A bit of an odd public statement considering the circumstances and allegations:
“To be honest, I totally had a crush on him,” Shelby says now. He was nice. He was charming.”
Here is what I think are a few interesting things:
The case again points out just how dysfunction City Human Resources is.
Some real interesting questions about the way the City handles Public Records Requests.
The question of whether or not the City needs a City Charter change to have an elected City Attorney rather then one appointed to protect the City Administration instead of the Citizens.
How should reporters use unsubstantiated allegations in a news story (Bainbridge Island Police Guild v. City Of Puyallup) without hard clarification regarding the information the appropriateness of a HR Director to name an employee who was the subject of a un-sustained allegation.
Whether or not it is a good idea to have the owner of a local news outlet reporting on City Parks employees conduct while at the same time being a member of the City Park Board.
Does the fact that Michael Piccolo an Assistant City Attorney is representing the Civil Service Commission in these cases represent a conflict of interest and a possible RPC violation.
BACKGROUND:
In 2014, he’d been investigated for repeatedly subjecting a subordinate two decades younger than him to inappropriate comments and overtures. But Human Resources Director Chris Cavanaugh says the HR report was never officially submitted and so Eva was never officially disciplined. The lack of action handcuffed HR’s ability to reference the case during last month’s hearing, Cavanaugh says. The city believes it seriously screwed up.
“I wish we could go back to do it over,” city spokeswoman Marlene Feist says. “It’s painful for Chris, for me, for others.”
“To be honest, I totally had a crush on him,” Shelby says now. He was nice. He was charming.”
“But those, it turned out, weren’t mutually exclusive, according to the account she gave the city in 2014 and relayed to the Inlander.” (*** If reporter Walters didn’t have a copy of the 2014 HR case how did he know the account he got from the alleged victim was the same?)
“To “ensure that these negative and disrespectful behaviors stop immediately,” Daling urges for Eva to cease contact with Shelby, to never be placed in a supervisory role with her again, to be moved from Riverfront Park, and to be retrained on “respect in the workplace.” Finally, he calls for Eva to be sent to a “predisciplinary hearing to determine what discipline, if any, is appropriate.”
“In the report, authored by former HR analyst Dan Daling, Eva admits to kissing Shelby — though Eva portrays the kiss as gentler, briefer and without any inappropriate touching. But Daling ultimately finds Shelby to be more credible and less culpable than Eva.
To “ensure that these negative and disrespectful behaviors stop immediately,” Daling urges for Eva to cease contact with Shelby, to never be placed in a supervisory role with her again, to be moved from Riverfront Park, and to be retrained on “respect in the workplace.” Finally, he calls for Eva to be sent to a “predisciplinary hearing to determine what discipline, if any, is appropriate.” (***I have to wonder how Walters got a copy of the 2014 case?)
In his response to the city, Casey wrote that the commission’s decision was final, and the media coverage, such as allegations published in the Inlander that Eva had behaved inappropriately toward a young female employee in 2014, would bias the commission against Eva.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/may/03/city-clashes-with-civil-service-commission-over-re/
I find it odd that HR Director Christine Cavanaugh supposedly only found out about the “Eva Prior Investigation” on October 30, 2018.
CURRENTLY:
City Attorney Mike Ormsby has decided to spend Citizens money by filing a lawsuit against the City Civil Service Commission and Mr. Eva which included a failed attempt to obtain a “Writ of Certiorari”.
Adriano Eva has filed a 2.8 Million Dollar Claim against the City.
On Friday June 21, 2019 there is a hearing scheduled to address whether or not a Permanent Restraining Order will be approved to prevent the City and Daniel Walters from releasing any details of the 2014 HR case. It will be interesting to see if a lawyer representing the Inlander and Daniel Walters shows up at that hearing, so far the City Attorney has been carrying all the legal load.
Buffalo Brian Breen 