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Cramer: Don't fire Wortendyke
By Times Staff Writer
Published January 16, 2005
Ken Cramer retired Dec. 31 after 26 years as Pinellas Park fire chief. Before leaving, Cramer contended City Manager Mike Gustafson had tried to force him to retire several months before his planned date. Cramer returned to the city Thursday to speak on behalf of economic development director Bud Wortendyke at a prefiring hearing. Here is a portion of Cramer's statement.
"The current management philosophy allegedly encourages "thinking outside the box." However, the truth of the matter lays in the fact that that philosophy only applies in certain instances for certain people: Those who always agree with the boss. Those who have a tendency to have dissenting opinions quickly fall out of favor.
"In analyzing the situation, it is very apparent that while there have been denials of a ... "hit list,' it is very obvious that older, long-term, higher-salaried employees are being systematically intimidated and pressed to a point of great frustration in a not-so-subtle attempt to force them out. This employee is particularly affected by these age-related witch hunts since he is only two years from vesting in the city pension plan. His discharge is an unconscionable act since it will have a significant impact on him and his family due to his age and an inability to establish himself in other pension plans.
"This type of management is a cancer on the workforce. It stifles creativity and productivity and has substantially lowered the morale of those who work here. City Council only hears one side of employee issues. Innuendoes, half-truths and outright lies are fed to City Council members in a shameless manner designed to undermine the targeted employee who has no method to refute those statements. Threats of having a "blemish on your record' if you do not adhere to management dictates, regardless of their validity, are common.
"These same tactics were used against me until I decided to fight back. I decided that I was not going to roll over and run, and I am glad to see Bud Wortendyke has chosen to stand his ground also."
"The charges leveled against this dedicated employee are ridiculous and must be recognized for what they are: an attempt to reduce the workforce and fire an employee who refused to be "nitpicked' while performing the duties of his position. Bud's job duties dictate that he works with a minimum of specific guidelines. That fact makes him vulnerable to easy criticism for any real or imagined transgression of city policy and rules.
"Therefore I am requesting that Mr. Wortendyke be restored to his position and these scurrilous allegations be removed from his personnel file and that City Council take a long, hard look at the manner in which the city is being managed or mismanaged as the case may be."
[Last modified January 16, 2005, 00:33:22]
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