[Vision2020] city staff

[Bill London]

Looks like the Mayor’s support for the megaloads protest got the cops and other staff grumpy. BL

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Moscow city employees have some unkind words 
By JOEL MILLS of the Tribune | Posted: Friday, April 13, 2012 12:00 am 

MOSCOW - Moscow officials defended themselves Thursday against an anonymous survey of city employees that revealed widespread disapproval of the mayor and, to a lesser degree, the city council.

The survey - commissioned by the city's human resources department - included 94 employees from all departments in Moscow government, including police. The results were obtained through a public records request by the Lewiston Tribune. 


In answer to a question about Mayor Nancy Chaney's support of city employees, 31 percent rated it as "poor," and 27 percent as "fair." Twenty-eight percent rated her support as "good," 2 percent as "excellent," and 12 percent answered "unknown."

The city council fared better, with 14 percent giving it a "poor" rating in terms of support, 24 percent "fair," 42 percent "good," 6 percent "excellent," and 14 percent "unknown."

Chaney said she was "certainly disappointed" by the results and the comments included in the survey.

"I'm trying to do the best job I can, and clearly there's some ill will or dissatisfaction harbored by some city employees," she said.

Some of the animosity is probably due to a lack of personal communication with city employees, Chaney said, and the breakdown is a byproduct of having a city government structure with a supervisor between the mayor and rank-and-file workers.

"I don't interact with them on a day-to-day basis," she said, noting she sometimes does check on employees in their various locations around town. "I think the system is kind of broken, in terms of direct communication, which is my usual style. But I don't have enough hours in my life to do that."

Sixteen employees chose to make comments. They included accusations that the mayor is "disconnected from the reality" of what employees do, and that she looks down upon employees as "servants." (Spelling and grammatical errors have been corrected in quoted comments.)

"This mayor has brought a mean spirit and a condescending attitude to the position," wrote one person. "She really only cares about her own political future and agenda, even though she says otherwise."

Chaney said such harsh comments should be taken with a grain of salt.

"I cannot control the people who presume I'm a ladder climber, or that I'm insincere, or that my motives are somehow questionable," she said. "I can only do the best that I can do, and assure people that I am genuine in my motives."

While the survey was anonymous, it was clear some comments were from police officers, especially those concerned with Chaney's presence at the protests of megaloads of oil refinery equipment that passed through Moscow over the past year.

"The mayor is political by nature, and her antics are at odds with the department at times," one officer wrote. "She is extremely liberal and she showed it on a couple of occasions during the megaloads. This put her at odds with the department in trying to ensure the safety of all involved."

Chaney said her attendance at the protests was part of her duty to monitor such events in her city.

"As mayor, I think it's reasonable that I'm witness to the activities that I also perceive as threatening to my community, or to our planetary existence," she said, referencing her general opposition to the extraction and use of fossil fuels.

But she said she frequently stood with the police during the protests, and actually had a moderating effect on the sometimes-rowdy behavior of some protesters.

Other comments said Chaney pursues pet projects that draw city employees away from the jobs they were hired to do. Chaney said she suspects that may be a reaction to several of her initiatives, including the introduction of healthy food into city facilities and the formation of a citizen commission to fight poverty.

"It's not such a far-fetched idea," she said of the healthy foods initiative. "Other cities have figured out how to do this. But the pushback from the status quo is, 'Yeah, we have an employee wellness committee, but we really don't want you to mess with our vending machines or what we serve in our parks and rec facilities.' "

And she said her antipoverty work is far from a pet project. "That's significant for our whole community, and government has a role in that. But I get pushback for those sorts of things."

Fifteen employees made comments about the city council, and many complained about a lack of support.

"They do not give a crap about staff," one person wrote. "It is amazing how petty and immature the group of adults are that run this city."

Another criticized councilor Wayne Krauss for saying during a budget workshop last year that city employees should be happy to have a job.

Krauss said the statement was taken out of context.

"The comment that I made was that our biggest goal was to not have to lay people off," during tight budget years, he said. "At least the city of Moscow has been able to maintain an employee base."

Some city employees are unhappy that they haven't seen a raise in three years, Krauss said, but the city council is unwilling to raise property taxes to fund any increases. He added that he thinks Moscow has "tremendous employees who are very, very dedicated."

Chaney and City Supervisor Gary Riedner said the survey was more negative than any they could remember. Riedner said the last one was done in 2007, and that the city should conduct them more often to gauge staff morale.

He said one of his greatest concerns was so many employees feel buried under their job responsibilities. While 52 percent of employees rated their workload as "manageable," 39 percent called it "heavy," and 9 percent called it "impossible."

"Those are all things that make a difference to how workplace morale is, and how much work you can get done," Riedner said of the workload issue, describing it as a function of employees being asked to do more while city resources have declined. "We're all having to incrementally tighten our belts, and at the same time, people are demanding more services."

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Mills may be contacted at jmills at lmtribune.com or (208) 883-0564.
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