Clennon says employees have complained about Hurm; Enright says Clennon is causing problems

The Austin City Council sparked once again Monday night as council member Marian Clennon clashed with other members and Mayor Tom Stiehm over City Administrator Jim Hurm’s authority.

Clennon questioned during the council’s public meeting Hurm’s authority to make disciplinary actions without council approval, saying she has spoken to several city employees from almost every department who bring complaints to her about Hurm’s actions and behavior. Yet these employees don’t wish for Clennon to bring complaints to the council for fear of retaliation.

“I hear numerous times about employees complaining about issues with the city administrator,” Clennon said during the meeting.

The discussion took place after council member Steve King questioned a line item in the council’s resolution on defining city administrator duties and responsibilities that gave Hurm authority over employees directly and through their supervisor. King believed the measure could allow city administrators to sidestep department heads in dealing with employees.

“It just seemed a little strong that the city administrator can go around department heads,” King said before the council voted 5-2 for the resolution as written, with King and Clennon dissenting.

Other council members took Clennon to task for raising issues they said no other member faces or hears.

“You cause a lot of problems and I’m getting tired of it,” council member Judy Enright said. “… It is making it harder for us to all work together. I think that you have got to start working together with us as a team.”

Enright said no city employees have contacted city council members with issues regarding Hurm’s disciplinary actions and that Clennon was biased when it came to listening to fire department employees. Clennon countered by saying she had heard complaints from “all but one department” and that she had to work to build trust among city workers, since she said they had been told not to speak with council members.

“No city worker should not be able to speak to council members,” Clennon said.

Council members disagreed with Clennon’s overall assertion, saying Clennon should respect the city’s chain of command and should encourage more workers do so.

“If employees are afraid of retaliation, they need to go somewhere other than you,” Enright said.

Clennon said after the meeting she encourages workers to contact their supervisors or union representatives. Clennon hears from more workers around the time contract negotiations take place, as she said employees don’t feel the city takes their needs into account.

“They feel that they’re not being listened to,” Clennon said. “Their ideas are not taken seriously.”

Stiehm said the council’s rebuke of Clennon needed to be done.

“This measure is, in large part … because of actions you’ve taken, telling department heads that they are not answerable to Mr. Hurm,” Stiehm said.

Clennon repeatedly denied saying such things to city department heads.

Hurm remained silent during the meeting and declined to comment on the issue after the council’s work session.

“Everybody has their own opinions,” he said.

Mounting division

The latest council faceoff comes after Stiehm and Clennon verbally sparred during the council’s January retreat.

Council members had a conversation about their organizational values, one of which is to work as a team and make decisions collectively, when Clennon first mentioned feeling excluded from the group. She said she wants to see the group employ more teamwork in 2012; however, Stiehm said he thinks Clennon excludes herself by voting against the group and disagreeing with the majority’s viewpoints.

“My concerns are when you bring up an idea and the rest of the group doesn’t accept it, then you shut down everything,” Stiehm said. “There’s just no consistency. It’s not that you vote against it, it’s the rationale that you use for voting against it.”

Stiehm and Clennon went back and forth over her reasoning for dissent, as well as why Stiehm hadn’t appointed her to many committees; Clennon allegedly turning council issues personal and his assumption she would vote against the council if they or the mayor previously disagreed with her.

“I’ve seen you disrespect people more than you’ve been disrespected,” he said. “That’s what I’ve seen, and I know I’m not by myself. It seems like you make everything personal.”

The conversation came to a seemingly abrupt end soon after King jumped in to say Clennon simply has a different style than some of the other council members.

Stiehm and Clennon were rival candidates in the 2010 mayoral election. Clennon lost to Stiehm by 1,699 votes on election night and requested a recount, which produced the same ballot results.

Stiehm and Clennon both say issues surrounding the council’s role as a governing board rather than a day-to-day manager will come up again.