CITY WORKERS OBJECT TO COUNCIL `WARNING'

SCOTT CITY -- A letter sent to all Scott City employees warning them against "undermining of city officials and policies" is a violation of the right to free speech, according to a municipal worker.

The letter, distributed earlier this month, has many employees in an uproar, City Collector Aleene Warden told the City Council Monday.

"It sounds like we're being warned about something, but I'm not sure what we're being warned about," Warden said.

The letter, signed by Mayor Shirley Young and seven members of the City Council, states that the mayor and council "can no longer ignore the widespread reports of undermining of city officials, undermining of city policies and programs, undermining of fellow employees and leaks of confidential information."

Warden said she has yet to get a straight answer from any city official on what is meant by "undermining." She said if the letter means that city employees can not publicly or privately criticize city officials or policies, it is at odds with constitutional rights.

"I feel like when you wrote this letter, you took away our rights," she told council members.

The letter also states that evidence of "undermining" or leaks of information "will not be tolerated" and that such behavior will become a part of the employee's personnel record and may result in disciplinary action.

It was sent to all city employees, including police, reserve police and fire personnel.

Warden said the letter has city employees wondering where they stand.

"Can we sit down with friends and talk about something that's going on in the city?" she asked, adding that city employees are being forced to worry, "not just about being fired, but about being reprimanded or having something put in our personnel file."

Warden said she may occasionally criticize city policies, but "I don't feel like I've ever undermined the city."

Councilman Ron Oller, whose signature is on the letter, told Warden she had every right to criticize the city because she was a "taxpaying citizen." Oller said no employee should be fired for speaking out against the city.

Oller said that in his opinion, several members of the council were unsure about the letter when they signed it. He said he didn't read the letter in its entirety before he signed it.

"My opinion about that letter? You might as well take it to the toilet with you," he said.

Councilman Jerry Cummins, who also signed the letter, said that if city employees received the letter, council members should also have received one.

The letter was drafted during a closed session of the council at the recommendation of one of the council members.

The mayor said that if members of the council objected to the letter, "then I think they shouldn't have signed it."

As to what "undermining" specifically meant in the letter, Young said, "Those who received the letter who are undermining know what undermining means."

The letter cites a city code that prohibits city employees from actively campaigning for or against a candidate for a city office, or from running for city office.

Council members said that particular code has nothing to do with the "undermining" involved in the letter.

But the letter contends that failure to comply with the code is considered "grounds for immediate dismissal."