh Group”) report and his Performance Evaluations. The interviewer has read all of the foregoing.” Me, Alley listed * Damian Taylor, wh elged nabor pions of his Reon, dé nol tend wines inerews reveal ofthe acu prove by wines. Ho, however pact te malo Mls employment apeitn, (iy poli an fel ate aa federal law apie to hs ingsey wd the colons an esemenne te forhbeow "Trapper that Mi Alley i ot proce tothe designed al oft doors reference inhi espns, howeve based cn Mr, Aly’ cecition ofthe documents ad the abject mater thy rene tte unig doe sotbleve the conte fhe decanents would ser he Sein or eeommendtinns contie hte. 2 numerous people he believed would speak favorably of him, including but not limited tothe current and several former Mayors, curent and past Courcil members, Cody Dulaney, Patricia Bors, [Richard Love, Cedric Hall, Joe North and Jacqueline Hubbard. it was not clear how most ofthe individuals listed by Mtr. Alley would bein a position to have knowledge relevant to the allegations against him, most of which occurred in the confres of his office andor in inte-departmentl ‘communications within the past year or so. Although he was afforded the opportunity to request that aéditional witnesses be interviewed, Mr. Alley deckined, citing his preference to forego additional interviews in the interests of time. Mr. Ale asked o see any written report provided to ‘he Council and asked for an opportunity to prepare hs own written response F. Additional witnesses and documents, There are more potential witnesses that could have ‘been interviewed and more documents thet could have been requested and reviewed by the undersigned. However, at various points during the inquiry, decisions were made to reasonably Timit the scope of the inguiry to avoid unnecessary expense and delay without unreasonably compromising the outcome. TIL INVESTIGATIVE FINDINGS ‘The findings ar listed below in bold and underlined Feadings, and where expressly noted inthe text below each heading, Reports fiom witnesses and other documents that serve asthe bases for these findings are also noted. le informatio the following: 1, Mrz Alley i a skilled and knowledgeable lawyer and dedicated public servant with sigificant responsibilities of great importance tothe City. Mr. Alley has no prior history of reprimands, and his personne file contains numerous commendations and glowing remarks fom former employers, Mayors, Councilpersons, outside counsel and others. Even those witnesses who ‘made credible complaints of inappropriate conduct ty Mr. Alley recngsized snd commended his Skill, Knowledge and dedication to the City. Mr. Alley’s dedication to the City was farther demonsrate by his voluntary use ofhis own paid tine off to allow this inguity to proceed outside this presence and his authorization of Mr. Cramer te oversee the operations ofthe City Atomey's office in the interim, to help preserve the integrity ofthe inquiry. 2, Mr. Alley routinely engages in inappropriate conduct towards Staff, The statements of the former and current City Attorney's Office employees subordinate to Mr. Alley who were interviewed (collecively, *Stafl) were remarkable in their exedibiity and consistency. The Stall Aid not always provide the sume examples oF use He sane words 49 deseive bev, but they expressed common patteras and themes outlined below. While expressing respect for Mr. Alley's knowledge, skill, intelligence and integrity, the entire Staff concurred, and the interviewer finds, that Mr. Alley has treated his own staff inappropriately. The inappropriate conduet has been ongoing, as opposed fo a series of discrete incidents, although as noted below, the severity and fEequency of the inappropriate conduct has increased within the pat six to twelve months. There is credible information thatthe inappropriate conduct displayed by Mr. Alley towards StofT is not merited by work performance, nor are the individuals subject to Mr. Alley’s inappropriate condvct coverly-sensitive or over reacting to legitimate erticsm. In fect, all Sta, and even Mr. Alley himself generally commended Staff, Thee is ered information that Mr. Alley teats the Mayer, Council and certain outside counsel differently than he teats his own staff ané most other City employees. This may explain the remérks of many Council members, who described their interactions with Mr. Alley as being signticanly more profesional and pleasant than those Aescribed by Staff. There is credible information that Mr. Alley significantly limits and controls ‘communications between his staf andthe Mayor, Couneil members, City Manager and Department esds. While there may be leptimate reasons for it this scenario has been cited by some witnesses as impacting the bility ofthe Council to observe Mr, Alley’ interactions with hie staff and assess his management sil communications with Staff, Although different Staff may have used different adjectives and sometimes provided different examples to describe Mr. Alle's behavior, there were mumerous issues commonly reported by Staff which have been found to exist: 1, Mr.Alley hasan overly dictatorial management sive. Mr. Alley's management style is overly dictatorial. His communications with Steff and mast others outside the office (except for the Mayor, Council and certain outside atiomeys) are percaived by Staff as heing unilateral communications where you listen to Mr. Alley, but Mr. Alley does no listen to you. Some Staff fel that Me. Alley atempts to conteol by fear and reyrimands staff the way’a dysfunctional parent scolds a child. Others described is management styl a requiring submission, b. Mc. Alley inappropriately reprimands employees - including stiereys — in the presence of their peers, or by email enpying their pers and City employees fiom other departments, All Staff complained of Mr. Alleys habit of reprimunding employees, including attomeys, inthe presence of their peers, or by email copying other staff members and sometimes other City employees. Some examples, which were corroborated by more than one Staff member, ince: i. Im April of 2017, Me. Alley loudly reprimanded Mr. Ambers for fling to submit his mileage logs inthe presence of ether Staf, tock his City-owned ear keys and required him to chock his keys in and out with the office manager every time he wanted to use his City vehicle, Mr, Ambers is a senior Stff member with a history of postive performance reviews, This ‘was the first time Mr. Alley had ever addressed any deficiencies in Mr. Amber" mileage logs Mr. Alley was given advance notice vesbally and by email of a June 23, 2017 meeting between Ms, Walker and two individoals from the finance department in the law ibray inthe City Attomey"s Office, but did not indiate any interest i attending, Mr. Alle then ‘interrupted the meeting, loudly and stemly questened why Ms, Welker was in the meeting, demanded to be in the meeting, then stated he neodsd the law librery and made everyone leave ‘This incident was witnessed by several Staff members who commented on Mr. Alley's rudeness, and how embarassing the situation was for Ms. Walks. ii, One of Ms. Walker's projects was improving the City Attorney Office's system of tracking Requests for Legal Services (*RFLS"). A meeting was coordinated with the IT Department inthe law libeary, and Ms. Walker was scheduled to atten, along with Mr, Alley. Just, ‘fore the meeting began, inthe hallway and inthe presence of {T personnel and other Staff, Me; Alley publicly and sternly exchuded Ms. Walker ftom the meeting and told her Ms. Velez would be attending in her place. Ms. Walker was frustrated and embarassed, and Ms, Velez. was ‘embarassed about being injected into the situation iv, Several Staff members indicated that Mr Alley would send former Assistant City Attomey Kristalyn Loson' e-mails describing waat she did not do right, copying her colleagues, and verbally reprimand her in the presence of hor enlleagues. Other Stat reported receiving similar emails crested towards themselves or others, This was embarrassing. end frustrating fo StafE. Mr. Alley's emails to Ms. Loson were not provided or reviewed, but other e sails from Mr. Alley were provided and reviewed and were found to be consistent with the. ‘behavior complained of, ¢. Mr Alley inaporonratly reprimands Staff for thins outside oftheir contol and has vuredlistic expectations. Mr. Alley was described as frecuenty reprimanding Stff for things that they have no ability to contol, and for filing to meet unrealistic expectations. Some examples, hich were corroborated by more than one Staff member, inlude: 5, Loudly admonishing Ms. Clay in the presence of her peers for filing to reschedule a meeting when Ms. Clay was unable to read and aet on Mr Alley's e-mails demanding she reschedule the meeting because she was inthe law library, meeting with a witness to prepare and notatize the witness's affidavit (at Mr. Alle’s direction). Not only was Ms, Clay unavailable to receive and react to Me, Alley’s emails, but the meeing Mr. Alley wanted to reschedule had ‘been coordinated by someone else inthe office, and Ms. Clay did not have the contact information for the meeting participants. Even thoogh Ms. Clay aftempted to explain this, Mr. Alley dmonished Ms. Cay loudly, in font of her peers, questioned whether she knew wha her job duties ‘were, and told her thet he had to inconvenience er peers because she was not doing her ob. fi, Loudly admonishing Ms. Walker in the presence of her pees for filing to place a presentation on his schedule that Ms. Walker had never been advised of by Mr. Alley or lnyone else and had no knawedge of {il Hanging up on Ms. Lippke when he called to dictate a memo and she was not able to rea it to him immediately after he finished talking because she needed time to edit it as she tad taken the memo in short hand. Mr. Alley called back minutes ltr, questioning wy the task ‘vas not completed yet, noting that twas important, asking what she didnot understand, and stating they neaed fo be on the sume page. It was abvious to Ws. Lippke that Mr. Alley was displeased; hie wes very rude and very short. She noted that Me, Alley did not give her enaugh time; it was 20, minute tak tat he expected her todo in 2 minutes. 4, Eimployees, past and present, have been reduced (o tears at work because of the treatment they have received from Mr. Alley. I was reported thet employees, past and preset ‘were reduced fo tears on more than one oocasion as a result of the treatment they received fom Mi Alley. Ms. Clay and Ms. Walker were brought to tears cn numerous occasions as a result of Mr Alleys behavior towards them. This was confirmed by thir office mates, and it was also reported that other former employees had also cried inthe office as a result of Me. Alle’s behavior. Every Staff member was reported by one or mare of their peers as having been the recipient of “ie Losnrevened sry before he ini bees, sd ws conacld by he udesged tl decked o para inappropriate conduct by Mr, Alle. However, cesta employees, inchuding Ms. Clay, Ms. Loson and Ms, Walker, were generally reported as receiving more severe treatment fom Me. Alle than others, ‘5. Atleast one emplovee has left the City Attorney's office because of iaaporopriate sonduct from Mr. Alley: four others were reported as having Ieft because of Mr. Alley’s ‘inappropriate conduct, Several Sta members reported that Ms. Cay left because ofthe way she as treated by Mr. Alley. Ms. Clay conirmed this, stating that she loved the work and her office mate; the sole reaton she le was Mr. Alles inappropriate behavior. It was unanimous among the Stat? ho worked with Ms. Clay that she was Very bright, very protessional and a fantastic ‘employee, They could not understand wy Me, Alley treated her the way he did, and felt horible our it, but no one was comfortable enoegh to talk to Mr. Alley about the situation other than Me, Cramer. Ms, Clay indicated that Mr, Cramer offered to talk to Mr. Alley on her behalf, but she ectined because she was scared Mr. Allzy would treat Mr. Cramer the way he treated her if Mr. Cramer stood up for her. Several Stuf members reported that Ms. Lason lft asa result of the way she was treated by Mr. Alley. Staff reperted that former Assistant City Atomey Cody Vavghan- Birch and atleast tvo other former paralegals, Peula Greener and Susan Martin, left as a result of inappropriate conduct from Me. Alley. Tre interviewer has not canfrmed these reports with those former employees directly. 6. ‘There is dysfunction in the City Attorney's Office under Mr. Alley's management, ‘While the quality ofthe work produet of fe City Attorney's Office was generally perceived by all witnesses, including Mr. Alley, to be good, Staff credibly described dysfunction in the management ‘nd operation ofthe City Attorney's office that canbe categorized as follows @ Mr._Alley excessively mioromansges_in_a_way_that_undermines employees’ ‘confidence in their abilities and negatively impacts workflow, All Saf stated that Mr. Alley has to approve everything that goes out of the office but is rarely there to do it, This system was snalogized by Ms. Kauth as “like putting a hunicane though the eye of « needle,” and she and ‘other Staff described it as creating bottleneck resulting in a near stoppage of workflow, making ‘everything besome an emergency. The Staff's frequent inability to do anything without Mr. Alley’s approval combined with Mr. Alley's lack of availablity often puts Staff in an awkward situation: they either have to give non-committal responses (heeause they cannot obtain approval of a substantive response) which reflect poor on them, or make decisions without Mr, Alley's input and ron the risk of angering Mr. Alley. Wr. Cramer noted that he and Ms. Los often “fell onthe sword” and took blame for delay to avoid explaining that they were waiting for Mr, Alley's input. In spite of this, Staff commented thst it was rare for Me. Alley to make changes to their work; they perceived it to be more ofa contol issue. Mr. Cramer noted that while Mr. Alley may blame Ms. ‘Walker for problems with the Requests for Legal Services (*RFLS") process, the process was not “working because Mr. Alley would not assign RFLS, provide input or approve responses to go out it did not matter how many times Ms, Walker prompted or followed up; she tried everything she ‘could. i, By means of exainpe, Ms. Cay related an incident where the Chet of Police called and asked for Mr. Alley. Mr. Alley was unavailable, and the Chief asked for Assistant City ‘Attomey Loson. Ms, Cay asked Ms. Loson what todo, end Ms. Lason stid she would take the fall. Ms. Loson took the eal, found out what the Chief wanted, and sent a message to Mr. Alley 6 Without answering the Chie's question. Mr. Alley aggressively reprimanded Ms. Clay at length, tnd told her that when the Chief called it was her responsibilty to alert him tothe call and not to ass thecal on to Ms. Loson or anyone ese, Ms, Clay indicated that there were e-mails fom Mr. Alley to her evidencing this exchange. Ms. Clay noted, and other Staff confirmed, that they were seared to take ells, even ifthe calls were directed to them, The procede isto send Mr. Alley an mull saying "So-and-so has called what do we do?” Ms. Clay did not have copies of the aforementioned e-mails, but other Staff relayed similar experiences, and provided examples of e- ‘afl exchanges evidencing them, ii, tn anotuer example, Ms. Lippke explained situation where she had emailed 4 Ieter fom Mr. Alley to PGCS Claims Services, the City’s third pany insurance claims administrator, at Mr. Alley's request. In response, PGCS sent Ms. Lippke an email advising her of ‘the appropriate email address that new claims shouldbe sent to, and asked er to update her records accordingly. She replied, stating that she would update thar files to reflect the new email address, ‘Within minstes, Mr, Alley, who was copied on these e-mails, emailed Ms, Lippce and stated; “This fs ok but in future tke direction from me not someone outsie office. Check with me before you {allow outside destin.” Ms, Lippke thought that peshaps there was a problem withthe new email address, and asked Mr. Alle ifthe new email address provided was the appropriate address. He confirmed that it was, but explained that she was supposed to forward PGCS's email advising of the updated address ta him before responding to i In response to this particular ismue, Mr, Alley ‘explained to the interviewer that there was some tension hetween hs office and PGCS, he was ‘concerned that PGCS wes acing in its own interest, not the City's, and he wanted to review the contract with PGCS to confirm that that PGCS had complied with the tems of the contract in advising his ofice of the new address. It does not appear that this rationale was relayed to Ms. Lippe. , Mr Alley isnot sufficiently available to his employees. Staff repeatedly cited Mr, Alleys lack of availabilty, noting tha he isnot in the office often, and wen he is, he tends to go Airoelly o his office and close the doce, which automatically locks, Staff is generally hesitant to knock or cll Mr. Alley when he is in his offic withthe door closed, but when they do, mere often than not they are met with “not now,” “T'm busy" or some other expression of unavailability Several Staff members explained that on more than one occasion, they have attempted to tal to Mr. Alley about his lack of svaisbity and/or witnessed ther pers attempt to address t with him, Dut he denies it, and has told them that they’ are using hs lack of evsilebilty as an excuse or are not ‘uying hard enough (0 reach him. ‘The interviewer was provided with credible information to the contrary, including e-mails euining mumerous calls and e-mails from vavious staff members to Mr, Alley in attempts to bring matters to Mr. Alley’ attention, ©. Staff's inability o_eln_reslts_in_fnstration.embarassment_and_negative peeptions. Staff unanimously expressed frustration and embarrasement with the current system, Too often, ther work is done but they cannot ge it out tothe people who are waiting frit, Stal feels that they cannot do their job or help anyone under the current system. Mr. Cramer expressed concern that other departments perceive the City Attorney's Otice a ineffective and unelpil, and noted thatthe City Atiomey’s Ofiee is getting reciprocal treatment - people donot want to help the City Atomey’s Office when they need documents and information from other depattnens. The statements of Me. Moulton and Lt Prince cartborate these perceptions. 4. Mr Alley's communicstions ae often overly vague, eyptic andor eanfsing. Staff described Mr. Alley's verbal and written communications as frequently being overly vague, eryptic andiar confusing. Some Staff deseshed Mr. Alley at sending eal that ate incomprehensible Many Staff complained that Mr. Alley does not provide them with enough information to understand and complete tasks, and if they have an opportunity to ask for elrification, he gets upset, or responds hy repeating the unclear diretio, Staff explained that Mr. Alley's lack of clarity in communications frequently results in office-wide "think tanks” that are highly ineffective and time-consuming. The interviewer did not review any e-aals from Mr. Alley that were completely incapable of comprehension. However, the interviewer was presented with several examples of unclear and confusing emails, and Staff confirmed that it was not lack of femilirty With the subject matter tht might lead the casual reader tobe unclear or coofsed by these e-mails; the Staff member was equally confused when they received them - ether they were never provided ‘withthe necessary context to understand it, or it dié not make sense even with the sppropriste context, Many of the esmails ftom Mr. Alley that the interviewer reviewed (including those provided by Mr. Alley) were noticeably ess professional, less cordial and less clear than the e-mails fom his own or other City sta that Mr. Alley was esponding to. ©. Mr. Alley as created a percention that he doesnot value the input of Staff or anyone ‘other than the Mayor or Council, The Staff concurred in ther belief that Mr. Alley doesnot listen to or value ther input, Me. Alley was described by many Staff as going on “rampages" where he focuses excessively on an issue and talks in a stem and loud voice - characterized by some as yelling - but wil not listen to, or is not receptive to relevant information from ater, even when it ‘might help esolve the issue. Ms, Velez desribed an incident where Mr. Alley called her to tell her at length that she needed to perform a tas, when infact she had already done it but simply couldn't ‘get a word in edgenise to tell hima, Mr Alleys position with respect to department heads, City staf and his own tam was frequently described as being dismissive. It was noted that while the roe of the City Attomey includes helping department heads, Mr. Alley sends very entical emails 19 department heads copying their superiors, which donot appear intended to help. This was escribed as negatively impacting the relationships between the City Attomey's Office and other partments. Mr. Cramer expressod concem that people with valuable input are exchaded or ‘gored, resulting in decisions not being made, or being made without sufficient information andlor Without regard forthe fact. £ There is_a lack of defined roles and duplication of effort under Mr. Alley's leadership. Staff explained that when Mr. Alley comes in tothe office iti often a very chaotic, ‘all ands on deck” situation, The perception is that Mr. Alley assigns tasks to whomever he sees first, even if they have no knowledge ofthe case and someone else inthe office does. Many StafT ‘complained that the lack ofa cleat structure or hierarchy results in multiple people working onthe same task atthe same time, people working on tasks that have already been done by others, ar frantically working on things that are not relevant, which is inefficient and frustrating to Stuf. Many Staff members stated that everything i lst minute and an emergency with Mr, Alley, with fone senior Staff member commenting that when everything is done on an emergency basis, more mistakes occur, compounding the problem. Mr. Alle Xs res_and_ inconsistently applies procedure. Several Staff members complained that Mr. Alley changes ofice procedures constantly 8 and inthe heat of the moment without communicating changes effectively, resulting in inconsistent application of procedure, which could give the appearance of aritrery behavior. Without etermining whether there is valid motivation for changes in procedure or whether any truly arbitrary behavior resulted information fiom Mr. Moulton and Lt. Prince corroborates Staff's concems about changes in procedure andor inconsistent application of procedures in the City ‘Attomey’s Office creating an appearance of arbitrary behavior. b, Me Alley's behavior his created an atmosphere of tension, fear and disortes, The atmosphere at the City Attomey's Office was described by all Staff as one of tension, fear and chaos. Several Staff described loathing or being scared to answer the phone. If Mr. Alley is calling, they wonder “oh no, what is it now? Wha is he mad about?” Ifthe calle from someone else, they often feel they cannot help; they can only tke a message and let Mr. Alley know the person called and wait for direction. Mr, Alley's emeanor was described as all ange, all the time, ‘Mr. Alloy as fied to imalement a formal review ne otherwise provide consintive feta on emploves” pformanse, Attough mos have worked forthe City ‘Automey's Office for years, none of the Siaff ever had formal or substantive review by Me, Alley. ‘The only Staff who have had formal reviews are Ms. Kauth and Mr. Ambers. They were last reviewed by former Assistant City Atfomey and Risk Manager Mark Moriarty in 2012, and had very positive reviews. There are no reviews or comments, positive or negative, fram Mr. Ailey in the current Staff's personnel files except for afew e-mails discussed below. A senior Staff member commented on the lack of accountability in the office, citing the lack of reviews and lack of constructive input. Is also noted that Mr. Alley has not received formal reviews each yea. 7, Staff legitimately fears that expression of valid concerns, relevant information or tions oF seeking clarification will a on by Mr, Alley. The Suff all credibly described situations where they andlor ther peers had rooeived Adverse treatment from Mr. Alley after, and seemingly as a result of, expressing legitimate cconcems, sharing relevant information, reasonably asking questions or seeking clarification from Me. Alley, ineluding but not Himited to: &. After former paralegal Peula Greener asked Mr. Alley not to reprimand her infront other peers, Mr. Alley's negative treatment of her escalated, b. Former paralegal Jackie Clay explained she didnot complain, and concealed the tre Dasis for her resignation due to fear of retaliation by Mr. Alley. She farther note that she destined Mr. Cramer's offer to tlk 10 Me. Alley on her behalf because based on what she witnssed during det time inthe City Attorney's Office, she feared that Mr. Cramer would recive the same treatment she received from Mr. Alley if Mr. Cramer stood up for het to Me, Alley. © Several Staff members explened that while Mr. Alley ard Ms. Walker intially had ‘an excellent relationship, the relationship changed afer Ms. Walker tried to address what appeared to be legitimate concers with Mr. Alley and asked questions so she could better anderstand his rection. While the Staff described Ms. Walker as raising her concems and questions in a professional and appropriate manner, they noted that Mr. Alley’s treatment of her changed ‘markedly thereafter: he picked on her constantly for every litle thing; she could do nothing rit 4. Mr. Ambers described Mr. Alley's reprimand of Mr. Amber fr failure to submit a nileage log as being in retaliation for Mr. Ambers standing up for himself in response to unfair criticism fram Mr. Alley. Mr. Ambers explained that he had received emails fram Mr. Alley on & Friday aflemoon suggesting that Mr. Ambers was not properly executing his dies wth regards to maintaining AEDs. Me. Alley copied the Director of HR on these emails. In response, ler that afternoon and cerly the following moming (a Saturday), Mr. Ambers replied to Mr. Alley's email, copying HR, attaching @ memo which Mr, Ambers believed demonstrated that he was properly executing his Job dries with regards to AEDs. MF. Ambets suspected that Mr. Alley had forgotten bout the memo. Within hours (on a Saturday), Mr. Alle responded with e-mails reprimending Mr. Amhers fr failure to keep mileage logs and parking lot logs. While Mr, Ambers admitted that Ine had not been keeping mileage logs as Mr. Alley had directed, he noted thatthe mileage logs and parking ot logs had nothing to do with AED", and he had not heen keeping mileage logs for over a year and no one had ever complained, Mr. Ambers noted that he had received two reprimands from ‘Mr. Alley (onthe AEDs, mileage and parking logs) in a brief period of time, despite the fact that he had hed a near-perfet record with zero reprimands fom his previous supervisor, Mr. Marit, fot the prior decade, 8. Mr. Alley’s behavior has changed within the past six to twelve months. All bat one Staff member’ credibly reported thatthe iiues cited in subparagraphs 3 ~ 7 ebove have always ‘existed fo some extent during the terms of their employment, but the severity and frequency has markedly inereased within the pst sx to twelve months (fom the date of th interviews in Aug of 2017), 9, Current Staff have credible concerns about continuing to work with Mr, Alley after the inquiry is complete. The majority of current Staff expressed fer of resistion from Mr. Alley by virtue of their participation in this inquiry. Two Staff members Mr. Alley spoke favorably of stated that they didnot know if they could continue to work with him, Others indicted that they ‘would be comfortable continuing to work with Mr, Alley if various conditions were met, including, reassignment of risk management duties to someone other then Me. Alley, al issues complained of being resolved, and Mr. Alley completing management training and anger management taining ‘There was some concern that Mr. Alley is incapable of remedying the problems. One steff member Sndeated that they had been applying for new jobs asa result of Mr. Alley’s behavior towards them, Because they were concerned about unfair treatment by Mr. Alley, two Staff members stated that they maintained files of inappropriate communications fom Mr. Alley for future use before thie inquiry was announced.® One staff member was considering fling a claim against Mr. Alley, but decided against doing so for the time being for personal reasons. 10, Mrz All's response to the complaints from Staff did not diminish the eredibliy of wir complaints. Mf. Alley's response (othe complains from Staff didnot ater the interviewer's ‘evaluation ofthe credibility ofthe complains. Genezal observations. While Mr. Alley addressed the allegations rised by Ms. ‘Woelkor and ethor Sta, it wos not the focus of his responte. Me. Alley'sresponre wat often isorganized and rambling. Mr. Alley alternated between providing very detiled, extensive he Like washed on March 30, 2017 and was unble tpovie ay insight ob Mr. All's ond rete, "Those Sta meter ncetd tht they provide he ntrsiwer wih cope of th ct ie. 10 Toackground fnformation that was not necesssry for understanding the isues, and assuming that other, more relevant items were self-explanatory when they were not. He was often difficult to follow. Mr. Alley spoke rapidly. It was diffcat to interject questions or seek clarification. On ‘more than one occasion, Mr. Alley ignored the interviewer's question, and continaed taking as if the interviewer had never asked a question. Mr. Alley would occasionally refer to or read from documents he brought with him. The documents did not appear to be organized in any particular fashion. On more than one occasion, Mr. Alley's characterization ofthe contents or meaning of a document was not supported by the contents of the document. Me. Alley was very intense and became visibly agitated at times. Mr. Alley's respoase ilustrated some of the issues Staff complained of . Performance issues, Mr. Alley referenced performance issues with Ms, Walker and Mr. Ambers, and his discipline of Mr, Ambers, as potential sources of motivation for thet complaints against him. However, Mr. Alley admitted that Ms. Walker's performance never smenited any type of reprimand or discipline, and there is nothing in her personne file evidencing any performance issues. The only negative remarks about Mr. Amber’ performance are referenced ‘nother parts of ths report. Notably, even if ve, the performance issues cited by Mr, Alley wold ‘ot justify Mr. Alleys treatment of Ms. Walker and Mr. Ammbers as deseribed by credible witnesses, Other motivations. Mr. Alley noted thet he had asked Me, Cramer to resign from a leadership positon in a local erganization, and suggested he might harbor some resentment es @ result which could contrite to his willingness to complain about Mr, Alley. Mr. Alley also noted ‘hat Mr. Cramer and Ms, Walker ae friends and havea strong working relationship, mvch like the relationship Mr. Alley used to have with Ms, Walker. 4. Mo other improper motivations, Mr. Alley did not suggest any other improper motivation for the Stuff complaints described above and he cited no improper mative forthe statements ofthe four other Staff members. ©. Fon over Substance, In response to the complaints made by Staff, Mr. Alley initially indicated that he was not attempting to make light of the situation, but thought StafP's ‘complaints were “form aver substane,” and commented that pechaps he was “sbad manage.” Mi, Alley repeated the phrase “form aver substance" on more than one oecasion in addressing StafP's complaints. Mr Alley also suggested thatthe Sta could not handle the stress oftheir jobs. Whea asked if that statement applied to the entire Staff (whom he had previously described favorably), Me. Alley didnot espond, These comments, in combination with Mr, Ailey’ tone, body language 1nd focus on Me. Moulton and Lt. Prince's complaints, gave the interviewer the impression that Mr. Alley was dismissive of Staff's complaints, However, by the end of his response, Mr. Alley's tone towards the allegations raised by Staff had changed. In his concluding remarks, Mr. Alley stated that he cares for his employees. He said that he does not hold it agsint them that they have compleined about him. He indicated that he acknowledges ther peoeptions and neais tobe part of the solution. Mr. Alley stated that he wants to address the problems, he wants to improve, and he ‘wants staff to improve. His ideas to adéress the problems reported included mote delegation, greater delineation of responsibilities, cross-training and addtional resouress. Mr, Alley noted, and the imerviewer found it significant, that the City Attomey's Office staffing levels are virtually unchanged since 1996. Mr. Alley indicated that his office hs a tremendous amount of work and would benefit fom additional suppor, and particularly more atomneys. The latter point was echoed by several Staff. Mr. Alley noted that he had requested approval erie this yea to hire «fall time legal advisor forthe Police Depattment. 11.7 tion within the City Attorney's City Attorney has excessive conflicts with others outside of his ofice, The general consents of Safi tht Me Alley has conflicts with almost everyone outside the offce except for the Mayor, Council and certain outside atiomeys, and does not get along with many department heads. While Sta acknowledged that some confit is inherent in the work ther office does, Mr, Alley is pereived by Staff as constantly fighting with everyone over everything, some noting that if here i no fight, he ‘ill eeate one. B. ‘Theres conficting information regarding the following: 1 There is conflicting information as to ley has a Tegtimate bass to treat ‘Mr. Moulton differently than other department heads that is incapable of resolution without Turther significant investigation, ‘Summary of Mr. Maulton's Complaint. Ms. Moulton is @ twenty-eight year City employee and the eurent Direoor of Public Works. Mr. Moulton described Me. Alle as imposing Inurles to obtaining legal sdvice on im that he does not impose on everyone else. Mr. Moulton ‘complained to his supervisor, City Manager Saced Kazemi, about lack of response of untimely responses from the City Attorney's Office to his requests for legal assistance. Thereafter, it was reported that Mr. Alley refused fo talk to Mr. Moulton on the phone or in person (except in the presence of the City Manages) end made him submit his requests and questions to the City Altomey's Office in writing. He questioned whether Mr. Alley made Mr. Kazeni submit all 4vestions in writing when be was the Director of Public Works. Mr. Moulton also cited adversarial, ‘overly aggressive e-mails with inappropriate tone from Mr. Alley, and provided examples which could be fairly characterized as such. Mr. Moulton noted, and it appeared evident from their fave, that in some e-mails, Mr. Alley isnot providing guidance or advice, bat eppests to be admonishing ‘Mr, Moulton and his staff for not knowing things Mr, Alley thinks they should know, copying the City Manager, Mayor and others. Mr. Moulton was very profesional and deferential to Mr. Alley in his interview; at no point did he appear to display any malice or disrespect towards Mr. Alley. Mr. Moaiton emphasized tht Mr. Alleys behavior towards him negatively impacts Mr. Moulton’s ability to carry out his professional duties. He expressed concer about the ability of his department to succeed as a result, as well as cancers of personal liability. He would not speculate why Mr. ‘Alley was treating him diferently, but sated “T know the difference between someone who wants ‘me to succeed and someone wito wants me to fai” placing Mr. Alley in the later eategory. Near the end of his interview, Mr. Moulton made the following corament: “The City has a choice to make: is he (Grant Alley] too big fo not follow policy, be kind and helpful to people? IC he is, there's no place in the City for me.” b. Information fiom Other Witnesses. There is credible information from several Staff members that Me. Alley treats Mr. Moulton differently fiom other department heads, Staff confirmed that Mr. Alley raquires Mf. Moulton to communicate with Mr. Alle in writing, will not take alls ftom him, and will not meet with him. Mr. Alley was desribed by one Staff member as constnly “lambasting” Mr, Moulton to others, and another Staff member described a situation n ‘where, after making a comment that Mr. Alley pereived as critical bout the City Attorney's Office in Mr, Alley's presence, Mr. Moulton received heightoned negative eatment from Mr. Alle, Mr, ‘Moulion’s claian dha ciher department heads bave exer aceess to Mr. Alley 18 supported by comments of Chief Diggs, who described a more open line of communication with the City Attorney's Office. Chief Diggs stated that he is able o obtain answers to most of his questions with Mr. Alley verbally, either over the phone or in person, Chief Diggs sated that he is usally able to speak to Mr Alley right away or gets a retum call quickly, and Mi, Alley has never told hi to put his questions in writing. While Mr. Moulton did not characterize his complaint as one of unlawful conduct by Mr. Alley thete may be some risk thet it could take that form not resolved. Without investigating all of the sumounding circumstances and history, itis ficult to evaloate that isk. © Summary of Mr. Alley’s Response and Competing Retaliation Clsim, Mr. Alley devoted several hours of his response to Mr. Moulton’s allegations. In sum, itis Mr. Alleys position thet Mr. Moulton's complaints were made in retalition against Mr. Alley for making good faith complaints in furtherance of hs job duties about Mr. Moulton's management of various Public Works projets. He provided various examples of alleged misconduct by Mr. Moulton in a level of etal that eannot be fully explained here. IF tru, these issues could provide some legitimate justification for testing Mr. Moulton differently then other department heads. It appeared from his ‘demeanor, tone and comments that Mr. Alley displayed some hostility towards Mr. Moulton, This, ‘vas insta contrast tothe professional and deferential manner in which Mr. Moulton relayed his complaints about Mr. Alley to the interviewer. The same dichotomy was evident in the email ‘communications between Mr. Moulton and Mr. Alley that were reviewed in the course of this, inquiry. However, a few days later, Mr. Alley seemed to have reconsidered his position with respect to Mr, Mouiton, acknowledging that Mr. Moulton was new to his position, had tremendous fesponsibilties and tat some of the issues Mr. Alley complained of existed for many years before Mr. Moulton became Director of Public Works. Mr. Alley opined tha the sues with Mir. Moulton could be resolved, and indicated that a meeting between Me. alley, Mr. Moulton and Mr. Kezemi for tat purpose had been proposed prior to the inquiry Lis not possible to decrmine the merits of Mr, Moulton! ley’s competing

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