Norman contends performance review by Aragon mayor

When Aragon's former city clerk Sandy Norman submitted her resignation in past weeks, she cited that it was over a bad performance review put into her records she felt was unfair.

The performance review in question as part of her personnel records includes what Mayor Garry Baldwin called constructive criticism, but what Norman believed weren't fair, especially comments that addressed her quality of work.

A trio of her performance reviews were made available as part of an Open Records Request made by the Standard Journal to inspect her personnel file, which also included a written reprimand that Norman stated came after she sent a personal email to Baldwin after hours one night.

The reviews - which began with her first in 2015 after being on the job for several months - mainly contained a positive outlook on her performance for the city. Her opening review was completed by former Financial Officer Hal Kuhn, who before Norman became City Clerk briefly held her former job title.

He at the time gave her high remarks in all areas of her performance for the city, from ensuring that paperwork and payment was getting handled in a timely fashion to her willingness to take on overtime even when it might have been an emergency situation. It included no comments otherwise of note.

In 2016 during times of turmoil in the city and as Kuhn took on part time roles, Norman completed a self-review of her performance for the past 18 months on the job on May 2016, which she then had reviewed and signed by then acting Mayor Curtis Burrus.

That review also gave her high marks in all areas of her performance, and she included notes thanking the city for the opportunity to continue her training and education as a City Clerk.

Her June 2017 review also gave her good marks overall, taking no issue with how she has conducted herself on the job or the work she's done overall.

But as the city has lost further employees, Baldwin included comments that he meant to be helpful honesty, but that Norman contends are unfair.

For instance, Baldwin checked off in her review under the category of dependability that she had a pattern of being told what to do, and had a pattern of indifference in completing primary tasks to her job.

Specifically noted in that section were additional comments in which Baldwin mentioned a problem with Aragon's coverage under the Georgia Interlock Risk and Management Agency's liability coverage for city vehicles.

It read: "There have been occasions where Sandy has forgotten to do specific tasks, such as overlooking an invoice that is due (GIRMA Liability Insurance) which could have caused a serious problem. There was an occasion where a lack of coordination with The Public Works Director caused several bills to be overdue when finally paid in addition to bills which were paid twice and request a refund."

Baldwin said during a follow- up interview on Norman's performance review that an invoice that had been part of a longer letter sent by the agency related to their insurance coverage had been missed, and that payment had been delayed in that particular case which resulted in the city's liability insurance lapsing for a few days.

Norman challenged t hat assertion when asked about the insurance coverage, and didn't even recall it as being a major incident.

"If our insurance lapsed, I'm not aware of it," she said.

She also cited that following the departure of Kuhn, she was leveled with additional responsibilities she didn't feel comfortable shouldering at the t i me, and that Baldwi n ' s claim that she had to be told what to do wasn't valid.

Norman specifically pointed to the Public Works department paperwork and it's lack of coding for accounts payable, which she said wasn't her responsibility when she was employed with the city, along with a number of other tasks.

" Just because he (Baldwin) comes in everyday and says I need to do these things, it doesn't mean i haven't already done it," she said. "I think my prior experience shows that I know what has to be done and get the job done, and I don't have to have someone telling me every single minute of the day."

Norman's review also cited a further violation that she received a written reprimand for in violation of the city's overtime policy.

According to Baldwin and Norman, the reprimand stemmed from an email sent from Norman on May 30, according to the June 5 letter that was also part of her personnel file.

Baldwin stated in the letter that it stemmed from a conversation the pair had about checks that hadn't been put into deposit in city bank accounts, and cited the email sent at 7: 26 p. m. was "in reference to the same discussion."

"It was not an emergency and it could have waited until the next day," the letter stated.

Norman said, as the letter also stated, that this was violation of the city's overtime policy, which was also provided and stated that "an employee may not work overtime unless he or she has received advance authorization from his or her supervisor." She also knew she would be punished for the action, but felt she had no choice.

"I said I was sorry, I had the concern and felt the way I did," Norman said. "I knew what time I sent the email, but was upset and sent it rather than stew on it all night long."

It also cites that any use of social media or email if something is sent officially on city business can't be done without permission of the supervisor, which in Norman's case was Baldwin at the time.

Norman stated that the email she sent to Baldwin involved her personal feelings over the investigation into potential financial irregularities being done by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation involving Baldwin's daughter and former city clerk, and court clerk Lori Dunn.

That letter has been sought late in the week via an Open Records request made on July 20, and following the city council's work session Baldwin said that he was still working on the request. It had not been fulfilled by press time over the weekend, and will be examined once it is released.

Norman was also asked for the email, but she said she didn't feel comfortable releasing it due to the GBI investigation.

Her performance review specifically cited this use of email along with her use of time prior to beginning of the work day spent on city business before the office opened, and the buildup of overtime hours that resulted in comp time being granted and paid out.

Norman, along with city police officers, had some of the highest amounts of comp time built up for the city. Baldwin said that Norman was paid out comp time earlier in the year, and took that option after rules were changed and only 40 hours at t time could be built up at any given time and approved by the City Council after Baldwin took office.

Finally, the 2017 performance review criticized Norman for not being willing to take on further responsibilities after the departure of several employees in the past months.

She noted that in a previous meeting with Baldwin and others, she said specifically that she had no training in accounting work and wasn't willing to take on any financial responsibilities for the city.

Norman's training has extended as far as the GMC/FOA's (Georgia Municipal Clerk/Financial Officers Association) basic class on finances for those not specifically dealing with issues the city clerk has to understand, like usage and time limits on Special Purpose, Local Option Sales Tax funds.

Those have included Kuhn, who said he left in protest in November 2016 after Baldwin took office and sought to put Dunn in a position of authority over his duties a financial officer.

Dunn resigned her role from the city earlier this year.

Former Building Inspector and Code Enforcement Officer Danny Forsyth also left his job in past months as well.

Christie Langston took Dunn's job as court clerk, which is now being filled by Amy Liggons. Liggons and Langston were both confirmed in their new jobs unanimously by the council during their July 20 meeting.

Baldwin said in response to the comments made in the performance review that he only made the remarks in the review a constructive criticism, and did not intend them to be anything more than thoughts about how Norman should improve in her job.

"I was honest, understand that no one is perfect, pointing out things to work on," he said. "It was not anything that we hadn't addressed previously at some point in time."

Norman on the other hand said that she felt the comments were unfair, more specifically those that sought to call into question her quality of work.

Especially as she points out the number of training classes she attended during her past two years on the job for the City of Aragon to become a fully certified city clerk, classes she was only a few hours away from completing.

Norman said she doesn't want her job back, and that she plans to try to complete the classes and seek a job elsewhere with her talents.

Check back in coming editions of the Standard Journal for more on Norman's email to Baldwi and other updates about this story.

Go find this story online at Polkstandardjournal. com to see the three Performance Reviews of former Aragon

City Clerk Sandy Norman.