As recently reported on this blog, Mayor Gallo issued an order on 5/11/15 requiring Steve Noble to turn over all documents, expenditures, vouchers, etc concerning the various grants he was working on. This was to be done by uploading same to the S-drive and by turning over copies to the City Comptroller, City Purchasing Agent, and Corporation Counsel.
I have recently uncovered another memorandum issued by the Mayor on 5/28/15 that was sent to Kevin Gilfeather, who is Steve Noble's direct supervisor. In this memorandum, the Mayor advised Mr. Gilfeather that while an order had been given to Mr. Noble, he had largely failed to respond to it. The documents were not loaded on the S-drive or submitted to the three people directed.
A review was made of the department's computer folders and, in the memorandum, it is noted that "shockingly little" information was there,
Steve Noble has now been directed to submit ALL hard copy documents no later than the close of business today (June 1st). I do not know yet if he did so.
Let's be clear about something. Steve Noble has the right to run for Mayor. BUT, he is a city employee and Mayor Gallo is his boss. If the boss gives a directive of this nature, failure to follow it constitutes insubordination. You may seek the job of the boss, but unless and until you get said job, you have to follow the orders of the boss. That is the rule we taxpayers have to follow in our jobs. We all have bosses and have to follow their orders. That's a simple fact of life.
Now, to be fair, I do not know if Steve is being insubordinate or if the documents requested do not exist because the work that was supposed to be done was never done. Once all of the hard copies are turned over, we will know which is the case.
It is beginning to look like the story I released as an exclusive may very well have legs. People are beginning to talk about it all over the city. Recent attempts were made by 2 former elected Democrat officials who are decidedly anti-Gallo to blame the Junior League and a Democrat committeewoman. This has infuriated many people.
The insurgent candidacy of Steve Noble is perhaps in real jeopardy of collapse.
12 comments:
So now they want to blame a democratic committeewoman for the screw up of Steve Noble? This whole incident goes to the character of Steve Noble. Has he ever heard of the term "the buck stops here"? His MO is to throw her and a junior league member under the bus? Take it like a man Mr.Noble....oh wait, I forgot you are just a kid with no experience in the management field or governing. Not someone to count on in a crisis or having any problem solving skills.
So are you the mayor now? How are you getting these memos before anyone else?
10am, they are public documents. Any citizen can ask for them.
No, I am not the Mayor. I am a taxpayer and have the right to express my concern with a city employee not doing his job.
I expressed my concern about the former BPW chair, the former Mayor, and various current and former Aldermen.
this is a colossal mistake on Noble's part & I can't think of any way he can lie his way out of his ineptitude. Shame on him for blaming the Junior League women...he'll pay for that dearly at the polls
There are still a few things that do not add up about this whole mess.
1. The only way you could have gotten one of those memos is from the Mayor himself, or one of his people. Kevin Gilfeather wouldn't have given it to you, he likes to keep out of this stuff as much as possible. The other memo was addressed to all the common council, so anyone could have leaked it. Did you FOIL this information? If you did then you would have more than likely been tipped off.
2. Why give you this information? I mean no offense by this at all, but you are just a blogger and there are two major newspapers in this city that would have probably liked this on their front page. You have a built in niche audience of readers that is mostly made up of people who are somewhat active in politics. Why not give it to the Freeman and have it reach the entire city at once? You can argue the Freeman's or Time's "anti-Gallo" agenda all you want but the bottom line is that this is news, so whether they like the mayor or not that would have to run it.
3. The Junior League letter and the Mayor's reply were written in the same day. Doesn't that seem somewhat fishy to anyone else? I may not like the Mayor, but I can admit that he is a busy man so thinking that he can receive a letter in the afternoon and reply back almost immediately seems odd. He didn't have any other meetings or anything else on his agenda that day? Also, in the letter he says he spoke to vendors "last week" to assure them that they would be paid. If a problem wasn't brought to anyone's attention until the Junior League wrote the letter, then why did he have to speak to vendors the week before?
4. Why has no disciplinary action taken place against Steve Noble? I know he is a union employee and has some protection, but if we are talking about this supposed level of gross incompetence you would think that he would at the very least been suspended without pay.
I am not one for conspiracies, but if you can believe that the Democratic committee rigged the endorsement, then is it such a stretch to believe that maybe Mayor Gallo concocted this whole plan just to besmirch Steve Noble?
Thoughts?
So you going to report on Noble's fundraiser tonight.
4:30,
No, I am not. I do not care about fundraisers.
2:20,
1) You are off point. The documents I presented were legally obtained and are available to anyone. I am not going to waste time discussing what process I used, foil or otherwise. The only thing I will say is that I did not receive them from Mayor Gallo. Beyond that -- it is a red herring. The real issue is the actions or lack of actions of Steve Noble.
It seems to me that Noble's supporters cannot defend his actions. So, some have tried to blame other people while others are attacking the messenger.
2) The Freeman did print a story about it, so they must have gotten the same documents. I just got the story out first.
3) I am not privy to the conversations the Mayor may have had. However, it is common in the business world to write letters that confirm phone conversations. These type of letters often discuss things from an earlier time. Also,considering email, faxes, etc., letters can be sent almost instantaneously. Lastly, if the Mayor thought something was of great importance, he could certainly prioritize it.
4) The most recent document suggests that disciplinary action is being considered. The Mayor has to be careful. If he reacts too quickly and suspends or offers some other discipline, the Noble supporters will claim political retaliation. If he waits too long, then he is accused of not taking action. I think he is being very deliberate and giving Noble every opportunity to do the right thing.
NOW -- I have a question for you. Instead of attacking the messenger or seeking some Bigfoot conspiracy explanation, comment on Noble's apparent failure to administer the grant, failure to respond to orders from the Mayor, etc. Do you honestly think that all of these grants were delayed because of other people's errors and Noble did nothing wrong? Really?
The freeman was siting on it for two weeks! hoping it would go away..
Just got here: what is the underlying problem... funding mixup? was it in the freeman, the times?
Anonymous of June 2nd who seems so concerned how documents were obtained: Freedom of Information is one method...and I had to chuckle at your concern for the newspapers. Most of the time, the only way to get the Freeman to do ANY REAL STORY is for a blogger to get the word out....then they are FORCED to do something to notify the taxpayers what is going on. The main problem, in speaking with members of the LEague is that they tried over and over again to contact Steve Noble, who was responsible for overseeing the grant, which has incredible rules which MUST be followed. HE did not handle it correctly and he did not respond to the League's concerns. They eventually went to the City lawyer for help. Noble should likely be dismissed for his neglect of duty in handling public funds. I wish the Freeman would REALLY do the story!
Steve is a kid and it shows. Sorry this is like a hope and change campaign which we are all familiar with. Except instead of public healthcare, we'll get trees and solar powered trash cans. :)
Post a Comment