City staff to council: Butt out
Part of the obvious message from city employees to Greensboro City Council members: Butt out.
That sentiment surfaced in an employee survey that found that only 28 percent of employees agreed with the statement that the council cared about "the needs and problems" of staff.
In open-ended responses, employees said they wanted the council to stop sniping at each other. They also said wanted the council to stop micromanaging city staff and let them do their jobs.
The council pointed a critical finger at former Manager Mitch Johnson when it relieved him of those duties earlier this year.
Now it finds itself as part of the problem, too.
The employees have echoed what business leaders and others have been saying: that the council is overstepping into the day-to-day management of city staff, which is supposed to be the manager's job.
They'd do well to take that criticism to heart and stick to setting policy.
The next crucial assessment of their performance will come soon enough -- when voters have their say.
Comments (7)
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Update from Sara Williams, Labor Market Developer of the North Carolina
Employment Security Commission, on the Employee Opinion Survey.
Catering to Special Interest Groups:
◦ Playing politics to gain favor with a particular group.
◦ City council should stop working on pet projects and work on the
core services the city provides. Stop spending money on non-profits
and special interest.
◦ Stop catering to political action groups.
◦ Stop allowing special interest groups to influence decision making.
◦ Stop catering to special interests at the expense of the taxpayers and
employees.
◦ Allowing developers to run the city through city council.
◦ I feel that the CMO should stop catering to the whims of
developers…
◦ Showing favoritism with local developers, people with a lot of
money.
◦ Stop playing favorites with contractors and politicians.
◦ Stop trying to please every special interest group in the city.
As you can see the city employees are none too happy with the City of Greensboro in their total disregard for the citizens and catering to the special interest groups.
If you want a big example of how the Greensboro City Council caters to the special interest group all you need to do is look at how the Greensboro City Council handled the rights of the citizens in their denial of Protest Petitions for over 37 years and back in January they wanted the 2 sides one being the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition (TREBIC) and the other side which are the citizens of Greensboro along with the Coalition of Concerned Citizens of The Triad, League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad and the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress to meet at the last minute on a compromise on state law. To see the city council try to come up with this joke of a compromise on state law was such a obvious bow down to TREBIC and the special interest group. You can also note that this bill should have been passed last year in the short session because it was on their radar screen for over 3 months.The TREBIC special interest group lobbied hard for the council to do nothing and bombarded the state legislators with why the citizens of Greensboro should be denied this state law that every other municipality had the right to use in zoning cases.
Why don't we do another survey on just how many special interest group members are on all of these boards and commissions in Greensboro because last year it was said by Mike Barber at a council meeting in April 2008 that "TREBIC has been contacted and TREBIC has some interest". for that post at Protest Petition for Greensboro North Carolina blog.That post has to deal with the propaganda letter sent to our state legislators to deny protest petitions to the citizens of Greensboro.
Just look at what was said by the employees of Greensboro about the special interest groups, need we say more .Barber,Groat,Perkins,Small,Wade,Matheny,Rakestraw,Wells and Johnson
take your TREBIC blinders off and start working for the citizens of Greensboro.
Posted on April 22, 2009 10:17 PM
"That sentiment surfaced in an employee survey that found that only 28 percent of employees agreed with the statement that the council cared about "the needs and problems" of staff."
Let's take a survey on how many voters care about staff's perception of how much the council cares about their "needs and problems." Staff don't have needs and problems, or at least they shouldn't have them. Instead, they should have a can-do attitude and subservient disposition toward their democratically elected bosses. If these bureaucratic prima donnas wish to run the show, I suggest they apply for work at the UN, EU, or other acronymically designated madhouse.
In the meatime, I can guarantee any council member that, should he or she show the slightest concern for the needs and problems of staff, he or she will not be receiving my vote.
Posted on April 23, 2009 12:17 AM
I would assume they cared what city employees thought or they wouldn't have asked.
Posted on April 23, 2009 10:52 AM
The City Council is behind this survey?
Posted on April 23, 2009 11:17 AM
Yes, the council commissioned the survey and had input into the questions.
Posted on April 23, 2009 1:08 PM
As for whether it matters what employees think, sure it does.
Doesn't your workplace conduct employee surveys?
Posted on April 24, 2009 8:57 AM
I don't know if they do or not; if they do, I ignore them (probably they record this data and use it against you). But if asked about how I felt like my "needs and problems" were being addressed, I would respond that, as a lowly worker in the educational mines, I feel that it is not my needs and problems, but those of my superiors and students that, should be given priority. This goes along with my personal motto of "live for others."
Posted on April 25, 2009 12:02 AM