Interim Lindsay City Manager William “Bill”
Zigler said he is confident council members will follow the recommendations the
Tulare County Grand Jury issued about Brown Act laws and deciding on combing
high-level positions.
“I don’t see any issues [on them following
them],” he said.
In a report, the Tulare County Grand Jury
recommended Lindsay council members familiarize themselves with open meeting
laws and procedures for conducting municipal business. Also, the grand jury
recommended Lindsay council be more deliberate when considering combining key
managerial positions.
The recommendations stem from an investigation
kicked off when complaints were received last year. The investigation included
interviews with those who made the complaints and additional witnesses with
information about the instances.
Zigler said council members will have a formal
response within the requested timeframe.
“They have 90 days,” he said. “They just got
them on March 18.”
On the report, the grand jury found as facts:
• After the resignation of the city manager in
November 2010, the then-police chief was appointed to the position, combining
the two administrative spots.
• The Tulare County District Attorney’s Office
headed an investigation of open meeting violations by Lindsay City Council.
• On at least two occasions, no more than two
council members met in unofficial meetings at private meetings to discuss
employee union matter. There was no quorum on any known instances, the grand
jury said.
• There were complaints and allegations of
city officials’ misconduct, including collusion, cronyism, nepotism and
harassment.
• The city reached high-cost employment
severance settlements with several employees over termination, more than
$400,000.
• Lindsay council imposed employee furloughs,
claiming financial constraints.
In reporting the investigation’s findings, the
grand jury said the combination of the two positions created a problem.
Additional findings also addressed the city’s financial troubles stemming from
the employees’ settlements and reported a lack of evidence for violations of
the Brown Act.
In the same reports, the findings were:
• The combination of the city manager and
police chief positions critically weakened the checks-and-balances with regards
to personnel issues. This eliminated the division of authority to more than one
person and position.
• A number of costly employee settlements
resulted from the aforementioned combination of these two positions.
• Some city officials were involved in
discussions over union issues at private residences and outside parameters of
established procedures.
• The cost of the employee settlements
contributed to the city’s poor financial condition and the necessity to impose
employee furloughs.
Zigler said Lindsay council did what other
small Tulare County cities, Farmersville and Exeter, have done.
“It’s not a big problem,” he said.
There were employee settlements with former
City Manager Rich Wilkinson and police Lt. Brian Clower, Zigler said. There
were also employees who retired and received payment for their benefits.
March 29, 2016
Visalia
Times-Delta
By Luis
Hernandez
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