Commentary — For the Good of the Order: Resignation

Editor’s note: We are offering publication of brief, thoughtful, well-written commentaries on this subject. They will run with the regular news feed. Please submit them to me at [email protected] — editor 

By Rev. Alyce Parmer

It is not my habit to write letters to the editor of any news outlet. But, the recent incident involving our city manager compels me to speak out. I write from 25+ years of experience and expertise as a former chief human resource executive in both the private and public sectors serving organizations of various sizes and one with over 4000 employees.

While healthy organizations offer assistance to employees with emotional and mental health issues that affect their performance, including substance and alcohol abuse, healthy organizations also recognize that an organization’s leadership must also be held to higher moral, ethical and professional standards of behavior than the employees they lead.

Credibility, professional judgment. and trustworthiness are not just good traits for persons in leadership. They are critically essential characteristics that once questioned and certainly once compromised cannot easily be restored, if at all, especially in situations where the leader has no track record of demonstrating good judgment and trustworthiness with the people s/he serves. With fewer than 60 days on the job, this is the case with Mr. Ross. Mr. Ross’s behavior is not only questionable, it is most assuredly compromised and sends up many red flags of warning for the future healthy and effective management of our city.

• First, he breached public trust by failing to exercise minor prudent decision-making to avoid publicly drinking excessively. He apparently knew ahead of time of the possibility he would get publicly drunk by his own statement saying he rode a bicycle rather than drive his car. His actions demonstrated a serious lapse in judgment and is a strong indicator his judgment may likely be compromised when under stress and pressure in the future.
• Secondly, he failed to report the unfortunate incident to his superiors, another lapse in not only judgment, but also in trustworthiness. Any public employee, much less a person in his position, knows that a public employee’s behavior on or off the job is subject to high public scrutiny, and trustworthiness is a paramount character trait for public employees, especially those in leadership. Mr. Ross’s failure to report the incident, which he knew or should have known, would eventually become public knowledge, is an indicator he cannot be trusted to do the right thing under pressure or stress. And a city manager’s job is by nature both high-pressure and stress-filled.
• Thirdly, the example he provided to all city staff destroyed his credibility and trust in him as a leader. He can no longer effectively or credibly lead the city staff.
• Fourth, by failing to report this incident and naively hoping it would not become public knowledge, he set up the potential of “owing” the police chief and his subordinates for their silence, thus compromising his objectivity in future decisions regarding the police department. The public’s assessment, right or wrong, that he will foster a “good old boy” system, is justified.

In my human resource executive career, when faced with unprofessional behavior, serious lapses in judgment and trustworthiness on the part of persons in high leadership positions, and while especially difficult, given every person makes mistakes, nonetheless, it was for the good of the organizations I served to recommend giving such employees in high leadership positions the opportunity to resign in lieu of dismissal. What happened in this incident was not a minor mistake, but rather a series of serious lapses in judgment, ethics and trustworthiness.

As an ordained member of the clergy, I believe in forgiveness and in mercy. Our city commission can extend both to Mr. Ross in how they handle his departure. However, they have a higher obligation to the city staff and our city residents to realize this is not a minor incident, but rather one that is sending them clear signals of what they can expect. Sadly, these are indicators that Mr. Ross lacks the ability to lead effectively and handle stressful situations with integrity and good judgment. Many people experience stress, separation from family, and the problems associated with significant life changes, but do not do what Mr. Ross did in response to them.

As a citizen who loves my city, I do not trust Mr. Ross to manage Fernandina Beach as it deserves.

Thank you for this opportunity to express my opinion.