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Tempe council ordered to not discuss complaint

by Dianna M. Náñez - Oct. 6, 2009 12:20 PM

The Arizona Republic

Tempe's city attorney has ordered City Council members not to discuss a complaint filed against City Manager Charlie Meyer by a department head who is responsible for providing a haven for employees to express workplace concerns without fear of retribution.

The complaint came last month, the day after a narrow vote in which the council was split on whether to retain Meyer. The contents of the complaint are not known because City Attorney Andrew Ching has ordered the council and the woman who filed it not to talk publicly about the issue. Tempe has refused The Arizona Republic's public records request to release the complaint.

Last month, Ching gave Councilmen Ben Arredondo and Joel Navarro and possibly other council members a copy of a written complaint outlining Diversity Department Manager Rosa Inchausti's concern about Meyer, according to Arredondo and Navarro. Ching told them not to comment publicly on the complaint because Ching was placing it on the agenda of a future council executive session for private discussion. City Councils are generally allowed to use executive sessions to privately discuss personnel issues, real-estate agreements and items on which they receive legal advice.

Ching also gave Inchausti directions regarding her complaint.

"He (Ching) ordered me not to speak about it at all," she said.

In an e-mail response to the Republic's public-record request, Ching said that the "public's right of inspection would be outweighed by the employee's interests of privacy and/or confidentiality, and/or its release would not serve the best interests of the city."

The complaint came the day after a 4-3 council vote on whether Meyer should continue as city manager. The Sept. 10 vote resulted in Councilmen Mark Mitchell, Navarro and Arredondo voting against retaining Meyer. Although Mayor Hugh Hallman, Vice Mayor Shana Ellis and council members Onnie Shekerjian and Corey Woods supported Meyer, Ellis wanted assurance from the city attorney that council members can review Meyer's contract whenever they see fit.

Ching explained that as an at-will employee, Tempe's city manager reports to the council, and as such the council can review his contract any time. That is similar to employment arrangements for most Valley city managers.

Arredondo was direct about his displeasure with Meyer, saying he didn't believe that "Charlie recognizes, through his actions, the importance of diversity in Tempe. In my opinion, Charlie has not disciplined department heads who did not meet job expectations and Charlie does not communicate with council very well and, finally, Charlie does not value his Tempe employees."

Cecilia Esquer, a longtime Tempe resident and attorney, read a public statement at that meeting denouncing the council and Meyer's leadership. Esquer said that the council was tolerating "racism" by not holding Meyer responsible for ensuring that department managers are not mistreating workers. But she did not offer specific examples of discrimination when Hallman asked for them.

Shekerjian refuted allegations that Meyer did not support diversity, saying that she believes that Meyer listened to her ideas.

Inchausti has worked for Tempe for more than 15 years and has led the Diversity Department since it was created as part of sweeping city-wide reforms after a group of Hispanic employees claimed that they were being discriminated against. The men eventually filed a racial-bias lawsuit against Tempe alleging a work environment where they were subjected to racial slurs, passed over for promotions and retaliated against when they reported the mistreatment. In 2005, a federal judge awarded the men $2.4 million.

Prior to becoming the diversity manager, Inchausti was the city's first bilingual marriage-and-family therapist. As head of the Diversity Department, Inchausti is charged with providing "a save haven to promote a healthy working environment...assist city departments with diversity issues...(manage Tempe's) Diversity Strategic Plan... partner with (Tempe's) Human Relations Commission and the Mayor's Commission on Disability," according to a description of the office.