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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Hamo brought up Ramona Sain as Danny Sain's daughter and serving as Deputy Ombudsman.
Hamo to Dicks (page 735)
"And he (Buchanan) has a situation where he's got the---your'e---he has the daughter of Danny Sain and he's got the Debbie with a close relationship with Danny, and he's trying to get a handle on who's leaking this information-"
At that point Forrest objected to Attorney Tom Donnellan, acting as Parlimentarian.
Mr. Forrest
"The basis for my objection is this: The last question was so argumentative as to be nothing more han a statement of Mr. Hamo and Mr. Buchnan's position rather than a question to a witness.
In other words, he is saying all of these facts trying to put them into evidence in the form of a question. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 7:09 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Forrest continued:
I'm oncerned also in addition to the framing of the questions about these scurrilous and hearsay type accusations against reputable members of our community, and a member of this body--"
At this point Tucker calls for order
Forrest objected to laughter and that he wanted to avoid using names that would damage the reputations of reputable people.
Hamo accused the hearing of allowing heinious allegations against Buchanan.
Dicks testified he told Danny Sain that after Darryl was suspended it appeared to some that he was trying to make his daughter become ombudsman to which Danny Sain replied he might have to ask Ramona to resign. Diks said he protested because it would appear Darryl was retaliating and to leave it alone. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 7:25 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Hamo alleged Danny Sain had an inappropriate access o the office and Buchanan had a right to limit that access.
Dicks alleged the City did not pay his invoices because of politics because he was campaigning for a "white man" Donald Williamson.
Darryl Buchanan had the option of changing his staff without cause and yet Dicks stated Buchanan took the issue of Milling to a 10 person Advisory Council of which he was a member to have that body witness his signing of termination letters to Milling, Allegedly cases were discussed in this advisory body.
Councilman Minore challenged Dicks for billing for attending meetings on personnel issues after stating he did not do personnel work. Minore and Hamo then hashed it out about Hamo describing the hearing as a "witch hunt".
Minore questioned why they alleged back up in complaints were never addressed when MacIntosh was there for up to three months after Bankert left. He also asked why the manual was not used or calls made to uncover pass words. Dicks who had testified about the alleged computer problems had no answer. Dicks was also challenged s to why he had been allowed to take file home in order to close them out. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 7:58 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Minore was the councilman for the 7th ward, where the Avon Park development was located. Under questioning by Minore, Dicks admitted he was unaware the ground for the project was broken 4 months prior to Buchanan being appointed and complaints were made ongoing after that time.
When Minore reminded Dicks that he had stated the office should be free of outside influences and mentioned Sain and others, and yet he met with others outside the office on ombudsman matters.
When asked about the financial payments made to Dicks as a consultant, Dicks alleged council told Buchanan that as long as Dicks campaigned for Williamson, he shouldn't get paid. Dicks stated he now worked for free.
Minore addressed the President and asked the record to reflect that council "had no authority to hold up checks, to disapprove payments of this nature, none whatsoever, and council cannot make that kind of statement, cannot make that kind of order, and I think that any suggestion to the contrary is probably not accurate." |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 8:17 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Councilman Murphy asked the obvious question, if Milling was being dismissed because of a reorganization that she made too much money, et cetera, and they believed she was leaking information, why would they offer her a job as an investigator.
Dicks could only offer that he believed it was to be a favor to Sain, because Sain did not want her fired. That is why Dicks said it was decided the three former Ombudsmen, Dicks, Ananich and Dupcza, should meet with Debbie to convince her to take the investigator job.
After being questioned about the case backlog, Dicks stated those not completed were the minor cases that had not required much investigation and they went back to 1989. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 8:58 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Donna poplar testified regarding her conversations with Buchanan over the management of his office. (pp858 - 895)
At the time Poplar was the Executive Director of Genesee County Community Action Agency (now G-CARD).
"And one of the things I shared with Darryl is that when I took over I cleaned house!" She discussed disinformation strategies and having a Deputy that could be trusted and who was loyal.
Polar described how staff was not to discuss personnel issues of the office, procedures and practices of the agency with any elected official. She stated employees should not have information on everything.Employees who violated were terminated and a clarifiation letter was sent out, much like the one Darryl sent out.
Ddarryl shared his fears with her, said Poplar, about 2 alleged and 1 admitted afairs with some elected officials. Poplar said she told Darryl to remove this one employee from him and to limit her access. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 9:19 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Poplar described how Buchanan believed he was being "set up". "he says that he felt he was forced , to a point, to hire Ramona Sain as a way of keeping his job and initially as an agreement of getting his job."
Poplar advised Buchanan that Ramona would not be loyal, and he replied he had no choice.
According to poplar, she was the one who suggested the advisory group to gain input on day-to day operations, as related to budget, salaries of employees, hiring and firing of certain individuals as related to these day-to-day operations. Debbie and Rose were the 2 employees who Polar alleged were involved in affairs with City Council members. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 9:33 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Councilman Murphy questioned Poplar on her comments about Ramona Sain. She replied that Darryl told her he was going to hire Ramona Sain as his deputy and he felt compelled to do so to keep his job. "That was one of the things he agreed that he would do"
Poplar insisted Buchanan never told her who was forcing him , only that he felt forced and he shared with her that he did not trust Ramona and believed she had a hidden agenda.(page 871)
Poplar indicated she had spoken to several council members about Darryl's frustrations.
Poplar stated Ed Taylor supposedly had an affair with Milling.
Note: Taylor discussed no affair, but his wife and Milling had been close friends for many years. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 9:51 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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CPSA Courier September 3, 1995 Sally haywwod
OMBUDSMAN OUT: Buchanan First Ombudsman to be Terminated
last weekend's hearing on the allegations facing Flint Ombudsman Darryl E. Buchanan saw testimony filled with hearsay innuendoes about romantic liasons between ombudsman staff and City Council members, and stories of an office seemingly out of control. There were unsupoened witnesses, attempts to disqualify council members, shouting matches between attorneys and the police called in to keep Buchanan supporters from interrupting the proceedings.
And when the smoke finally leared after four days of hearings and and a day of closing statements, Buchanan became the first Ombudsman to be removed from office. Buchanan was terminated in a 7-2 decision by City Council.
Buchanan is said to be disputing the decision and will seek remedial action in the Circuit Court.
According to the City Charter, it takes at least 7 votes on the 9 member City Council to oust an Ombudsman.
The two dissenting votes were cast by Council members Peggy Cook (4th Ward) and Matt Taylor (5th ward). |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 10:53 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Voting to terminate Buchanan were Councilmen Verdell Duncan (1st Ward), Ed Taylor (2nd Ward), Johnie Tucker (3rd ward and Council President) John Northrup (6th Ward), Jack Minore (7th Ward) Lawrence Murphy (8th Ward) and Scott Kincaid (9th Ward).
Buchanan's attorney George Hamo grew irate on Saturday morning after Special Counsel Charles A Forrest Jr. closed his case without calling the main witness, Deborah Milling. Hamo could have supoened Ms. Milling , but said he didn't because he thought Forrest would have her testify. He said his belief was based on Milling's presence at all of the previous meetings.
Milling first filed her charges of sexual harassment and sexual discrimination with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights on January 10, 1995. She also filed a formal complaint with the City Council. It was because of her complaint and that of Rose Fizer that the investigation of Buchanan was initiated. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 11:13 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Hamo argued he was being denied his first chance to cross examine Milling and said to go on without her testimony was ridiculous.
Forrest replied to Hamo's criticism by saying that his witness list was based on a number of charges outlined in his report of August 7 to the City Council, only oneof which involved sexual harassment charges by Ms. Milling. Forrest went on to sy there had been ample evidence to establish the harassment allegations of Ms. Milling.
I have set forth charges of irregular and perhaps illegal issues, said Forrest. "I don't need to involve every witness." He reminded Hamo of his option to supoena Milling in order to ensue her testimony.
"There are a lot of lawsuits pending", said Forrst after Hamo suggested Milling was not testifying because she had a lawsuit pending. "Mr. Buchanan is also looking for money", Forrest replied referencing Buchanan's lawsuit pending against the City following his suspension. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 11:26 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Hamo brought out three former Ombudsmen, Joe Dupcza, Jim Ananich, and Richard Dicks. The three testified they believed Buchanan's seemingly erratic behavior in the spring could have been a response to Buchanan's belief that confidential material from his office was being leaked. However, Dupcza said he was unaware of any such leaks although he had met with Buchanan on several occasions.
Dicks testified to a conversation with Danny Sain in which Sain is said to have asked about soil samples in the Avon Park Project. According to Dicks, Buchanan became very upset when he relayed the conversation to him.
When Buchanan was giving his testimony, he was questioned on the Avon Park issue by Councilman Jack Minore. Under questioning, Buchanan agreed the Avon Park investigation was started under Ombudsman Terry Bankert, had been the subject of several City Council meetings and more than one set of soil samples were taken. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 11:57 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Dicks also testified regarding the February 15 memo on mandatory polygraph testing for employees. He said he never authorized Buchanan to use his name on he document and stated he is not certified to give such tests. Under cross examination by Forrest, Dicks denied knowing such testing is illegal according to Michigan statutes.
"If Dicks don't like it, he can sue me", was the response given by an irate Buchanan when questioned about his unauthorized use of Richard Dicks name on the memo.
Another cause of concern was the 348 cases said by Buchanan to be left behind by former Ombudsman Terry Bankert.
According to testimony by Barbara Burdette, the Assistant to the Ombudsman, most of the cases were complete and only needed to be entered into the computer. She said these cases were in contrast with the backlog which was deliberately during the budget hearings by Buchanan. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 12:12 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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More than one Council member expressed concern with Dicks testimony about how he took more than 40files home to work on . Councilman Minore voiced his belief that confidentiality on cases would be more difficult to maintain if cases were allowed to leave the office.
Terry Bankert did not testify but sat in the chambers during portions of the hearings. he called statements he left 348 cases open when he left office "bold faced lies". He said he left office in July, but left behind his computer specialist Randy MacIntosh who stayed in the office for about 2-3 months. Also left in place, said bankert, was a large procedural manual with a computer section. "We were in one of the slowest period of complaints of the office when I left.", said Bankert. Bankert also said he was never called about a password for the computer system. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 12:28 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Anita Brown and Gail Wright started as volunteers in Buchanan's office in February 1995. They are shown in memos as Buchnan's interns, however neither was enrolled in a college intern program at the time. Both testified they carried back overheard conversations between office staff and others to Buchanan.
Anita Brown testified she overheard an employee from the Department of Economic Development asking Rose Fizer if the complaint on Flint NIPP had come in yet and Fizer said no. She testified this was just after Fizer received her evaluation and indicated Fizer's suspension and reprimands were at least in part due to this supposed breach of confidentiality. When Fizer was terminated, Brown became a full time employee.
The hearing records show a memo for a staff meeting on September 13, 1994, 5 months prior to Brown's coming to the office, which has the Flint NIPP complaint on the agenda. |
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Mon Dec 12, 2016 12:43 pm |
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