On Tuesday night the Council will consider whether to give City Manager, Bill Workman a pay raise. This will be a litmus test of whether the City Council cares about City workers. In November, all six City employee unions joined in an unprecedented move to send the message to City Council that City workers, firemen and police have "no confidence" in Bill Workman's management and leadership abilities. The vote was overwhelming with a 98% vote of "no confidence".
Given this overwhelming vote by the entire city staff that works under him, the Council's decision should be a no-brainer: you don't increase the pay of a manager who has alienated his entire workforce. But while you and I can see this, several of our Council have developed personal relationships with Mr. Workman that are likely to cloud their judgement.
In a recent conversation with Councilman Ginsburg, he downplayed the vote by City Workers. He tried to repaint it that the city staff just wanted a pay raise. He also tried to downplay the 98% by saying not everyone in the union voted and that they were pressured to vote against Workman. You can see the voice track developing already. Obviously, Mr. Ginsburg did not really listen to Brad Sweatt, who spoke for all six City unions and their members at the Council meeting where he presented the results of the no confidence vote. This goes beyond their pay... City workers feel that Mr. Workman has created a hostile work environment for City staff, ruling through threat and intimidation rather than through fairness and respect. Or perhaps Ginsburg did hear the message and is now trying to "spin" events to justify his support for the City Manager.
BBR joins our city staff, firemen and policemen in calling for Workman's ouster. He treats residents with as much disdain as he does the City workers, maybe even more. Here is my article documenting my experiences with Mr. Workman. We encourage all residents to support our City staff in their "no confidence" vote.
It is actually a farce that the agenda item even contemplates a raise for Mr. Workman. With a 98% no confidence vote, the Council should be voting for him to pack his bags. Tuesday night will be an indicator of the level of the cronyism in City Hall.
