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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-08-20 City Commission Packet Materials - A1. Discussion of Documents Related to Public Records Requests Supplemental Cm. Cunningham Comments The documents attached to tonight’s agenda were produced as a result of a freedom of information act request and subsequent public statements. While individual commissioners may have been aware of certain elements of the situation revealed in the documents, no individual commissioner had the whole picture until these documents were released. But we do now. Let me preface my comments tonight by saying that Mr. Mehl is one of the main reasons I chose to run for Bozeman City Commissioner and that I considered him a mentor when I joined the commission. Further, I agree with former Interim City Manager Dennis Taylor that Mr. Mehl is “a smart, dedicated, and tireless elected official.” That is why this situation – and my comments tonight about this situation -are so difficult, and for me, so heartbreaking. But I believe that the truth must be told. That there are right things and there are wrong things – and we must not shirk our responsibilities when it comes to matters of justice. My goal tonight is to tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may. I am also grateful to my colleagues for calling this special meeting tonight. As elected officials, we must be transparent in our actions and have these difficult discussions with the whole city watching. We are, after all, servants of the people. Maybe that’s a good thing to keep in mind as you listen to the following. This story is about Mr. Mehl’s desire for control and power and how Mr. Mehl used over-reach, intimidation and bullying in an attempt to gain more control and more power. This is also a story of failure. About my failure to live up to my oath of office and my failure to face up to bullying behavior. When I joined the commission in 2018, I had monthly meetings with then Mayor Cyndy Andrus and quickly learned that City Manager Surratt and Mayor Andrus had frequent conversations about Mr. Mehl’s problematic behavior. It was not uncommon that the bulk of my meeting time with Ms. Andrus was spent discussing Mr. Mehl’s disrespect for the City Manager’s clear administrative responsibilities, his frequent violations of her chain of command, his undermining of her authority and his aggressive behavior when she attempted to stand up to him. Some of these instances are documented in the email exchanges in the documents that have been made available to the public – and there are many such examples. What is important to keep in mind is that our City Charter specifically says that a commissioner forfeits their office if they violate any of the 3 prohibitions in the City Charter – and one of those prohibitions is “Interference with administration.” A commissioner interfering with administration is such an egregious act that the charter says – if you do so, you forfeit your job. What are the allegations that Mr. Mehl violated the charter prohibition against interfering with administration? City Manager Surratt makes them multiple times in the documents just released. • They are identified in her memo of November 9,, 2019 to the Bozeman City Commission which she states, “outlines a pattern of unprofessional and disruptive behavior by Deputy Mayor Mehl, in his official capacity as a city commission member that has occurred over the past two years.” So she’s not reporting one instance, she’s reporting a “pattern of behavior” that occurred over multiple years. To make sure the commission understands what exactly she is alleging, she pastes the relevant portion of the City Charter Section 2.05-c into the memo – the one that says, if a commissioner interferes with the administration of the city, they forfeit their job. • In the same memo, Ms. Surratt lists 9 different examples of interference with administration. • In the documents relevant to this meeting there is a collection of documents 155 pages long that former City Manager Surratt complied in an effort to demonstrate Mr. Mehl’s constant interference with her administration of the city. 155 pages. It is clear that she is attempting to present overwhelming evidence that Mr. Mehl violated the specific prohibition of the City Charter related to interference with administration. In reviewing the 155 pages, it appears that city staff was uncomfortable with Mr. Mehl’s over-reach and they forwarded emails to the City Manager in an attempt to document this bad behavior. It’s all there for you to see. • Ms. Surratt submitted a statement knowing it would be used in tonight’s meeting and knowing that it would be made public. In her statement dated September 2nd, she says the following about Mr. Mehl’s interference, “He interfered with staff meetings during the course of normal business hours, edited staff memos for content that he felt should be included to make a case, talked openly about moving to a strong mayor form of government, got angry and verbally intimidated and bullied staff at all levels of the organization on a number of occasions both in person and through email.” This isn’t me saying this – this is the person we recruited in a national search to relocate to Bozeman to run our city. Andrea Surratt. • In Ms. Surratt’s September 2, 2020 email she also reports the following: “During the course of my employment with the City of Bozeman, Mr. Mehl, in his capacity as a City Commissioner and as Deputy Mayor repeatedly interfered with the administration of the city over my two year tenure which undermined my authority and made my job, a career that I have dedicated my life's work to, extremely difficult. According to the Bozeman City Charter this was not allowed.” She then cites the specific charter reference again. She’s clearly pointing the commission – once again – to the part of the charter that says if you interfere with the administration of the city, you forfeit your job. • Here comes the tragic part. Ms. Surratt, who had hoped that the Bozeman City Manager job would be the crowning achievement and the last job of her career, says the following: “Mr. Mehl's repeated violation of the Charter's prohibitions clause was a key factor in my decision to accept another employment offer. I told Mr. Mehl, in a face to face conversation outside of City Council chambers after a lunch meeting about code of conduct issues in December 2019, 'that he was the reason I needed to leave'. I have kept that to myself until now.” I can report that I witnessed an instance where Mr. Mehl verbally intimidated and bullied City Manager Surratt. It was a meeting in Ms. Surratt’s office. I had monthly meetings with Ms. Surratt and Mr Mehl had asked to sit in on this meeting. During the course of the meeting, Mr. Mehl pressured Ms. Surratt to accept commission involvement in a matter that she considered administrative in nature. Ms. Surratt resisted and Mr Mehl proceeded to raise his voice and continue to pressure her in an intimidating manner. The situation has a visible impact on Ms. Surratt – you could tell that she was flushed, rattled and trying to calm him down. I did not immediately come to Ms. Surratt’s defense in the meeting, which I regret. I called Ms. Surratt afterward and apologized for Mr. Mehl’s behavior. I then called Mr. Mehl and let him know that I no longer wanted him to join my monthly meetings with the City Manager, citing the incident during the meeting. Mr. Mehl refused to admit that his actions were at all intimidating; he thought he had done nothing wrong. After reading Ms. Surratt’s September 2nd email – it is apparent that Mr. Mehl’s actions cost the City of Bozeman a capable and well-respected City Manager. Bozeman’s first female City Manager. She quit because Mr. Mehl made her job unbearable. I can tell you that this is not new news to certain members of the city commission. When she announced her departure to us, in separate conversations, Mr. Surratt told me, and certain other commissioners that Mr. Mehl’s interference with administration was a primary reason for her departure. But none of us went on the record and said so at the time. Shame on us. Shame on me. When I took the oath of office as a commissioner, I raised my right hand and swore that “I will support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Montana, and the Charter of the City of Bozeman; so help me God.” By not calling out Mr Mehl’s clear violation of the city charter’s prohibition of interference with administration, and holding him to account, I did not live up to the oath I swore. I failed the city. I failed you. So help me God. When someone close to Ms. Surratt reached out to me after she left Bozeman, I said the following – it’s in the documents – “I wish I had done a better job of addressing the meddling, abusive behavior and commission intrusion into her clearly defined space. I believe that this turn of events has provided a shock to the system. We have looked in the mirror as a commission and the majority of the commission doesn’t like the reflection we see. It has opened my eyes and it has made me more aware that I need to call out bad behavior when I see it. Ignoring it and not addressing it head-on produced a disastrous result. I realize that I have a responsibility to the city to not accept less than professional behavior from myself and my colleagues on the commission.” As will become evident as this story continues, I would not live up to those words. I failed Ms. Surratt as well. But it wasn’t just Ms. Surratt who would experience intimidation and bullying from Mr Mehl. In her November 9, 2019 memo, Ms. Surratt cites nineteen separate instances during City Commission meetings over a two year period of “bullying behavior toward staff.” The documents contains links to each of those instances so you can see them for yourselves. I witnessed several of those incidents from the dais and can tell you that Mr. Mehl’s behavior went far beyond just “asking hard questions.” Seven different staff members had to endure bullying behavior in the video links that Ms. Surratt provides – and I’m told that one staff member resigned as a direct result of Mr. Mehl’s poor treatment during a commission meeting. Another victim of Mr Mehl’s abuse. It’s my experience that Bozeman city staff is a highly qualified group of professionals who, in many cases, could earn more money in the private industry, but they appreciate being part of a team that’s building a city we can all be proud of. Yes, city commissioners are expected to question staff recommendations and ensure they are aligned with adopted policies. We are obligated to ask tough questions. But it’s never okay to use our position of authority to intimidate, harass or bully city staff. As mentioned, there are 19 documented instances of Mr. Mehl doing just that in commission meetings ranging from 2017-2019. They are mentioned in the document, citing the exact dates of the commission meetings and links to those incidents. I encourage you to watch them yourself. Mr. Mehl’s desire for power and control is also evident in his repeated attempts to advance the concept of a strong mayor form of government. As far as I’m aware, there has been only one Bozeman resident who has been pushing the strong mayor form of government and that is Mr. Mehl. The recently released documents show that Ms. Surratt and Mr. Taylor had concerns about Mr. Mehl’s campaign for a strong mayor form of government because it would fundamentally change the role of the City Manager. Mr. Taylor even complains in exasperation that Mayor Mehl is already acting like a strong mayor, rendering the role of city manager unnecessary. Exchanges between commissioners also point out that Mr Mehl was actively promoting the strong mayor concept as the city had begun a search for a new city manager. It was alarming news and quite frankly, awful timing. A shift to a strong mayor form of government diminishes the role of the city manager – it completely changes the job. Jeff Krauss said it best in the documents when he asks, “Why would any city manager candidate come to a city that’s not committed to their future employment?” We know the topic was of concern because one of the city manager candidates asked about it during an interview with the commission. We had to assure the candidate that there was no pressure from the community to change our form of government; that it was a campaign committee of one. Parenthetically, I personally don’t believe that commissioners should be attempting to change our form of government in an effort to create a job for themselves, but that’s a discussion for another day. Realizing that Mr. Mehl’s violation of the charter and his bullying behavior had cost us one city manager, and recognizing that she was about to hand the mayoral gavel over to Mr. Mehl, Mayor Andrus called a special meeting of the commission on December 12, 2019 to review and adopt norms of behavior by city commissioners. Make no mistake about it – this meeting was specifically designed to try to address Mr. Mehl’s improper conduct and behaviors. That meeting was all about Mr. Mehl. First, Mr. Mehl attempted to subvert the intent of the meeting by delaying any vote on the norms during that meeting, citing that one commissioner was absent and another was going to be stepping down in a matter of weeks. He was over-ruled. Second, Mr. Mehl was the only commissioner who didn’t admit to some small violation of the norms in the past. Mayor Andrus did. I did. Commissioner Krauss did. Mr. Mehl did not – and his behavior was the intended focus of the meeting. The documents show that Jeff Krauss says, referring to Mr. Mehl’s response to the meeting, “The intervention didn’t work” and I reply to Commissioner Krauss, “This is going to be a long term project.” I had no idea how prophetic those words would be. Dennis Taylor, a man with impeccable credentials and a long and honorable history of excellence in city management agreed to serve as our interim city manager as we recovered from Ms. Surratt’s departure. Mister Taylor is in his seventies, a former marine with combat experience and I believe he was awarded a purple heart. Also of note is that Mr. Taylor has considerable history with emergency management and incident command structures – something that would prove extraordinarily valuable when the unforeseen happened and we were faced with a global pandemic. And, it’s not a stretch to say that Mr. Taylor is absolutely beloved by Bozeman City staff. Realizing that he had already run one city manager out of town, how did Mr. Mehl greet the arrival of Mr. Taylor? He did exactly what he did with Ms. Surratt. He interfered with Mr. Taylor’s administration of the city, he bullied and abused the city manager and his staff and he ran Mr Taylor out of town as well. All of this is documented in the attachments to tonight’s agenda. Mr. Taylor submitted a statement, knowing full well that it would be cited in tonight’s meeting. Here’s specifically what Mr. Taylor wants the public to know: • “Mayor Mehl repeatedly interfered with my city manager duties and responsibilities in a manner that undermined my authority as interim city manager and made a difficult job unnecessarily more challenging—especially during our emergency declaration to address the COVID-19 threat to our community.” • “Mayor Mehl is frequently abusive to staff and can be very overbearing. He tends to bully staff and is especially abrasive, hostile and intimidating to many of our female staff.” • “Unfortunately, Mayor Mehl did not ever try to comply with the norms established by the Commission resolution that was adopted in December 2019 nor the specific requirements of the Bozeman City Charter.” This is another attempt by another city manager to point the commission to the city charter’s specific prohibition against interference with the administration of the city. The one that says, if you interfere with administration of the city, you forfeit your job. It’s not just Dennis Taylor who complained about Mr Mehl’s behavior during Mr Taylor’s tenure. Deputy Mayor Cyndy Andrus saw what was going on and wrote an email to Mr Mehl, copying the entire commission. In it she says: • “I am writing to ask that you please follow the norms. Now more than anytime in the past we need to work as a unified team with a unified voice. Our team has one leader and that leader is Dennis.” • “You are meddling in ways that are hampering the effective functioning of city government.” • And since Mr. Mehl is doing so in the middle of a pandemic, she also says: o “People are stressed, people are frightened and people are looking for leadership. Some of your actions are increasing that stress and fear.” o “We are not helpful when our efforts are not coordinated. We are not helpful when we bypass the City Manager with communications and directives to staff. We are not helpful when we speak without knowing all of the information, or assume authority that is properly the City Manager's.” In an emergency management structure, there are clear lines of authority and clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Mr. Mehl chafed under these restrictions on his power and control and continued to subvert the incident command structure. In a highly unusual move, a member of the county incident command structure felt compelled to write Mr Taylor, complaining about Mr. Mehl’s behavior during the crisis. Specifically, that he is undermining the incident command system and the unified messaging effort that they set up to get the public accurate and timely information. In an email to Mr. Mehl, Dennis Taylor pleads with Mr. Mehl to stop his meddling and act like he’s part of a team in a time of crisis. Even in a pandemic, Mr. Mehl refused to stop his interference and over-reach. Throughout his most recent tenure as interim city manager, I had conversations with Mr. Taylor about Mr. Mehl’s behavior. As Dennis was wrapping up his interim assignment, he and I had our last regularly scheduled monthly meeting – this one over the phone due to Covid-19. I asked Dennis what his experience had been relative to the city commission’s adherence to the norms of behavior we had all agreed to. Here’s what he told me and what’s indicated in the documents for tonight’s meeting: • Mayor Mehl has continued to attempt to reach into the organization in violation of the adopted norms to deal directly with staff. This caused the same types of problems that were identified by former City Manager Surratt. Mr. Taylor reports that this undermines his authority and confuses staff. • Mr. Taylor reported that during his current assignment as Interim City Manager, on at least three separate occasions, in meetings with Mayor Mehl, the Mayor became angry and abusive toward him, causing the Interim City Manager to be concerned for his safety and to consider whether he wished to continue serving in the Interim City Manager role. Mr. Taylor reported to me that, even though he (Mr. Taylor) is a Marine with combat experience, Mayor Mehl's behavior rattled him significantly and appeared threatening to him. • Mr. Taylor described Mayor Mehl's behavior as "like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde" and he wondered whether the Mayor may be suffering from a mental or behavioral condition that results in the Mayor being unable to control his aggressive behavior toward others. • Mr. Taylor also related to me that he had been offered a position within the county emergency management structure that would start after his Interim City Manager contract expired, and that he believed he would be effective in that role, but he ultimately decided not to accept the position, largely because he did not want to continue to deal with Mayor Mehl. I can report that I was a witness to one of the three instances where Mr. Mehl abused Dennis Taylor so much he considered resigning. In March, 2020 Mayor Mehl asked me to remain in the City Commission chambers after our commission meeting to participate in a conversation with Mr. Taylor. During the course of the meeting, Mayor Mehl's treatment and verbal harassment of Mr. Taylor became so aggressive that Mr. Taylor became visibly flustered, found it difficult to speak and needed to excuse himself to find water in order to continue the conversation. Even subsequent to this, Mayor Mehl continued to aggressively argue with Mr. Taylor. I attempted on a couple of occasions to moderate the conversation and bring it to a conclusion, but Mayor Mehl continued to pressure the Interim City Manager. I did not sufficiently intervene and come to Mr Taylor’s defense in this meeting and I regret it to this day. I failed Dennis Taylor. The day after this meeting, I felt the need to call Mr. Taylor and apologize for the Mayor's behavior. Mr. Taylor confirmed to me that he felt intimidated and bullied by the Mayor and that he considered resigning as Interim City Manager as a result of the meeting with Mayor Mehl. Mr. Taylor decided that - given the Covid-19 situation and his role in leading the city's response to it - he would not resign his position. After my conversation with Mr. Taylor, I spoke with Mayor Mehl and registered my displeasure with the way he conducted himself in the meeting. Mayor Mehl seemed completely unaware that his behavior was problematic and refused to believe that it could have resulted in Mr. Taylor considering resignation. I reminded the Mayor that this was the second time I had witnessed him bullying and abusing a City Manager - the other instance involved former City Manager Andrea Surratt - and that it was not behavior that I wanted to be associated with. The documents clearly show that Mr. Mehl’s continual attempts to subvert Dennis Taylor’s authority had an impact on the Senior Leadership team of the city. Based on the notes of many meetings between Dennis Taylor and the assistant city managers, the subject of Mr. Mehl’s behavior is a consistent concern and an ongoing theme. At one point, Dennis Taylor complains to an assistant city manager, “I can’t figure out how to end this strong mayor BS.. without it ending us on the inside. Seems like the inside continues to crumble.” He goes on to list three different high-ranking staff members who have resigned as a result of Mr. Mehl’s behavior. The assistant city manager replies by listing the names of three additional senior staff members who the city appears to be in jeopardy of losing. Believe me, if those 3 staffers resigned, the city would be in a world of hurt. And all of this is precipitated by Mr. Mehl’s quest for more power and more control. If anyone doubts the impact of Mr. Mehl’s interference with city administration on those trying to lead the city, just look at what an assistant city manager said about it to Dennis Taylor. In a March 31, 2020 email she says, referring to Mr. Mehl. “He’s an enormous problem for us. Enormous.” At the end of his interim assignment, Dennis Taylor chose not to accept a temporary job in the emergency management structure of Gallatin County even though he was an ideal candidate for the job because he’d had enough of Mr. Mehl. So Mr. Mehl runs another city manager out of town. At this point in the saga, it should be noted that Mr. Mehl’s behavior cost Bozeman city taxpayers a significant amount of money. Because of him, we had to hire a recruiting firm to replace Andrea Surratt, who had wanted to stay in Bozeman until she retired. We paid the firm $28,355.31. There is also a salary difference between what Ms. Surratt was earning and what we are paying our current city manager, which means that the cumulative impact of having to replace Ms. Surratt over a 5 year period is more than a $100,000 hit to the budget – and Bozeman taxpayers are footing that bill. After Jeff Mihelich accepted the job of City Manager, Cyndy Andrus and I were very frank with him about the challenges that Mr Mehl had posed to the previous city manager and the interim city manager. We wanted him to walk in with eyes wide open. My admonition to Mr Mihelich was that he needed to develop a strategy to deal with Mr. Mehl. It is obvious to me that Mr Mihelich took that suggestion to heart. He quickly issued a directive to staff that they were not to have direct communication with commission members without him being in the room. An email from a director to his staff reports that the new city manager is “trying hard to conform to the norms that Andrea established prior to her departure.” He says the restriction might sound extreme but it’s necessary. Mr. Mihelich also has taken steps to ensure that there are multiple witnesses and the city attorney in the room when he has agenda-setting discussions with Mr. Mehl. When Mr. Mehl reports that there have been no complaints about his behavior in the 3 months that Mr Mihelich has been on the job, that is a factually true statement. An equally true statement is that Mr Mihelich has gone to extraordinary lengths to try to keep Mr Mehl’s behavior in check, so he doesn’t run a third city manager out of town. That, in my mind, is not cause for celebration of for patting oneself on the back. Multiple years of bullying and intimidating city staff and making life so unbearable for two well-respected, highly competent city managers that they flee the city is not something that is wiped away with three months of uneventful behavior. I will now relate my personal experience regarding Mr. Mehl’s bullying behavior. On a number of occasions, when I have disagreed with Mr. Mehl on a policy issue, he has reacted poorly and employed various techniques – intimidation, raised voices, exasperation, etc. – to get me to change my policy views. In one specific incident, I had resisted Mr Mehl’s attempts to get me to change my mind and contact the City Manager to say that I agreed with Mr. Mehl. During one discussion on the subject, when he was trying to bulldoze me on the issue I complained. I said, “Chris, you’re putting a lot of pressure on me and I don’t appreciate it.” He replied in a chilling manner. He said, “Terry, this is nothing. You have no idea how much pressure I can bring to bear on you.” That moment changed the entire dynamic of our relationship. Because what Mr. Mehl was telling me was that as far as he was concerned, I was not an independent commissioner with the ability to form my own thoughts on policy matters. That if the policy issue was important to him, he would use every trick in the book to get me to conform to his way of thinking. Mr. Mehl would employ any tactic to increase his personal power and control. It’s classic bully behavior. I had gotten a little glimpse into what Ms. Surratt and Mr. Taylor had to endure over the course of their employment. Mr Mehl’s attempts to shape policy through questionable methods is something that individual commissioner have been aware of for some time. Mr. Mehl’s abuse extended beyond city staff, city administration and other commissioners; he has also bullied and abused Bozeman citizens, the very people he is supposed to serve. Individual commissioners have been aware of some of these instances of citizen abuse over the years - and some of them have been revealed just recently. But collectively, they paint a clear picture of a person using his position of power to insult, intimidate and abuse citizens of Bozeman. It should also be noted that the majority of these complaints come from women. We have received statements from some leading female voices in our community about Mr. Mehl’s behavior. In one case, Mr. Mehl met with representatives of a group dedicated to the fair treatment of women and girls, and he proceeded to bully, abuse, harass and intimidate them. Mr Mehl chose to abuse women who were trying to raise community awareness about the abuse of women. Let that sink in. Mr Mehl chose to abuse women who were trying to raise community awareness about the abuse of women. In addition to Ms. Strout’s testimony and email, I have a letter from another witness to this meeting in my possession, but she is concerned about possible retaliation so it is not part of tonight’s record. Individual commissioners are aware that other members of our community have suffered similar abuse by Mr. Mehl. Over the past 5 days, I have received several unsolicited emails, phone calls and requests for in-person meetings from Bozeman citizens who want to report incidences of bad behavior on Mr. Mehl’s part. Why have they contacted me – and why are they contacting me now? I’ve been told it’s because, for the first time, someone is finally listening. Someone is finally showing that they care. And someone is finally standing up to a bully. That up until now, they saw an organization that has closed ranks around an abusive member, unwilling to face up to its responsibilities. Looking back on our enabling behavior as a commission, I’m afraid I can see how they got this impression. I have briefly spoken to the City Attorney in general about the next couple of examples I’m going to provide. These are individuals who have reported detailed instances of bullying and unethical behavior by Mr. Mehl. I have their emails, or my notes of a conversation with them in my possession. Each of them is concerned about retribution by Mr. Mehl, or perhaps by the City, as a result of coming forward. They either have a professional relationship or an advisory relationship with the city and they can suffer financial or reputational harm if retribution is enacted. I will be working with City Attorney on how and to what extent their identities can be kept confidential. As a result of the above, I am going to be describing these allegations obliquely to protect the identities of the citizens. Complaint #1 is from a contractor to the city. The complainant describes in detail that, in the course of working on a project, Mr. Mehl asked them to undertake an unethical act. At least two members of city staff confirmed that it was an unethical act and urged the complainant not to agree to perform the act that Mr. Mehl was proposing. Mr Mehl continued to aggressively request that the unethical act be taken, including using bullying and intimidating behavior against the complainant. The complainant had to take unusual actions to avoid Mr. Mehl, knowing that he would likely use the opportunity to try to subvert the clear direction of city staff by appealing to the complainant directly to pursue the unethical act. Complaint #2 relates to a proposed city project. The complainant reported in detail that Mr Mehl used unethical methods, including misrepresenting the views and opinions of the city commission to try to delay or derail the project. The complainant described the various actions – including deception, bullying and intimidation – that Mr. Mehl employed to mislead other public officials about the project. Again, I have detailed notes of this complaint and am working with Mr Sullivan to protect the complainant’s identity. Complaint #3 comes from a member of a neighborhood association. The complainant describes in an email that Mr. Mehl displayed intimidating behavior to influence the decisions of a local neighborhood association. The complainant reports that the bullying incident “left a bad taste in our mouths about how Bozeman's government works - or does not work.” This last point is important to note. When a city commissioner acts in a threatening, bullying manner, the object of the abuse assumes it’s coming from the city of Bozeman – not just from that commissioner. This complaint has actually been formally received by the city today. Now that the commission has been made aware – through freedom of information act requests that produced hundreds of pages of documents, through statements from two previous city managers, and through the statements and testimony of aggrieved citizens – we must ask ourselves, “what is our duty?” My answer to that question is that we must deliver justice. I ask my fellow commissioners the following: 1. If any other Bozeman city employee had a multi-year history of bullying and intimidating members of staff and the public, what would we expect the City Manager to do about that employee? Do city commissioners get a “pass” when they exhibit the same behavior? 2. Would we not criticize any city department that tolerated years of bullying and abuse? Would we not say that co-workers should have spoken up in strong terms about this behavior? Well, we are Mr. Mehl’s co-workers. We are that department. I argue that city commissioners should they be held to an even higher standard; that we should be exhibiting behaviors that we’d like to see replicated by other organizations in Bozeman. Yes, Mr. Mehl is a smart, gifted man who has many admirable traits. No doubt about it. But should we be willing to tolerate all the human wreckage that he has left in his wake? I would like the commission to consider taking the following actions: 1. We ask the City Manager to convene a special meeting to formally consider whether Mayor Mehl has forfeited his office as city commissioner by violating the city charter’s prohibition on Interference with administration. 2. As part of the same special meeting, the commission consider whether to bring a complaint to the Board of Ethics against Mr. Mehl for violation of Chapter 24, article 3 of the city code for Interference with public officials, violation of 2.03.510 of the code – treatment of the public, as well as violating several sections of the city’s standards of conduct including 2.03.490 A B and E. If any city commissioner would like to join me in asking the City Manager to schedule such a meeting to discuss these issues, please indicate so to the city manager tonight or in the near future. In conclusion, I’d like to address a question that I’ve been asked over the past week, which is, why did I ask for tonight’s meeting and why do I seem to be the primary person attempting to address these issues? The answer is that I’m trying to correct my past failings. I have failed many people when it comes to calling out the bad behavior of one of my colleagues. But in reviewing the hundreds of pages of documents and listening to the testimony of constituents and public officials, I have finally found my voice. I rise for them. I speak for them. I rise for Andrea Surratt, an effective and highly professional City Manager who moved to Bozeman to lead our city, but wasn’t able to do her job because Mr. Mehl repeatedly interfered with her administration, who pleaded with the commission to take action and, when we didn’t, felt she had no choice but to resign. I rise for Dennis Taylor, one of the most respected people in Montana municipal administration, who answered the call when Bozeman needed an interim leader and served during one of the biggest crises in our history, but who was bullied, abused and who felt physically threatened by Mr. Mehl on several occasions and considered resigning three different times over a six month period because Mr Mehl interfered with his administration of the city. I rise for the many Bozeman City employees who had to suffer under the wrath of Mr. Mehl’s temper, often during public meetings; and to those who left those meetings in tears. Those who felt the need to report constant over-reach and tampering by Mr. Mehl to their superiors. Who just want to do their job without harassment and intimidation. I rise for those city employees who felt they had no choice but to resign their positon rather than work for a city that allows bad behavior to continue unchecked and unchallenged. And for those who considered resigning, but remained on board in hopes that things might get better. I rise for the many Bozeman citizens who have reached out and spoken out to report bullying, abusive behavior by Mr. Mehl while in his role as city commissioner, who don’t believe a city should harass and intimidate its citizens. I rise for those who have suffered similar abuse and would like to report it, but are concerned about retaliation and retribution, so they have asked for anonymity out of fear of financial or reputational harm. You all have given me the strength to rise for you. In some small way, I hope this corrects my failure to speak up on your behalf in the past. I know that I will pay a price, personally and politically, for rising on behalf all of these people. There have been and there will be accusations and recriminations for daring to speak out on this subject. But as I said in the beginning of this statement – there are right things and there are wrong things. Every part of my being tells me that this is the right thing to do. I believe there is one honorable way out of this ugly, embarrassing situation, and that is for Mr. Mehl to say four words. “I’m sorry. I resign.” I hope that Mr. Mehl can search his heart and apologize for years of bad behavior and abuse. But the most sincere way of showing that he is truly sorry is to forgo power and control – and resign. Only then will he prove that he really means it. Only then can true healing begin.