By Megan Kelley
Editor
mkelley@mihomepaper.com
CLARKSTON — The Clarkston City Council has officially accepted the resignation of Catherine Ashley. The council voted to reject Ashley’s letter of resignation during a special meeting on Aug. 1.
At its Aug. 12 meeting, councilmember Gary Casey made the motion to reconsider the original motion from the Aug. 1 meeting.
“It became clear that by not accepting the resignation the ability for the deputy clerk to fulfill the clerk’s responsibilities in her absence was greatly limited,” said Mayor Sue Wylie.
“Although I am capable of fulfilling the duties – and find my coworkers helpful, generous and considerate, as well as many of the residents – I can no longer tolerate those within the community who unfairly accuse me of wrongdoing, impede my work, and file frivolous lawsuits against me (the first being on my 12th day of employment),” Ashley wrote in her letter of resignation to council.
One of the major issues that has come to light has been the sheer amount of FOIA requests that the city has been receiving. According to city Manager Jonathan Smith, in the month of July, the city received over 30 FOIA requests.
“It just is really bothersome that this particular facet of their job is what’s making them quit,” said Mayor Pro Tem Laura Rodgers. “So, something has to be happening that isn’t the norm for FOIA requests. I don’t know if it’s the number. I don’t know if its the expectations. I know that in the letter she was named in a lawsuit within two weeks of being in her job. That just seems a little bit unkind. I know legalese doesn’t care about that, but it seems majorly unkind.”
With the loss of its clerk, questions have been raised regarding how the city can move forward and provide support not just to its employees but also to the community.
One solution would be for the city to start charging for FOIA requests.
“If there are so many, why should we not at least recoup some of our expenses. We’re giving all these requests $20 an hour of time plus paper, plus staples, plus whatever else is required to get this done,” Rodgers said. “We haven’t had a clerk in good standing in a while. Karen (DeLorge) went to all those meetings and then just couldn’t take it anymore. Something’s happening. Somebody is pushing that button to the length that it is unkind and not fair to that person making $20 an hour. No one is going to do that job for $20 an hour, and then get written up about it, about how terrible they are. Get letters put in our mailboxes about how terrible they are. To me, that borders on slanderous. I don’t know that I know the legal definition of it but it doesn’t seem right and it’s unfair and unkind to these people. It’s a lot of money that we need to recoup.”
Smith added that with all the time spent fulfilling FOIA requests, it impedes both he and others in the office from doing other parts of their job.
“It’s not just the time spent, it’s what we’re not doing,” Smith said.
In attendance at the meeting was Richard Bisio. Both Bisio and his wife Susan were named in city documents showing the FOIA requests they have received. In the city’s agenda packet for its Aug. 1 special meeting, Susan Bisio was listed having sent 22 FOIA requests to the city during the month of July, something she has denied in her personal blog.
Richard Bisio spoke regarding he and his wife’s FOIA requests stating that the reason they receive so many FOIA requests is because he feels the city is trying to “conceal information and do things in secret.”
Deputy Clerk Evelyn Bihl also spoke urging the council to better support employees.
“We don’t have the people here. We don’t have the skilled people right now. We are missing a skilled person. We’re all scrambling and trying to do the best we can and the council is not recognizing us as doing that. We don’t get support. We need your support. And we need the support of the community. We don’t need the community to harass us and belittle us and just hurt us. Why don’t you come in and work with us,” Bihl said.
The council voted unanimously to accept Ashley’s resignation and is now accepting applications to fill the position.