HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Civil Service Board - 07/08/2003 •
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FEB 2004 ,
MINUTES
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518a CIVIL SERVICE BOARD MEETING ' a$ x r}
1201 LEOPARD ST., CITY HALL
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HUMAN RESOURCES CONFERENCE ROOM
July 8,2003 .
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT CITY STAFF PRESENT
• Andrew Lehrman, Chairman Cynthia C. Garcia, Director of
Human Resources
Cydney Farrar, Vice-Chair Susan Hutson, Asst. City Attorney
Foster Crowell, Superintendent of
Erich Wendl,Member Wastewater
Cynthia Papageorge, H.R. Analyst
The 518'h Civil Service Board Meeting was called to order at 1:03 p.m.
Item#1: Review and approve the minutes of the 517th Civil Service Board meeting held
on April 10, 2003. The minutes were approved.
Item #2: Review and consider the appeal for termination filed by Arturo Gonzales,
Maintenance Mechanic, Wastewater Department.
The witnesses were sworn in and administered the oath. The City requested the Rule be
invoked, Mr. Lehrman explained The Rule to the witnesses, and they were asked not to
discuss their testimonies amongst themselves.
Opening statements were made by Susan Hutson, representing the City. She stated that
Mr. Gonzales took City property from a City site, in a very secretive manner, to his house
without anyone's permission. He did not have a City purpose for taking the property.
When a witness discovered what he had done and told Mr. Gonzales to take the property
back, he refused and even acknowledged what he is doing is wrong, but does it anyway.
There were several occasions when he could have taken the property back, but he didn't.
A supervisor and a police officer went to Mr. Gonzales' house and retrieved the City's
property. His only.excuse was, "I was going to bring it back". That excuse is completely
unacceptable.
The Code of Ethics which is the law in the City of Corpus Christi, prohibits employees
from using City property for their own personal use. There are over 3,000 City
employees and if all of us decided to take City property home and use it, we would have
a problem at the City and we would be defrauding the taxpayers.
Court rules prohibit him from_ stealing City property. It is very clear. He had an
inclination to take it from the rightful owner which is the City of Corpus Christi. He was
SCANNED
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terminated from his job at the City because he deserved it. He took property from his
employer and he cannot be trusted any longer. The City asked that his termination be
upheld.
Mr. Lehrman asked Mr. Gonzales if he would like to make an opening statement. Mr.
Gonzales stated he did not come to this hearing for his job. He did not want his job back.
He stated he was at the hearing because of the manner in which it was done (his
termination). He said that a Mr. Herrera and a Mr. Gonzales did worse. He said Mr.
Herrera took a bicycle from the Allison Plant and he has it at his house. Mr. Arturo
Gonzales stated he saw Mr. Herrera do it. He asked if that was right.
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Mr. Lehrman asked Mr. Gonzales if he didn't want his job back, then what relief was he
looking for? He stated he wanted to tell what Mr. Herrera and Mr. Gonzales had done.
Mr: Arturo Gonzales stated that Mr. Gonzales had built two bar-b-que pits and given one
to Mr. Gonzales and the other one to Mr. Herrera who had it at his house. Mr. Lehrman
asked if he had filed a complaint. Mr. Gonzales said he had told someone about it and
was telling the Civil Service Board about it now.
Mr. Gonzales said what Ms. Hutson had said was wrong. He was going to take the City
property back. Mr. Gonzales was told he could talk with Cynthia Garcia, Director of
Human Resources, regarding his concerns about the other employees he Mentioned who
had taken/accepted City property.
Mr. Lehrman asked Mr. Gonzales again if he wanted to withdraw his appeal even though
he was being given an opportunity to have his appeal heard. He stated he did, and asked
if there was any way he could have a chance to get his job back. Mr. Lehrman said he
could not answer that one way or the other because the Board had not heard the evidence.
Mr. Gonzales stated he did not want his job back and still wanted to withdraw his appeal,
and have the opportunity of meeting with Cynthia Garcia to discuss his concerns about
what he feels are matters that should be investigated relating to other employees.
A motion was made to adjourn and seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m.
Cyn 'aC. Garcia, Secretary Andrew Lehrman, Chair
Civil Service Board Civil Service Board
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Cydney Farrar, Vice-Chair Erich Wendl,Member