As a whistleblower, I am supposed to be protected; however, the City has done little to stop certain individuals from making my professional career and life a living h*l. After 10 years of hard work for the City, and an almost completed MPA degree, I have to endure unfair and hurtful employee relations, name calling, lectures, threats and numerous attempts to silence me - all because I revealed mismanagement in our IT department, and the costly waste they still produce.
Human Resources finally moved me away from IT, but now my chances of getting a new permanent position within the City are vanishing. Several years ago, an IT executive got fired for misconduct and I became a witness for the City in this case. This information was finally released last year and since, the executive's best friend, and my supervisor, has done nothing but retaliate against me.
And what do you know; now that I am trying to get transferred or moved to a new promotional position, the workforce planning person in Human Resources happens to be an old close high school friend of my supervisor. And they have been seen enjoying lunches together. Can the Human Resources person be unbiased? Can I trust that my case is handled confidential and fair? I can't say for sure, but knowing the individuals involved, and their unethical nature, I am not surprised that so far all my transfer and promotional opportunities I applied for have been denied.
The ironic part is that I would be better off getting fired from the City; at least then I would have a legal case! Now I only have the tears in my eyes every time I return from my job because it is hopeless for me here. My job performance has always been excellent, I am ambitious, I have great work ethics, and I always got things done. I've been reaching out for a hand from my employer, and instead I am getting a fist. So much for Civil Service; so much for the merit system!
What some of these City officials seem to forget is that we are supposed to work as public servants. We are supposed to spend tax dollars that the public trusts us with in a responsible manner; and we are supposed to produce valuable services to the public, not waste.
The City of Stockton seems to tolerate that some department leaders pursue their own self interests and I have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted by one single department: IT. Any private business would be thankful for anyone reporting this misconduct, but the City of Stockton, with its politics and tenure policies, couldn't care less about the public, ethics and responsible business. So what if we throw away thousands of dollars on consultants and projects that we never implement; so what if we pay salaries for people who do meaningless tasks? The public doesn't mind, right? Or do you?
0 comments