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Wary eyes are trained on development department

The city manager says he won't tolerate further tomfoolery after a spate of unprofessional behavior led to suspensions.

By CRISTINA SILVA
Published April 8, 2007

GULFPORT - One employee forwarded his coworkers e-mails with images of scantily clad women and racist jokes.

Another was told she needed to learn to work with her temperamental boss after she complained that she was afraid of him and that he made her cry.

The Gulfport Community Development Department is under scrutiny by the city manager after a recent investigation revealed staff members were falsifying time sheets, routinely engaging in unprofessional behavior, and not fulfilling job responsibilities.

Last month, two employees were temporarily suspended without pay. Fred Metcalf, who runs the department, was told he needed to keep a stern eye on his staff.

The investigation revealed mismanagement and dysfunction in one of the city's most active branches and raises questions about whether these conflicts could potentially harm the department's ability to do its job and serve the public.

The department's stressful work, which includes enforcing code regulations and handing out building permits that residents generally resent, creates an environment ripe for friction, said City Manager Tom Brobeil.

"The problem is you can't allow it to get out of hand," he said. "We are letting everyone know you are here to serve the public, and everything else is inconsequential. If I found out there are any shenanigans in that department, there will be another investigation."

Brobeil said he had received two complaints in a week from contractors who claimed the department had lost documents.

Some department employees said they feared retribution by their managers and declined to comment.

The investigation began in late February after the city's payroll staff discovered that building inspector Ron Felicita submitted time sheets indicating hours worked on five days when he was actually absent.

Felicita's sister had been gravely ill, and his supervisor gave him permission to miss work. Felicita, who has only been working for the city several months, claimed he did not know how to fill out the time sheet correctly when he was out of work, so instead wrote that he had been present, according to the investigation report.

A review of other staff members found that the department had an unofficial policy of allowing its employees to be flexible about what they wrote on timecards. For example, an employee who worked overtime on one day could come in late the next while filling out the standard eight hours for both days on their time sheet.

Metcalf said this practice would no longer be allowed, and employees would have to fill out time sheets accurately.

In the investigation, staff members also found out Felicita had been sending other employees, including his supervisor, e-mails that violated the city's Internet policy. One subject line on an e-mail contained: "how to tell if you are in a gay bar" - which featured a naked lithe women standing alone.

When staff members complained about the e-mails to Heather Lucas, Metcalf's administrative assistant, she did not report the incident because she said she thought Felicita had stopped sending the e-mails, according to the report. Lucas was reprimanded for not catching the time sheet error and not reporting the e-mails.

Building official Darrel Hill, Felicita's supervisor, said he had not seen the e-mails because he couldn't open them, according to the report.

Felicita was suspended for one week without pay for the e-mails and another for falsifying his timecard.

Hill also was suspended without pay for a week for not stopping Felicita from sending the e-mails.

Both will have to attend a sexual harassment workshop and hostility in the workplace training at their own expense, Brobeil said.

Hill, who has worked under Metcalf for about a year, also was told he needs to learn to curb his temper.

Several employees said Hill had "numerous outbursts where he clenches his fists, turns red in the face, and yells," according to the report. Two female employees said they were afraid of him, and one said Hill had made her cry.

Hill said the stress of the department was getting to him, according to the report.

"I don't believe they were thinking when they did it," Metcalf said of his staff's indiscretions. "We don't expect this to happen again."

Cristina Silva can be reached at 727 893-8846 or csilva@sptimes.com.

[Last modified April 7, 2007, 22:19:24]