'Fear, favouritism and lies' control Charlottetown city hall, staff allege in letter to council
CBC
Four staff members with the City of Charlottetown have sent an anonymous letter to council decrying the city as a toxic workplace, placing responsibility for that squarely with the city's chief administrative officer Peter Kelly, and urging council to launch an investigation into his conduct.
"We have seen too many former staff who spoke out pay a high price," says the letter from staff, signed "Staffers Wanting Change."
"The City of Charlottetown is a workplace that is controlled by fear, favouritism and lies."
A copy of the letter was tabled in the provincial legislature Thursday by Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker.
CBC has spoken with all four people behind the letter, and is protecting their identities because they fear being fired for speaking out.
They said they believe other staff feel the same way, but in preparing the letter, they did not reach out beyond their group of four, for fear someone would report their efforts and leave them open to being reprimanded.
CBC News asked Kelly and the city for comment on the allegations made in the staff members' letter, but has not yet received a reply.
The letter is just the latest twist in an ongoing saga over administrative and financial concerns at city hall that began more than three years ago, when the city's former deputy CAO Scott Messervey told council he believed he was fired by Kelly in retaliation for raising concerns.
Most of those concerns were never reported publicly prior to a CBC News report two weeks ago.
"The only way to survive working here is to stay quiet and do as we are told," the letter from the four employees states. "The city has a grossly toxic work environment since the CAO took over."
In response to a story from CBC News published Apr. 24, outlining the concerns raised three years ago by Messervey, Kelly provided a statement saying "The administration, along with my personal character, have come into question and these need to be addressed accordingly."
According to documents filed in court, Kelly told Messervey in a termination letter that he was being fired in part over concerns over his interactions with staff and council members, saying some staff felt Messervey was "looking for errors, rather than attempting to work with them to meet city and departmental goals."
Messervey disputed that claim in a letter sent in response.
On April 8 of this year, Messervey's replacement Tina Lococo was fired by Kelly after just six months on the job. In an email to council, she said she too had raised concerns about administrative issues at city hall.