“I will do anything that is basically covered by the law to reduce Berkshire’s tax rate,” Buffett told an audience in Omaha, Nebraska this weekend. “For example, on wind energy, we get a tax credit if we build a lot of wind farms. That’s the only reason to build them. They don’t make sense without the tax credit.”

http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/06/warren-buffett-i-build-wind-turbines-to-lower-my-corporate-taxes/

•  Here is a compilation of comments left by readers in response to “WHAT’S PAST IS PROLOGUE” article by Jim Stiles, as of February 9, 2016. We will update this page as more comments are posted.
  

  To read the article:  http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2016/02/01/whats-past-is-prologue-three-small-towns-their-common-bond-city-manager-rebecca-davidson-by-jim-stiles/

   

  Julianne Waters

  February 1, 2016 at 12:10 pm

  Hi Jim – this is a very interesting article, filled with exhaustive research. I echo your misgivings about this situation and the various players involved. I am of the ilk that ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire’. I humbly ask any of the persons involved to respond to your questions, a few of which are:

  “When the Moab City Council moved forward to hire a new city administrator, what were the qualities in Rebecca Davidson that made her the council’s choice among 57 applicants?”

  and

  “With that in mind, how did the city properly vet Ms. Davidson? Did the city ever receive the copy of the “supplemental audit from the Town (of Timnath),” mentioned by city recorder Stenta? According to Stenta, the document “cleared (Davidson) of any allegations or wrong doing” Was that document sent to the city? If so, why was it not included in the GRAMA request?

  and

  “Did the council investigate Davidson’s tenure in Kemmerer? Is there any written documentation? If so, why wasn’t it included in the GRAMA request?”

  Hoping for answers, Julianne Waters

   

• Connie

  February 1, 2016 at 12:31 pm

  AS someone who has had to live thru what this person is capable of doing to a small town I only hope the residents of Moab are stronger than the people in Kemmerer, WY you can stand up and demand that you be heard and that change is needed. If you are concerned about the circumstances surrounding what is happening in your community let your voice be heard at city hall and demand change. Thank You JIm

   

• joseph day

  February 1, 2016 at 3:17 pm

  wow! Incredible piece of investigative journalism! I hope that it gets widely circulated in Moab and results in more citizens getting involved, not only in voting, but in asking more questions of the council about how the new city manager got hired. Not to mention looking for a replacement.
  Sounds like the council also needs to get a serious grip on the reins of the city manager to prevent her from repeating anymore of her very “interesting” past from her two previous jobs, in Moab. It sounds like she’s already done too much of it already and it also sounds like more of a modus operandi than just a management style.
  Good work jim.

   

• Mary Jane

  February 1, 2016 at 7:07 pm

  Excellent journalism on a very important topic. I have taken the liberty to forward this article to our City Manager and city council member Heila Ershadi.

  Mary Jane

   

• eleven

  February 1, 2016 at 9:29 pm

  The borderline personality disorder is an interesting diagnosis, and this may well explain a few things. power loves power…

   

• V

  February 1, 2016 at 11:20 pm

  Exhaustive is an understatement. You have found, digested, researched and written a impressive article, on what appears to be very effective camillion, with a talent of using ‘disparaging” to keep her ill gains and business from the public. I’d bet, after reading this, that the new council members have already been given a disparaging contract to sign. The thought that Kemmerer employees Corwin and Jennifer L were charged is because RD did not get disparaging papers signed by them.
  Keep your sights on you council, there seems to be a favorable need for Executive Session where RB is involved. Much secrecy. I witnessed a page of that secrecy. When I questioned the council the next day requesting information on inventory and diligent efforts to information hacking I was placated. Two weeks later public record shows an answer to my requests as. Everything is fine, nothing is missing, I can not discuss an open investigation. My question Why an investigation? , if everything is fine? God be with you Moab.
  Thanks for this informative article.

   

• Jeffrey Cox

  February 1, 2016 at 11:35 pm

  Hell of a read, Jim! Thanks, always, for being so motivated to motivate. It sure would be nice if it actually worked! Also, thank you for putting up the capital needed, to procure the documents needed, to make this a worthy topic for me to delve into. As a resident of Grand County, but not the city, as I am roughly 150-200 feet from the City side of things, I am told my thoughts don’t matter, since I can’t vote on City issues, or elections. This makes little sense to me, since we don’t really have a country-side, per se, where in-town things don’t really affect us. It all affects us. All of us. I often wish I hadn’t been born a plebe, lived as a plebe, and continue to live as one, as I would really like to get involved in many things that happen here. For instance, I was unaware that police officers, and city employees were in “need” of housing. I live in a 12×50 trailer shack, assembled in 1968, with a leaky roof, no matter how much elastomeric or pitch I cake on. And this past Winter, thanks to the “restructuring” of employment, in the form of mass hiring of J-1 Visa workers, not only can I not afford to leave town, I went without electricity for quite some time, still have the gas shut off, which means no cooking, hot water, or heat. Then, my heat tape gave out on the worst of nights, and my pipes froze. I had no idea, until I heard one rupture, and flooded my back room, so now I have my water off until I can hopefully get it fixed sometime in the next decade, or so. But, I am sure that those with well paying employment as my so-called “public servants” have much greater needs than I, or any other extremely destitute persons, here in Moab. Surely, free transportation, communications, and full coverage health care just don’t help in those living expenses! I even read that Ms. Lasik had an iPod??? As I am uneducated, and inexperienced with most things, I must be missing the mark as to how those are required to perform essential duties. If little ol’ Kemmerer employees get iPods, Moab employees must get Ipads? Or, perhaps they kill 2 birds with the latest iPhones? With so many “servant” jobs paying $70,000-130,000 per year, health coverage, and who knows how many, or what kinds of perks they have, it’s a wonder anyone hasn’t sued the City for some thing, or other, like indentured servitude. More than have of the ACTUAL servant jobs, AKA, service sector jobs, go to non-citizens, who pay no taxes, are paid the basic $8/hr, but, most of those wages are reimbursed by the company they work for, also charging them exorbitant housing fees. Good thing those taxes aren’t subtracted from their nets!
  I ponder how those with college degrees, MASTER’S degrees, even, can’t see that this is a losing battle. How can they continue to receive such salaries, such budgets, and such wasteful spending tactics, if they aren’t collecting taxes in full, from local residents? Maybe this is why they hired Rebecca? She seems to have this ability to receive large sums of money, and keep it in the inner circle, so to speak. And the ability to exorbitantly exceed her expenditure budget, without a single peep from her peers. Forget the community, it’s 2015, and everyone, but me, has a palm-god, or “smartphone” as I often hear them referred to as. I won’t even begin my thoughts on those things, and how they seem to have “restructured” the entire planet’s Human population.
  Speaking out against tyranny is considered quite a taboo, these days, it seems. Surely, with all of your questions to this city’s “representatives” going unanswered, you know slightly what I mean? I moved away in ’01, and returned in ’05. Had I realized just how insane things had become, I would not have returned. I left, working in the hospitality industry, making $12/hr, and my rent was $400/mo, all other cost of living was mediocre in price, though a tad higher than national averages, but it was comfortable. I returned, to the same job, but now the pay was $8/hr, and rent was $1200/mo. I immediately began writing to the T-I, who has NEVER, EVER, not once, EVER, replied, nor printed any of my letters. So, for the 1st time, ever, I began attending City Council meetings to address this issue of COLI & COLA. I was told I needed to “get some roommates, or rent some rooms out to Summer residents.” And I was told RUDELY, and snidely. No one liked me, there! That was in 2005. Not one word of affordable housing, which, is NOT the solution, was made, until about 2 or 3 years back, some gentleman mentioned in the News-Sun, that affordable housing was a BIG concern, and needed to be dealt with, with haste. He even went on to speak for the less fortunate of us, saying that we prefer to live in condensed, apartment style housing. Of course, no one said anything, except me, and it fell on deaf ears, and blind eyes. He’s a damn hero of the community, and I am the villain! The solution is paper thin walls, excessive rules of living within that housing division, and this is going to rectify the issues? Ppssshhhh. Okay, Mr. College Degree in whatever. Unless we decide to start popping out kiddies, and sucking off the teat of our fellow citizens’, many of us are not going to make it. And the tired cliche of leave, if you don’t like it, is nil. Most barely survive, check to check, so it’s not like we can pay for college courses, and start a savings account for moving expenses. Many people HAVE left, already, most likely digging themselves even deeper into debt, and just hoping and praying that somewhere else, anywhere else, will be slightly less expensive, and pay slightly higher wages. Unfortunately, it probably isn’t so.
  In the past, I was always fast-tracked to management, based solely on my skills, intelligence, and work ethic. With the disappearance of locally based businesses, and the extremely fast appearance of Corporations (they’re people, too!), I no longer attain this title. I began saying, “I have the skills, I just don’t have the looks.” My skills on paper, are simply my verified work history, not a degree. I don’t frame mine, and nail to a wall to show off. I show off, by being the best I can be, and run things extremely near to without error, efficiently, and again, near to effortlessly. Once a skill is attained, it can, and should be expounded on, where applicable, which I will later further expound on, referencing these variances of skill vs. assumed skill.
  Many people are being put in situations they’ve never even dreamed of. Luckily, for me, I grew up living UNDER the barrel, envying those who lived in the bottom of it! It’s sad to see how needing to ask for help, to feed their kids, pay the rent, take the kids to the hospital (Rebecca says do this on your own time!), brings down the well-being of people. There’s that dirty little feeling of being unworthy, or feelings of shame for not being able to provide, or merely survive, and “using” the system…..which is there for just that purpose,…or is it?? I am not eligible for any assistance, except for food stamps, once every 3 years, for 3 months, for $177/mo. Eating on that amount is possible, but more than 50% of those “discount” or “generic” items contains high amounts of HFCS, even bread! to the point, I alone, eating healthily, and enjoying my meals, used to average $3-400 per month. It seems outrageous, because it is. I need to eat well, to feel well, to work well, and be well. But that’s another topic, for another rare jaunt into the digital realm. I don’t always need, nor have needed stamps for most of my life. Even when I am under, or unemployed. I asked for, and received them in 2011. I was in need, again, in 2013, which is when I learned about the 3 yr, 3 month rule. Thankfully, I have 5-6 people who have literally helped me survive, and stay housed the past few years. But, these kind of community, TRUE community minded folks, are a dying breed. Especially here in the New Vision times of our little speck, on this little speck. Brand Standard crept in during the witching hours, corrupted the already corrupt, and executed their plan to near perfection, and without any ado, and nary a cry from the crowd. Which, when the agenda was laid to eyes, was FIERCELY, and VOCALLY opposed, simply changed its tune, by swiftly eradicating that little ideal called transparency. Which, is what is now apparently the way all things are being done, from what I have been reading in past years.
  All these people, who came up easy, were able to go to Universities, or Colleges for MANY years, usually paid by their parents, or for those really lucky ones, scholarships, who get degrees with such honorifics as “Masters” or even “Doctorates” get these high paying, perk filled, jobs, and call them jobs! They learn how to employ brevity, where brevity is beneficial, but then seem to lose that skill the moment they acquire even the slightest bit of assumed power in their chosen “profession”. I say that with contemptuous spite. For, perhaps, we should only allow our City Council to hire only those with a PhD, since it requires more involvement in a subject, even going as far as to try to disprove something, or change something, or, and I’m snapping branches, here, CREATE something, by being immersed in said subject, instead of merely reciting the doctrines. Or, perhaps, we should only allow them to hire people with a long history of experience, and a proven track record. Which, at times, even the best, fail, from time to time. But, if they continue to fail, over, and over again, and do so so blatantly, but act and speak as if they are still the best, then I believe it’s time to evaluate them ever more scrupulously, and maybe even a wee bit skeptically. Wherein lies the biggest problem in administration; It’s digital vs. reality. Paper is still the end result for the digital aspect, but it lacks in personal interaction.
  Some people learn from a teacher, who teaches by means of reciting from a written doctrine. Sure, it could be 100% correct, but does it really work in a world of constant change? If you ask a politician, it sure does. If you ask an administrator, it sure does. If you ask a public servant, it sure does. But, if you ask the people who execute the tasks, it sure doesn’t. More often than not, most things require critical thinking, numerous contingencies need to be planned for, and for immediate resolutions, that EVERYONE involved in said event needs to be aware of, and trained for. I do not believe this is learned in an University. Doctrine is a set way of order, and schedule. Any quirk in the machine, and the quirk is the shunned villain. In the field, the quirk is accepted, inquired about, and hopefully integrated into the machine smoothly.
  Our new City Manager strolled in, scowl-faced, and puffy chested, like an Eagle surveying its territory, and struck just as fiercely, it seems. And, it seems she has completed the Hat Trick. But what can, and what will be done? Will a GRAMA fact filled Jim Stiles diatribe strike the people’s opinion, and motivate them to action? Probably not. They’ll probably read the 1st paragraph, then see the scroll bar is teeny tiny, and say to themselves, “Fuck that! TL:DR. Where’s all the funny pictures? ‘Merica”
  What, if anything can, or will be done? It seems as though only a few people have final ‘executive’ say in any subject, topic, or issue, with the final rap of the gavel, a nice little “Because I said so, asshole, in a secret meeting, with my homies, and a signed disparagement order, AKA gag order, for my fellow neighbors. Again with the paper.
  It seems to be a very Sun Tzu-esque mixed with Machivallian agenda. Hard to conquer that without equal reciprocation. According to your article, we had 4 of our sluggers, 1 being our Chief of Police, all silenced by, for us, silence. I dare ask, what may have been said to instantly silence these voices?
  I’ll leave it up to the reader, to search for quotes from Sun Tzu & Machiavelli. Then recommend looking into Philosophy, Logos, Pathos, Egos, Dark Triad, and use that strange squishy matter contained within the cranium, just aching for some intellectual stimuli!
  As always, Jim, thanks for the effort, diligence, and time you spend contributing to us, by plying your trade.

   

• Terry Lance

  February 2, 2016 at 12:12 am

  Excellent job Jim.

   

• Lee Bridgers

  February 2, 2016 at 1:05 am

  Great work, Jim. This firing stunk to high heaven from the start and it is great to see the Zephyr taking the lead once again in researching the mess that is our local government. Now, let’s see if anything can be changed with the knowledge you have shared.

   

   

   

• Will

  February 2, 2016 at 4:13 am

  Hi Jim. As a long time admirer of both Ken Davies and David Olsen, I was really saddened a few months ago to hear about their layoffs from the city. It kind of felt like the end of an era. I have never met the new city manager, but I also have sympathies with well meaning government employees who actually try to make things better in Western small towns filled with cozy relationships and same-old ways of doing things. I remember how up-in-arms so many people were with Donna Metzler when she first started her employment with the city. Then just as now, there were loud campaigns to undermine and get rid of her. So as i read your long and well-researched article, I was looking for two things:
  1) A gotcha moment — I didn’t really see one of these. The fact that a lot of employee issues happen in executive session without open records protects the employees as much as the governing body. It has to be that way, and is a fact of life. But it makes it easy to cast aspersions and make damaging suggestions which the participants aren’t free to address because they have an obligation to respect the confidentiality of the process. An alternate theory for a lot of what has happened here is that the new city manager is serious about making government function efficiently, and is willing to take action to make it happen, even if it upsets people. It would have upset people just as much in Kemmerer, Wyoming as here in Moab, Utah.
  2) A motive — I just didn’t see a good explanation for why the council that voted unanimously to support the reorganization would have a motive to do something sinister. They would have been privy to all the facts. I think they are all sincere and well meaning people. Doesn’t the fact that they gave the reorganization full support say something to you — who are not privy to all the facts.
  Yeah, I could be wrong, and our new city manager could turn out to be a dud. And probably this whole thing could have been handled more sensitively and compassionately. But I’m a bit suspicious of a journalistic pile-ons. I also feel a bit sorry for anyone who — because of the nature of executive sessions discussing employee issues — can’t defend themselves.

   

• Lynn

  February 2, 2016 at 11:26 am

  Excellent investigative work Stiles. I know Ken and Dave well, and though I don’t always see eye to eye with either of them, I have considerable respect for them both based on their integrity of character and dedication to Moab. What happened to them is a complete sham.

  Based on the factual information you’ve been able to obtain, it’s hard to even wrap one’s mind around this entire fiasco, there are so many things wrong legally and ethically with this situation. We start with what by now should be obvious to everyone, a completely unscrupulous and unethical City Manager, with a history of lawsuits, secret agreements, blatant conflicts of interest, and bullying. Then we have the City “restructuring” City departments behind closed doors with no notice to or involvement by the public. One can see closed sessions for employee issues, but no open discussions in Council meetings about restructuring City departments? I guess government transparency is only important when it’s convenient.

  We then have what appear to be selective responses to government records requests, with decisions on what gets released being made by an assistant City Administrator up to their eyeballs in the whole sordid affair. Then we move to ginned up “emergency “spending, to a contractor who seems to follow this City Manager around from town to town, mess to mess. The rationale for this spending, which goes against all contracting policy, allegedly based on the absurdity of some computer system “expert” telling the City it’s at risk from “nation-state” and ISIS” hackers. Seriously, they can make this claim with a straight face and no proof?

  I guess next, with the new sewer system and water tank on the horizon, we’ll see a brand new engineering firm formed to do the work. Gee, wonder who will be the principle of that firm…. Hey it worked in Timnath, why not Moab.

  Your investigation shows so many potentially illegal actions in this soap opera, that I would suggest the State Attorney General and the State Auditor need to be immediately brought in to get to the bottom of this. Some heads need to roll at City Hall! If this community does not get to the bottom of this, we’ll be just another wrecked City left in the wake. It may already be too late.

   

• GreggB

  February 2, 2016 at 11:43 am

  As an IT professional and security specialist, I would like to offer the following points.

  —
  “In December, Pearson and Goodman returned and examined the city’s computers, removing TeamViewer–the remote viewing software Darwin Parker had used as the City’s IT consultant–and hardening the firewall. And yet, when city employees complained again of problems with their computers in January, Pearson and Goodman continued to find TeamViewer on a number of computers, including the computer of the Police Chief and the main Police Department computer. The investigation report doesn’t explain whether they had failed to remove TeamViewer from those computers in December, or, if it had been removed, how the software might have been re-installed–especially given that Parker had no physical involvement with the city’s computers during that time.”

  -Users find convenience in using ‘remoting’ software to access their workstations. In all probablility, this was an intentional utilization by the specific end users. Using TeamViewer as a ‘chat’ mechanism is not what that software was intended for. Yes, it has that capability. But it’s most commonly used to remotely access a users desktop for productivity purposes. It is NOT, however, the preferred method of doing so as there are absolute security ramifications involved in using TeamViewer and its ilk.

  Therefore ANY use of remote access software CAN be considered a data-breach threat, and any data system which contains protected, sensitive and secure information should NOT use software of the ‘TeamViewer’ type, as exploits and vulnerabilities are much more likely.

  A solution such as a secured VPN connection (hardware and software clients) is much more suitable, as any IT professional would acknowledge.
  —
  “Pearson, in his interview, went so far as to suggest that the TeamViewer connections were related to a mysterious parked car at the Event Center in January. He told DCI investigators that, “he noticed a sedan pulled up in front of city hall, and it sat there for five minutes watching him work before leaving.” But Pearson could not identify the vehicle, “due to vehicle lights shining in the center,” and though Tara Smelt reported a break in the next evening, there were no signs of forced entry and Chief Buck reported that all known city/county equipment “was accounted for.” ”

  A simple walk-around to ID the vehicle and license plate could have covertly been conducted.
  Also, proper video security, if in place, would ID an unauthorized intruder.
  —
  Regarding a “Chinese Hack”- this is HIGHLY unlikely. What IS likely is that hardware in place (edge servers, firewalls, outward-facing servers, etc.) had firmware versions which had known security vulnerabilities which could easily be patched to mitigate or eliminate those vulnerabilities. The known “Chinese Hack” was primarily targeted against FEDERAL and STATE entities, and as far as I have been able to determine, few if ANY city\county entites across the country were ever affected. The claim of an intrusion via an international entity is, in my professional opinion, nothing more than a scare tactic used by an unscrupulous contractor to
  1) generate panic, and in doing so
  2) generate revenue for said contractor
  —
  Regarding the “’emergency situation involving a threat to public health, welfare or safety’. Once the issues were identified, I could not go through a competitive process to procure consulting without further exposing the vulnerabilities of our critical systems and jeopardizing the safety of our water and law enforcement systems.”

  Upon PROPER implementation of security measure to mitigate\neutralize the security implications mentioned, there should no longer be any issue regarding “exposing the vulnerabilities of our critical systems and jeopardizing the safety of our water and law enforcement systems.” Therefore, the alleged vulnerabilities, once mitigated, are no longer a threat and the details should be able to be made available without incurring further security intrusions.
  —

   

• DLC

  February 3, 2016 at 12:10 pm

  This article is one of the best pieces if journalism that I have ever read. I am thoroughly impressed by the attention to fact and it should serve as an excellent starting point for forthright discussions. I hope the city of Moab will continue to strive for transparency in the spending of public tax dollars and equitable treatment of all employees in local government.

   

• Janet Buckingham

  February 3, 2016 at 5:41 pm

  I’ve had this situation playing like bad music in the back of my mind since it happened. Thank goodness the holidays took me away from it for awhile, but the ever-vigilant Jim Stiles continued the research and shared it with us all. Obviously there are some emails that were deleted, documents left out of the GRAMA request and many, many, closed door meetings to determine who was expendable on city staff. None of that can be undone just as the hiring of RD cannot be undone (for now.) My concern has been and still is the uncaring and unethical way that Ken Davey and David Olsen were treated and the likelihood that others may end up in the same boat. The overwhelming silence of the City Council on the entire subject has been disconcerting. It demonstrates a group of uncaring people who simply flicked Ken and David off their coat sleeves like summer mosquitos. I had never known them to be these kinds of folks and the only explanation is that they drank some sort of poison Kool-Aid.

  At the time this happened, I expressed thoughts similar to this and was involved in several long threads on Facebook. I was called by city councilperson Heila Ershadi. It seems she wanted to smooth my ruffled feathers. She told me in no uncertain terms that both Ken and David knew this was coming. Two sentences later she nonetheless told me that it was very typical in “corporate environments” for someone to be asked to leave the building suddenly and without notice and to be monitored during the process. She also said I really didn’t need to worry about Ken because he was of retirement age and David made $90,000 a year and no doubt had a savings account. The entire conversation left me nearly speechless. Being of retirement age myself (and fast becoming familiar with fixed income living) as well as having a long history of corporate and government employment, there was no part of her conversation that I could agree with. But whatever….

  What CAN we still do something about? 1) Monitor the actions of the city manager and city council VERY carefully. Demand to be a part of conversations. They work for the people who live in the City of Moab. They work for YOU! Demand transparency in ALL decisions! Don’t let this get swept under the rug. Again, thank goodness for Jim Stile’s tenacity.

  2) I have not seen the terms of the City Manager’s contract other than what Jim reported in his story about a high starting salary and ridiculous 10% salary increase after the first year. Contracts don’t have to be renewed. What’s the buyout? Surely, the city attorney left some way for the City to get out of a bad hire regardless of who it was.

  3) Watch and see who is hired. Are they locals or are they transplants from Wyoming? When I started researching Tayo, Inc., I found that within weeks of the new city manager’s hire, this company had already earned thousands and thousands of dollars from the City of Moab. Tara Smelt, who was at the center of some of the controversy in Kemmerer, is the registered agent. Her business now operates from Hale Street in Moab. Coincidence? Probably not.

  4) Make noise. Make sure that the City Council and City Manager know you are watching and care how they treat people.

  5) Vote out anyone who was part of the decision to fire Ken Davey and David Olsen. Do we as a community really want people in office who can so casually treat people in this manner? Watch who runs for Mayor; rumor has it one of the current city council members who supported the termination is planning on a run.

  The City of Moab used to be a great place to work. It was warm, respectful and people had a lot of fun while getting a great deal of work done. Sadly, it doesn’t sound like that kind of working environment has survived. Of course not; people are afraid they’re next. We were very fortunate as a community to have David Olsen and Ken Davey make their marks before they were suddenly and inexplicably (STILL) erased from city staff rosters. Thank goodness that their hard work here can never be erased. This is a sad mess that will leave a bitter aftertaste for years, I’m afraid.

   

• Garrett

  February 5, 2016 at 11:52 am

  Good article. Very well done. Thank you.

   

• Annie P

  February 5, 2016 at 2:26 pm

  Excellent investigative journalism Stiles. Thank you for writing this!I have reread it several times and am still awe struck by much of it.

  I wish to address the Former City Council members involved and the current ones involved in the Moab City reorganization and I will be CC-ing the following comments to them as well as the Moab weekly papers who, for whatever reason, have remained silent. I also will be addressing the Attorney General Sean Reyes concerning obvious omissions in Jim Stiles GRAMA requests by Moab City.

  I believe the City Council needs a short crash course in a few areas. First, some basic ethics education is sorely needed by members of the 2015 Moab City Council. Also, I believe the City Council is unclear on basic HR protocols. It seems the City Council is further trying to defend their erroneous conduct via some sort of justification that “Corporate America” does this type of thing all the time (as noted in Janet Buckingham’s comments above RE a phone conversation with Heila Ershadi). I feel I can speak with authority in the case of Corporate America. I by no means wish to defend Corporate America but I know a thing or two about it. I have never witnessed Corporate America treat a worker as poorly as the Moab City Council treated Olsen and Davey. It is true that in Corporate America, workers are fired with no severance and as little as an hour or less to clear out their personal belongings. Those types of firings are almost exclusively in conjunction with alleged criminal activity. Moab City Council has defended themselves by stating that Davey and Olsen were not fired but rather, a reorganization in the City structure eliminated their positions. Reorganization happens more than it should in Corporate America. Typically, in Corporate America’s reorganizations, there is much fanfar over the employees who loose their jobs. Corporate HR departments organize all sorts of things to honor the terminated; dinners are served, parties planned, early retirement offered, good byes and well wishes exchanged. Further, there is a formula in Corporate America for severance packages, which is generally agreed upon as 1 month of pay for every year worked. In Davey’s case his severance payment would equal about a year salary, and in Olsen’s case 2 years salary. Hardly what they received. Furthermore, corporate America, as awful as it is, would also compensate both men for an impending move as Corporate America would acknowledge that there are no comparable job opportunities in Moab for them, as there is only one City Office.

  But a broader reaching questions for the Moab City Council (2015) and especially to Heila Ershadi; is it really Moab citizenry’s desire for the City Government to act more in line with Corporate America? I think you will all agree that the average Moab citizen who carves a life for themselves in our little town does so with much sacrifice. We, (Moab Citizens), live, love and sacrifice in Moab for the very antithesis of Corporate American life.

  I am very concerned that The Moab City Council was not following in good faith the wishes of their constituents, but rather pursing personal gain (what that gain may be, I cannot speculate). I believe re organizing a city that was running perfectly well was a mistake. Moab City Council, rather than admitting they made a mistake and trying to right the wrong, are digging in their heals and grasping at straws for their justification. Moab City Council should apologize to Davey and Olsen and do what it takes to get them back. Olsen, along with some very dedicated volunteers, exponentially increased the real-estate value of Moab and grew Moab’s economy more than any other investor, business or individual in all of Moab’s history.

  I would like Moab City Council members to poll their constituent’s concerning the restructure. I think Moab City Council should take the results of the poll and reconvene in a public meeting and reevaluate the restructure and possibly abandon the restructure and return Moab City to the previous governing structure.

  I realize mistakes and errors happen in every profession, including elected officials. I realize that mistakes can be a source of embarrassment for most people. I am certain the Council is embarrassed at this point by mistakes they have made. Admitting mistakes made,however, making apologies and righting previous wrongs can have the powerful effect of showcasing an individuals positively solid content of character.

   

• Scott Thompson

  February 6, 2016 at 11:35 am

  The trouble with Jim Stiles is that he has a visceral dislike of injustice and, even worse, is incurably driven to do something about it. As this story and plenty of others demonstrate. Many of us have tried to help him develop a more self-centered, thick-skinned perspective so that he too can plunge his snout into the real-world hog trough and bolt down his share. Alas, to no avail.

  Because, as we know, it just can’t be that the values he so stubbornly and unrealistically stands up for are the ones that actually matter.

  (Can it?)

   

• Annie P

  February 8, 2016 at 10:36 am

  I sent my above posted comments to the Mayor and to City Council. The following is Heila Ershadi’s response to me.

  “Sent: Sun, 07 Feb 2016 23:53:33 -0000 (UTC)
  Subject: Re: Moab City Restructure
  Hi, Annie. Thank you for your email.
  I have read the article but not Janet’s comment. I did reach out to a number of people who I knew were concerned about the restructure, and Janet was one of them. I was not present for Ken and David’s last day at work, and I had no part of deciding how that happened. My remarks to Janet were simply to relay what I was told by the people who were a part of that.
  I understand your concerns, and I appreciate that you care. If you want to give me a call, please do.
  Heila Ershadi”

  So it looks like out of one side of Heilas mouth she throws Davidson, her new star employee, under the bus and blames Davidson for firing Davey and Olsen without direction from the Council. Heila in her email to me stated “I had no part of that happening”. Heila sort of paints herself surprised at the way in which Olsen and Davey were eliminated. Heila acts surprised while she simultaneously says that “corporate America does this stuff all the time” (restructures offices in order to eliminate long standing employees without adequate compensation, Which cooperate America doesn’t actually stoop that low, because they would be sued). Also it is important to remember that she has already stated (in writing) that the Moab City Council voted unanimously to restructure the City Offices and eliminate both Olsen and Daveys Jobs. Heila (and the City Council) either eliminated the two positions without just compensation or, Davidson acted without the Councils directions and should be reprimanded and dismissed immediately. It is clear to me that the council directed the restructure but rather than admitting a wrong doing and apologizing for it, Heila is slandering her new employee and fraudulently representing herself to her constituents.

Janet Buckingham

February 9, 2016 at 10:23 pm

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In this issue…

*   Wind Subsidies & Conflicted Core Values, left and Right

Excerpt:

Mom didn’t speak much to me about her day-to-day existence during the 11 months she and her family spent in Jerome, so from her silence I can only imagine how difficult life was for a young woman in those circumstances. The construction of the barracks was rudimentary: wooden-framed with tar-paper wall covering, barely enough structure to provide shelter from the elements. It was too cold in the winter, too hot in the summer, and too uneventful (boring) most times. Personal privacy was unknown, and no indoor plumbing or toilet facilities contributed to the discomfort and indignity. The WRA rules stipulated that multiple families shared a single barracks unit, leaving little privacy for typical family living – the events, the conflicts, the celebrations, or the grief.

In addition to all the personal inconveniences, I can also only imagine the anger and frustration each inmate must have felt as a result of their unlawful, forcible imprisonment, since formal charges were not filed, and due process was completely absent. The fear associated with an unknown future, the psychological and physical disorientation, and the shock, disbelief, and humiliation of being thrown into prison for no reason, all contributed to a miserable existence for the inmates, but gaman.

To read more of Alan’s article, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2015/12/01/camp-memories-of-the-japanese-internment-1941-1945-part-2-by-alan-mikuni/

Excerpt:

Among many Moabites who instinctively label themselves “progressive environmentalists,” the collective vision for a better future in Southeast Utah is frequently and inextricably linked to one word— it’s almost a rallying point:

‘Sustainability.’

I see the word enthusiastically bandied about and with great confidence. Several environmental organizations embrace the idea of a sustainable future for Moab and believe the path to sustainability is within their grasp…

But how does Moab become the sustainable community that so many of its residents trumpet and how do they aspire to achieve that goal?

To read more of Jim’s article, click the image below:

http://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/2015/12/01/take-it-or-leave-it-sustainable-moab-a-reality-check-by-jim-stiles/