City Manager Mick Berry should be fired! Not only should he be terminated, as residents of Hickory, we should demand our money back!! Why? I can offer several examples, and I don’t even have any inside information.
1) He has brought in at least 5-6 student interns – 1 from UNC-CH, 1 from Clemson, 3 or more from BYU (his alma mater and fellow Mormons). The first intern was Mr. Mike Bennett. Mr. Berry created a new position for him at the end of his internship (Assistant to the City Manager). Mr. Bennett was paid $40,000/year for his internship beginning in May of 2006. In October 2006, he was given a raise to $44,000. Then, he was given another raise in April 2007 to $49,407, in July 2008 to $55,033 and in October 2009 to $75,000. In February 2010, Mr. Bennett was appointed Finance Director (without any accounting background) and then in June 2010 he was made Administrative Services Director (a “new” department was created by combining the existing departments of Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology – how does that make any sense?!!). These were opportunities ONLY afforded his Mormon brethren – not current employees, not open to residents of Hickory.
2) Early in the Google fiber project, Mr. Berry hired 2 “consultants” to work with the City on their application. It has been stated that Paul Baird is a fellow Mormon. The other ‘consultant’ was Kim Hudson (not sure of her religious affiliation). Paul was paid $21,375 and Kim $19,325 for the couple of months they worked on the Google application. This could have been done with assistance from volunteers, but as usual, Mr. Berry uses his church to find help and pay them an exorbitant amount for very little knowledge (both worked in marketing previously) with tax payer’s money. Of course, they did come up with the City’s slogan for Google – GottaGettaGigabit. The project was awarded to Kansas City, MO.
3) Let’s review some of City Manager Mick Berry’s hiring trends – interns from his alma mater, fellow Mormons and women. He hired Andrea Surratt as an Assistant City Manager when I was informed by someone involved in the process there was a more qualified male applicant. The position vacated by Mr. Bennett when he was promoted (at least twice!) was filled by Yaidee Fox. The position that required a master’s degree from Mr. Bennett fresh out of BYU, was given to Ms. Fox who has no degree at all. Rumor has it that she is now enrolled in a distance education program. She is working on a B.S. Degree on the City’s money. This is quite a discrepancy in education! What is really required to be Mr. Berry’s assistant – a MPA or a vagina? While rumors abound about their relationship, whatever it is seems to give them both what they desire. Since, like so many others under Mr. Berry, this position was never advertised, no employees or citizens were given the opportunity to compete for this job. It was only offered to Ms. Fox. What does Mr. Berry see in her that others who work for the City, and already possess a MPA, do not have?
4) Ms. Fox’s former position as Administrative Assistant was filled by Sarah Prencipe. I am quite confused by this hiring decision as well. It seems Ms. Prencipe came to Hickory from Alexandria, VA. Mr. Berry, are you telling us that of the 600+ employees currently working for the City, the 40K+ residents of Hickory and the 350K+ residents of the Hickory Metro that NONE are qualified to be your secretary? What a slap in the face to all the good people of Hickory when jobs are so scarce! I do not know her background, but I have heard she was given this opportunity because of a Mormon connection – her parents attend church with Mr. Berry.
5) More recently, the City’s finance officer left to become a department head at Lincoln County (the Finance Director position was eliminated in Hickory with the creation of Mr. Bennett’s new department). To continue his trend, Mr. Berry moved Melissa Miller into the vacated position, then moved Camille Abernathy into Ms. Miller’s old role as supervisor in Billing and Collections. While I applaud any company with a policy of promoting from within, the City of Hickory makes all these decisions behind closed doors with no open competition for vacancies. There is not a hiring practices policy that I could find while searching the City’s website. What if there was an out-of-work CPA with 20 years of experience working in the Library to help pay their bills while looking for another position – they would never know about these jobs or be interviewed! Unless you are Mormon.
6) About 2+ years ago, Mr. Berry created a new department for Mandy Pitts (another common trend for his favorites – let’s call it “make-a-job”), called Office of Communications. She needed an employee for her new department, so they gave her the City’s webmaster. I do not have the sacred MPA degree or a BYU education, but it seems to me that the webmaster is an IT job (at least everywhere I have worked). As the norm under Mr. Berry, this new department head position was not posted. It gets even better! She has now hired a new person to perform her old duties of PIO (Public Information Officer) and Ms. Pitts is the City’s new Brand Manager. Sorry – how is that even a full time job? Especially in Hickory, NC! Her duties are to “promote” the City’s new logo and tag line (developed by a consultant, who was again paid with taxpayer money). Local businesses beware!! You are going to be asked to incorporate this logo and tag line into your letterhead, website, etc. And, I’m sure it will be at your expense! One other note, good citizens of Hickory, Ms. Pitts had cable TV service and a flat panel TV installed in her office so she would always be abreast of the news (Mr. Berry already had cable and a flat panel TV in his office). Are we paying City employees to watch cable TV? I get all the news I need quicker, and for free, via the Internet.
7) Have you seen the “Sails” on Union Square? How did this $500K+ project slip by and get funding. I am not an architect either, but I would bet that the design for the transfer station only a few blocks away could have been modified and used in its place. It would have been a better fit with the surroundings and would last much longer.
8) Hickory has embarked on a new project, Inspiring Spaces. This is yet another venture of Hickory leaders with no input or forethought. This one involves another rumor about Ms. Surratt, who is leading this project. The rumor is that she is friends with someone at Land Designs, the consultant working on what Hickory should do with their land, buildings, etc. Was there a public RFP for this project? Not that I could discover. Apparently, she talked to friends about this and offered them the job. Sounds like she is learning a lot from Mr. Berry.
City Manager Mick Berry is using his position to further the careers and pad the pocketbooks of his fellow Mormons. This needs to be investigated and stopped. Who controls the actions of the City Manager? The Hickory City Council should, but they are not. These are our tax dollars! And shouldn’t there be some form of accountability for unfair hiring and promoting within our city government and with our tax dollars? What about the countless employees that have served us well for many years and have not been given equal opportunities or raises? What about the Sanitation workers that work all holidays and in extreme weather for probably half what Mr. Bennett is currently making with no opportunities for advancement or even cost of living increases on a regular basis?
If you relate the City of Hickory to a struggling sports team, then the first thing you normally see changed is the coach/manager. Maybe there is a key player that needs to be traded, but usually a change in leadership is the first step to correct a dysfunctional team. Take a good look at the City of Hickory and talk to the employees who have been there for 5 years or more. This is about as dysfunctional an organization as I have seen. A good gauge is all the excellent employees who have left key positions since his arrival. I can only find 2 department heads that are still there since he was hired., plus 2 of the 3 Assistant City Managers left.
What can we do as concerned citizens? First of all, we can vote! Vote for a new Mayor and for new City Council representation. We need a group that has the balls to stand up the the City Manager and make a tough decision if and when it is needed. We can contact our current council members and demand they take action (all are listed on the City’s website). Enough is enough. Let them know we’re not going sit idly by and take this anymore. Hickory deserves competent and fair management from our elected representatives and “their” appointed city manager. No more unfair hiring. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating against employees on the basis of religion. Why does that not apply here? No more favoritism. If a young, inexperienced Mormon is more qualified than an experienced Christian, then there should be no problem with an open and fair competition for that position. There needs to be an end to all the closed door politics in the city manager’s office. Tell your friends. Tell your neighbors. Tell the media. Tell everyone. Call or email your representatives. Let’s make local government local again! Let’s mold a government that works for us – all of us.
concernedabouthky 