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Zephyrhills' no-gossip proposal toned down
By BRADY DENNIS
© St. Petersburg Times, ZEPHYRHILLS -- In August, City Manager Steve Spina proposed adding what quickly became known as an "anti-gossip" clause to the city's employee manual. A sample from his original draft: "Employees shall not criticize the city or its policies, programs, actions or officers or perform any acts or make any written or oral statements which tend to bring them into disrepute or ridicule. . . . Employees shall not gossip about any other member or employee to his or her discredit, whether the subject is true or false." A wave of criticism followed, from council members to columnists. City employees refused to talk about the proposal. Spina has since reworded the text to a kinder, gentler version that urges employees to treat co-workers with respect and to maintain a high standard of professionalism. Council members will discuss the addition at a workshop Monday at 4 p.m. But Spina remains irritated that his intentions were "grossly misrepresented," as he wrote in a recent memo. "I never really had a chance to talk about and explain it," Spina said of the clause. "We've had instances of people spreading idle gossip that has been destructive. My intent was to say that while you're at work, we have work to do. I was just trying to be sensible." Spina said he took the provision almost verbatim from the city of Tampa's employee manual. But Tampa's version, while similar, was born from an entirely different set of circumstances. It came about in 1987 in the midst of racial tensions throughout Tampa. In less than a year, professional baseball player Dwight Gooden, who is black, got in a fight with police after a traffic stop and was arrested. Four black men died at the hands of police. Black teenagers went on rock- and bottle-throwing rampages in College Hill. And white police officers were accused of routinely using racial slurs. USA Today, the New York Times and the Washington Post all wrote stories highlighting the problems in Tampa. Then-Mayor Sandy Freedman decided Tampa had to crack down. Part of her effort was to add language to the city's procedures and standards manual that would make any slur a fireable offense. The code was meant to eliminate serious insults, not harmless water cooler talk, as many people have said Spina's proposal would do. "It was in reference to the situation the city was having at the time with the African-American community," said Sarah Lang, Tampa's director of administration. "It was to make a point that certain types of conduct were not tolerated. I think it has had an impact (ever since)." Like Spina's version, the Tampa manual says that employees should not engage in offensive conversation about other employees.But the Tampa version says nothing about criticizing the city's policies or programs, or gossiping about another employee's actions even if the subject is true. Tampa officials clearly were targeting the city's racial upheaval: "The city has forbidden its employees the use of slurs, derogatory comments or any other physical or verbal conduct . . . based upon a person's race, color, national origin, sex, religion, handicap or age. . . . Recent events have demonstrated a need to restate the city's policy in these areas." Despite the differences in his proposal and the standard in Tampa, Spina says he was trying to maintain some decorum. He also hoped the policy would encourage employees to bring their complaints to an administrator rather than just griping to co-workers. "The idea was if you have a problem, to bring it forward, or else it won't get discussed," he said. "I wasn't trying to be Joseph Stalin; I just wanted to say, 'Watch how you act.' Maybe the wording was too harsh." Council members are likely to adopt the new, toned-down version at tonight's workshop. And that is fine with Spina. "I think the (new version) still gets at the gist of it," he said. "There's no sense in being hard-headed. It just wasn't a battle I think I would win. Some things just are not worth worrying about."
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