Amador County – Assistant City Manager Sean Rabe on Tuesday defended himself and City Manager Rob Duke against accusations by former Finance Director Jeff Gardner. Rabe said: “Neither of us have done anything improper.” Gardner, whose contract was terminated Monday, sent a letter to the city council detailing what he said were financial improprieties, including receiving funds from developers and improperly paying a police officer. Gardner said the officer was paid “for close to 2 years for not working when his Workers Comp claim had already been denied,” costing the city “in excess of $80,000 per year.” Gardner said he raised the issue “with management and the finance committee on at least 10 occasions,” and called it a “gift of public funds.” Officer Kevin Harris still works for the city, and had an injury that “prevented him from working on full duty,” Rabe said Tuesday. He said the Health Information Privacy Act kept him from discussing the medical condition. The city council has hired an independent person to see if there were any improprieties in the way Harris’ issue was handled. Gardner also said a city Visa card was improperly used to pay for “hundreds of dollars in meals…for supposed business meetings between the assistant city manager, consultants” and representatives of the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort. Gardner said the meals, reimbursed by Gold Rush, were not claimed by management in filings with the Fair Political Practices Committee. Rabe said City Attorney Dennis Crabb “approved it as a legitimate business expense,” that did not need to be reported to the FPPC because it was “a reimbursed business expense.” He said “if the city manager or I are meeting with Gold Rush consultants, during a lunch break, the city pays for the meal,” and Gold Rush reimburses the cost. Gardner said Rabe and Duke “routinely record meetings with staff without their knowledge.” Rabe said he and Duke both have pens with built in recorders, which they use to record meetings with staff, but he said all staff members are aware of that fact. Gardner said management circumvents the “e-discovery process with respect to public information.” Rabe said the “city has a comprehensive electronic media policy that spells out when anything needs to be purged, and we follow that policy.” Everything on his laptop is a public record, but not open to the public because it is his working computer. He said documents are stored on his computer so he can work at home because he has no remote access to city computers. He said city hall has a public copy of the city’s electronic media policy. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.-
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Amador County – Assistant City Manager Sean Rabe on Tuesday defended himself and City Manager Rob Duke against accusations by former Finance Director Jeff Gardner. Rabe said: “Neither of us have done anything improper.” Gardner, whose contract was terminated Monday, sent a letter to the city council detailing what he said were financial improprieties, including receiving funds from developers and improperly paying a police officer. Gardner said the officer was paid “for close to 2 years for not working when his Workers Comp claim had already been denied,” costing the city “in excess of $80,000 per year.” Gardner said he raised the issue “with management and the finance committee on at least 10 occasions,” and called it a “gift of public funds.” Officer Kevin Harris still works for the city, and had an injury that “prevented him from working on full duty,” Rabe said Tuesday. He said the Health Information Privacy Act kept him from discussing the medical condition. The city council has hired an independent person to see if there were any improprieties in the way Harris’ issue was handled. Gardner also said a city Visa card was improperly used to pay for “hundreds of dollars in meals…for supposed business meetings between the assistant city manager, consultants” and representatives of the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort. Gardner said the meals, reimbursed by Gold Rush, were not claimed by management in filings with the Fair Political Practices Committee. Rabe said City Attorney Dennis Crabb “approved it as a legitimate business expense,” that did not need to be reported to the FPPC because it was “a reimbursed business expense.” He said “if the city manager or I are meeting with Gold Rush consultants, during a lunch break, the city pays for the meal,” and Gold Rush reimburses the cost. Gardner said Rabe and Duke “routinely record meetings with staff without their knowledge.” Rabe said he and Duke both have pens with built in recorders, which they use to record meetings with staff, but he said all staff members are aware of that fact. Gardner said management circumvents the “e-discovery process with respect to public information.” Rabe said the “city has a comprehensive electronic media policy that spells out when anything needs to be purged, and we follow that policy.” Everything on his laptop is a public record, but not open to the public because it is his working computer. He said documents are stored on his computer so he can work at home because he has no remote access to city computers. He said city hall has a public copy of the city’s electronic media policy. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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