Tuesday, June 26, 2007

El Dorado Irrigation Board of Directors Ignores Hostile Work Environment

The following is an Anonymous comment that was posted to the blog on 6/23/07. The writer so eloquently describes the situation at EID that I could not pass up using it for a posting. To whoever wrote this, thank you for your comments.

Is this America or a “Day on the Beach” experience somewhere out-of-the-country?

To those of us ordinary employees, it is clear EID’s conscience has vanished, while the Board lumbers in a perpetual state of unconsciousness. The atmosphere is dark and foreboding. Paranoia runs rampant resulting in covering behinds and covering-up. Trust, respect and confidence have disappeared, being replaced with suspicion and callousness. Ordinary employees are no longer valued and are only pawns in a strange chess game guised as reorganization to sustain the GM’s intended state of confusion.

There is a known phenomenon where organizations take on the personality of their leader, and EID’s leader goes into tirades often, bangs on office doors, shouts at the top of her lungs, and pushes people around. The most recent episode occurred in the presence of the ordinary working staff in Finance, requiring Mr. Cumpston to direct personnel to exit their work stations and move to the other side of the building. It seems he may have been concerned about their safety, but more likely trying to keep a lid on an already explosive situation. This is not the first time and won’t be the last that the GM has exhibited irrational and violent behavior. Who knows what a person is capable of when they explode.

Those unfortunate to become victims of her holocaust are held in contempt and considered guilty until proven innocent. Some are sentenced to house arrest known as Administrative Leave that may go on for days or several months, with or without pay. Verdicts may lead to the firing squad with personal escorts out the door, or others must endure harsh working conditions that lead them into early retirements. All while our Board sleeps and the casualties continue to mount.

It appears the entire Board has chosen to ignore our cries for help in what constitutes a hostile work environment, with employee safety concerns. This attitude and lack of concern leads to no other choice than pursuing a recall of each member of the Board.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems the Board has blinders on when it comes to the General Manager. No one can work in a hostile environment and the GM makes it very clear, no matter who it is, you do not talk with Board members no matter what. Is there a fear some truth's will come to light? I can't believe the Board doesn't know what's going on. Perhaps they do but are at a loss how to deal with it....

Anonymous said...

In the past, the Board members would at least listen to the employees. Now, they totally look the other way.
Believe me, the Board has received several letters of concern regarding Ane's decsions and punishments, but they will not listen.
Of course, I am sure that Ane is filling their minds with lies! As a Board member, they should at least hear us out! Meet with the employees!
Recall the Board members and do a vote of no confidence to get Ane out!

Anonymous said...

I honestly think that Ane has done favors for certain Board Members and they don't want to cause any waives!
You know what I mean...hiring certain employees and the way it was done.

Tina Dawn said...

Ane has been involved in the past and may still be involved with certain Board members in business and property deals. She has hired and protected at least one member of a Board member's family. She threatened Matthew Wadley (the former HR Director) and said she would get him because he had to leave EID for his military duty. She got him by hiring her friend Dugan to fill in for him and then making Dugan head of the Department over Matthew. In her rush to "get" Matthew she neglected the proper hiring routes for Dugan, like an employment application, an interview, etc.

Anonymous said...

Ah Yes!! How can we forget the sneaky way Ane hired one of the Board Members family member? And when that job didn't work out, another job was created for this person.
Ane has created jobs and job titles for people that she wants to keep but they don't work out in the position they were hired for. Of course, these are the people that she can control and call her puppets.
The people that she can't control are, of course,let go!
To this day, I will always wonder how Ane manages to stay as General Manager?

Anonymous said...

I just met with a gentelman to give my "annual review of management". I have been here five years and have never seen this befre--whats with the "annual"? Are they finally waking up and realizing we are not keeping quiet anymore? Are they worried because someone got pissed about our legal counsels vicious letter to the Grand Jury and actually got this blot spot put in the Mountain Democratin the form of a Letter to the Editor? Kudos to the Mountain Democrat for publishing it because i was thinking they were a gutless dead dog--or being paid off to keep quiet also. They know whats going on and havent had the courage to publish anything directly--or dont have the investigative knowledge to figure it out--who knows. The Grand Jury is looking at EID closer now than ever--and with their supervising judges approval!

Anonymous said...

Maybe the GM should spend the publics money on seeking mental therapy for the workers of EID vs providing the management team this privlidge.

Anonymous said...

Why are we all standing by an not speaking out against the upper maangement staff in FM and GM offices? If we all standby we will watch them continue to grow there office instead of cutting the GM office and FM office managment staff and saving the tax payers upto $1.3mm in wages annually? Have you ever walked around the office and thought do you think they are setting us up for outsourcing? We all should wake up and demand that the GM office reduce its staff by 19. Why seek awards of excellence like the baldridge award for which the GM gets a pat on the back and tax payers fork out $1mm? Spend the money on the worker bees and by improving our services.

Anonymous said...

Which management employees husband worked on Ane's house's new addition?

Anonymous said...

This is the first step (blog) on letting the public and management know what the atmosphere is really like at EID! Another step that we all can take is to write a letter to your congress person and to your local supervisor.
Ane is totally out of control! We need to take the bull by it's horns and make a difference!
If we all stand together and fight this out of control tyrant, we will succeed!

Anonymous said...

With Ane's control do you really think the board will take action? I'm sure they think the employees are just unhappy with her direction. They don't see the little Hitler she is...disagree or make a stance, and you're gone.

Anonymous said...

The Board of Directors knows everything that goes on and all of Ane's spending. This time last year they were supposedly holding "secret" meetings to investigate her and her management team. When the associations board brought some things forward to one of the EID Directors (actually several of them, they just covered it up and acted like they knew nothing)they (the associations board) were served with letters to cease and desist communications with the Board of Directors. Then I found out last week that Ane is getting yet another new car, and are you all ready for this? It is because the one she just got (less than 2 months ago)doesn't have enough bells and whistles for her ego. Meanwhile there are guys in the field driving around in broken down old trucks, Hey Ane, why don't you spend the money for the field workers???? All the Grand Jury needs to do is supeona her expense reports (and Setoodehs and Knapiks as well), that will show how they spend the Districts funds, how come regular employees cant eat lobster while they are away at a training class yet the Department Heads can????? Subpeona for contracts that have been awarded yet never correctly bid on, subpeona managers pay increases while employees are still waiting up to a year for their reviews/step increases. Shame on you EID Board of Directors for allowing late performance evaluations, lack of information on insurance, allowing the constant spending of rate payers money so members of management can live high on the hog. I know I won't be voting for any of you.

Anonymous said...

I'm not in the main office working so I don't know how much of this true or not. I do know this that the Staff that Jerry Foote has keeps all of us in very safe trucks and cars at all times. I have never had a problem with a repair or getting a safe loaner when mines in for service.If your driving something that's at the end of it's life I'm sure Jerry has it slated to be replace.

Anonymous said...

If Ane is harrassing you and you are in fear of your job, and you do your job...you can legally sue Ane on a civil lawsuit.

Anonymous said...

How many of us have bought parts and other items using the EID discount? Many of us have so be carefull this is not allowed anymore.

Anonymous said...

How many internal expense reports are not available for Public viewing at EID? Lets seee if we ll know which ones the public does not see? Finance do you know?

Anonymous said...

With the amount of outside legal counsel costs a month should we not outsource this deptartment and save a few hundred thousands a year?

Anonymous said...

I don't think the legal department is the problem. We need them to give us direction as to which type of outside legal counsel we need. Same as when engineering hires outside consultants.

Anonymous said...

Hiring outside engineering isn't always a good thing.Look at Ownens Engineering just because they have friends on the board they get contracts and give us garbage products all over the district.They have been on the Oakridge project for six months and still have no ideas on how to build it.

Anonymous said...

Are you kidding, legal is the one office that the employees should be able to go to for help in making EID work ethically. If Ane is doing things like going around the policies, which she does daily, legal should make sure that this is addressed. Legal is the only employee that reports directly to the Board of Directors. Unfortunately this legal officer is as intimidated as the rest of us and will not stand up for what is right. Nor will the Board. Legal allowed the OGM to send a message to all employees regarding a manager that was conducting herself in a hostile manner, was insubordinate to her department head by means of making purchases that were specifically denied, and had coached her staff to lie about these incidents when asked. The message to all of the employees from the OGM in regards to this conduct was, this employee "is a valued member of our management team and I want to personally apologize to her to make sure nothing tarnishes her fine reputation as a leader in her field."

Have any of us in the last 6 years seen an apology to any of the non-management or for that matter any of the other management employees that have been sent to the beach and found "not guilty?" No we have not. Legal may be a valuable asset when it comes to outside legal matters but he is useless when it comes to reigning in the General Manager when he should. He has zero backbone and thinks that in his position he is far and above any of the working class employees. He thinks we are all a bunch of whiners and should be seen and not heard. This I can testify to because I have heard him myself.

Anonymous said...

Ya look at MWH the consultant hired to construction manage the Mill bull Tunnel construction. They got paid by EID management for a tunnel that was not constructed properly. Hiring of this consultant and managing of fell directly on the GM office. How did they get off scott free without having to poney up any $ for mis-managment?