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Holly council grants manager paid leave of absence

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Written by Amy Mayhew
Wednesday, August 25 2010

Marsha Powers listens as Councilman Tom McKenney makes a motion for her paid leave of absence.#phocagallerypiclens 2-phocagallerypiclenscode-Community/powers 82410.jpg
Marsha Powers listens as Coun...

HOLLY, Michigan – Holly’s village chambers were packed Tuesday evening as many members of the community came out to learn the fate of Village Manager Marsha Powers.

Powers came under fire this week after council members realized that the village of Holly was in court last week regarding three sets of unfair labor practice charges filed by village workers belonging to Teamsters Local 214. While Village President Pete Clemens said Powers had briefed him prior to last week’s proceedings, other council members said they had limited information, or has absolutely no knowledge of the hearing until after the fact.


On Tuesday, Councilman Tom McKenney made a three-part motion.

Tom McKenney#phocagallerypiclens 2-phocagallerypiclenscode-Community/tom mckenney.jpg
Tom McKenney


“I’d like to make the motion to grant Village Manager Marsha Powers a seven day paid leave of absence,” McKenney said. The second part of McKenney’s motion schedules a special meeting to be held next week in which Power’s job performance will be evaluated.

“The third part of the motion is that Chief (Rollie) Gackstetter become the acting village manager,” he said.

In a vote of 7-0, the motion passed.

“Good,” Powers said quietly before standing up from her assigned seat and quickly exiting the Village Chambers with her husband Mike close behind.

“We’ve granted Mrs. Powers’ request for a leave of absence and will review her performance next Tuesday,” Clemens said.

The meeting is open to the public and is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 5:30 p.m. in the Village Chambers, 315 S. Broad St.

Comments  

 
-37 #1 Toddski Wednesday, August 25 2010 10:09am
Granted, Mrs Powers did make a mistake, is there any person who can truthfully say, "They Haven't"? Give this woman a break She's been doing a great job.
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-4 #2 Dayne Wednesday, August 25 2010 10:16am
rollie gackstetter for permanent village manager!
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+18 #3 Elizabeth Wednesday, August 25 2010 3:29pm
Is she blocked from going into her office and accessing her files and going onto village property like another employee was not too long ago when placed on paid leave? She should be treated no differently. How do they know what kind of records she might go in and alter or delete?It sounds like she only tells the council what she wants them to know, truthful or not, and only when it serves her purpose and is convenient to her agenda. It is the council's own fault, and it serves them right.
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+17 #4 Elizabeth Wednesday, August 25 2010 3:59pm
Marsha didn't make a mistake. A mistake is something that is not done with deliberation. Her attempts to stop or delay FOIA requests, her indifference to the union contract resulting in procedural hearings, her refusal to bargain in good faith with the union during contract negotiations, her creating a hostile work environment in her efforts to control and intimidate union employees, were all done deliberately and with motive. The village council allowed this, whether deliberately or not, and if they think the timing is bad for these hearings, etc., then that's just too bad. It is their mistake for not serving the village as they were entrusted to do. The incompetence doesn't start at the bottom and go up with this village office. It starts with the council and ends with the management. The union is not a part of either group. The union bears no responsibility for the council's or the village manager's incompetence. The union is following the process in place to protect its' members from the incompetence and indifference the council and village manager, Marsha Powers, have acted with.
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-36 #5 Sandy Wednesday, August 25 2010 8:20pm
I was in the village office today and all the girls in the office seemed pretty sad about what is happening to Marsha. They said that she never created a hostile work environment that when the one employee left the hostile environment went with her. They were also talking about all the awards she has won for the village for the audits, all the time she spent on balancing the budget, how she filled in for the Manager, DDA director or wherever else they needed her. It sounds like the council is trying to make Marsha Powers a scapegoat for something else. It sounds like they can't separate being professional and being personal, maybe they are all to personal with the union employees..
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+26 #6 timmmy Wednesday, August 25 2010 8:23pm
elizabeth, take a breath and talk slower. the council isn't used to this much information at one time. it's past time for marsha powers to go and the village move forward.
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+34 #7 Andy Wednesday, August 25 2010 8:49pm
Wow Sandy. That's a lot of ground to cover in one visit to the village office. You must know the office girls pretty well for them to freely discuss all the details with you like that. I agree with Timmy - sounds like Mrs. Powers is long overdue for this.
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+9 #8 Janet Leslie Wednesday, August 25 2010 9:02pm
You make an interesting point, Sandy. Ms. Powers won numerous awards for financial reporting when she was Clerk/Treasurer. Those skills have very little to do with managing people. If the council is culpable, it is primarily for giving a successful Clerk/Treasurer a crack at the job of Village Manager, without carefully considering her qualifications for that job.
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+13 #9 Elizabeth Thursday, August 26 2010 1:17am
Just read an interesting letter to the editor. It references a letter given to the council that "amounts to eighteen pages of reasons to terminate the employment of Marsha Powers as village manager". As a fellow taxpayer and voter, I am very interested in the contents of this correspondence. I agree that the public deserves some answers, as was stated in the letter to the editor. I think that we should have the facts as well, particularly since we are the ones who voted (and will be voting) for council members, and it is my opinion that the council owes the village residents no less than full disclosure. Or, if the letter is not made available to the public, why not? What don't they want the public to know? Am I the only one who would like to see this letter? Does anyone know how this letter can be made available to read?
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+10 #10 Elizabeth Thursday, August 26 2010 2:36am
I think that "Sandy" is confusing sadness with fear of repercussions for certain actions. I don't think that sadness has anything to do with it. Also, she said that the hostile work environment left when the employee left. That would make sense, considering that the hostile work environment was created to cause pain and suffering to the employee that left. The remaining employees were not subject to the harassment, but complicit in it since they admit to knowing it existed. What would the council be trying to make Marsha the scapegoat of? It is ridiculous to say "they are all to(her typo)personal with the union employees". Wasn't it a union employee whom they approved the dismissal of? You have to do better than that Sandy.
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+22 #11 Two50r22 Thursday, August 26 2010 11:09am
I have to agree with Janet, Marsha's appointment to the manager position should have been temporary until a qualified candidate was found. The council has had at least two opportunity's a month since the housing crash two years ago to ask, Do we have the right person for the job, Are we going in the right direction. If this community needs new leadership should we not start at the top?
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+11 #12 Steve Thursday, August 26 2010 8:02pm
Who was the Clerk/Treasurer when the water billing debacle originated?
Who was entering information that showed water bill or sewer bill $0.00?
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+14 #13 Elizabeth Thursday, August 26 2010 9:46pm
Marsha Powers was the Clerk/Treasurer in charge of billing for the Water Department, and Gwen Walters was the data entry clerk at that time.
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+2 #14 Kevin Walters Friday, August 27 2010 8:16pm
So far the only concrete action the Council has taken to deal with Marsha Powers is to give her a week of vacation. If she was clever, she could have publicly insulted the Council during the meeting because then they might have given her two or more weeks of vacation.
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+2 #15 Elizabeth Thursday, September 09 2010 1:52am
And!...Ms. Powers was the Clerk/Treasurer in charge of billing for the water department, AND the acting Village Manager from April, 2008 until early 2009! How do I know this? It's in the article dated Jan. 30, 2009 about the hiring of Susan Nassar that month. People you need to start reading and putting things together before you place your votes this fall!!
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-19 #16 Sandy Thursday, September 09 2010 9:14pm
Elizabeth, it is my understanding that all the council new of the water billing problems, mine being one of them, and they were encouraging management to fire the billing clerk
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+8 #17 Janet Leslie Thursday, September 09 2010 10:21pm
Sandy, what do you mean, "they were encouraging management to fire the billing clerk,"? The council only acts as "they" when they deliberate in open session. I don't recall a motion made to ask the village manager to fire the billing clerk. Did you witness any of the seven council members telling Marsha Powers that she should fire the billing clerk?
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+2 #18 Elizabeth Wednesday, September 15 2010 11:00pm
Sandy, as Janet stated in her posting, what do you mean, "they were encouraging management to fire the billing clerk"? As no motion was made in open session directing the village manager to fire the billing clerk, exactly when and where did "they" encourage "management" to do so? Also, by "management" do you mean the village manager, or do you mean there was more than one person involved in your allegation that "they were encouraging management to fire the billing clerk"? Has your water billing problem been resolved?
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+1 #19 Elizabeth Wednesday, September 22 2010 3:44am
Sandy, your allegation that the council was encouraging management to fire the billing clerk is a pretty serious one. I wonder if they realize the implications of your statement?
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