Commission Will Look at Sewage Plant Allegations

The San Diego Civil Service Commission on Thursday voted to investigate allegations of favoritism, sexual harassment, worker intimidation and cover-ups at the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant.

A letter dated March 15 and written by the San Diego Municipal Employees Assn. called for the special investigation because an alleged “clique” of water department employees is running the plant by creating “plum” jobs for their friends while shutting out from advancement minorities and others not within their social circle.

The letter lists 18 allegations, including the misreporting of mercury spills, as well as inadequate procedures leading to major damage to some plant equipment.

Power to Subpoena

In response to the letter, City Civil Service Commissioners voted 3-0 to conduct an investigation under City Charter Section 128, which gives the panel subpoena power to look into charges of misconduct involving classified, or non-management, employees.

Thursday’s vote came against the backdrop of a bitter struggle between the MEA and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 127. The San Diego chapter of the MEA is trying to decertify the AFSCME and take over as the official representative of about 1,700 blue-collar municipal employees.

AFSCME leaders Thursday charged that the MEA was calling for the investigation at Point Loma as a way to grandstand and gain an upper hand in the labor tug-of-war.

“What they (MEA leaders) are trying to do is make it appear that they are the great savior of city employees,” Gary Burrows, president of AFSCME Local 127, said after the meeting. Burrows said he has known about some of the allegations for months and has been working to resolve the differences between plant management and workers in his union.

AFSCME leaders told the Civil Service Commission that the city may be breaking labor law by going ahead with an investigation without giving adequate advance notice to the local.

“We are not going to be usurped by any process whatsoever,” J. Guido DeRienzo, an AFSCME representative from Los Angeles, told commissioners during the meeting.

But commissioners said the City Charter left them no choice but to act on the MEA’s request.

“Are you saying you don’t want us, as members of the Civil Service Commission, to respond to the request of an employee for help?” asked Commissioner Hope Logan.

Ruined Reputations

While union representatives were fighting openly over motivations for the allegations, some of the people named as offenders in the MEA letter told commissioners that publicity surrounding the charges has already ruined their reputations. None of the people making the accusations were named in the letter.

“I don’t understand why my personal life and professional life is going to be raked over the coals,” said a tearful Maria Moran, a plant operator who was named in a partial list of implicated employees. None of the charges, however, state what Moran is alleged to have done.

“All that’s going to be remembered is that I was investigated,” said Moran. “My accusers are my co-workers. I’m treated like a dog by my co-workers. This has been going on for a long time, and I’m tired of it.”

John Eifling, a lead operator, was one of several employees accused of gaining his job because he’s part of the ruling clique.

“I believe if there’s a clique, there’s a clique of these people making these allegations,” Eifling said after the meeting.

Judith M. Richards, president of the San Diego chapter of the MEA, said more than 20 employees have approached her group to complain about mismanagement and harassment at the waste water treatment plant. She asked commission members to use their subpoena power to compel testimony and protect witnesses.

“The major part of these complaints involve the accusation that there is a clique of people running the facility who have engaged in threats, intimidation and harassment of non-clique members; preferential treatment; sexual harassment; sexual favors for advancement, racial discrimination, and work sabotage,” Richards wrote in her letter.

“Those in the clique have promoted each other into supervisory positions and created ‘plum’ positions for each other at the expense of the intent of the civil service system, the efficiency and effectiveness of the Water Utilities Department and the best interest of the city,” said Richards.

Included on a list of 18 specific allegations:

- Department officials failed to discipline an electrical supervisor for using city time and materials to work on parts for his boat.

- Logs, memos and other documents describing damage to sludge digesters and other equipment at the plant have been removed or altered.

- Records have also been changed to cover up mercury spills at the plant. The spills have not been cleaned up properly, putting employees’ health at risk.

- To cover up damage done to plant equipment, no reports were filed or investigations conducted into the damage.

- Maintenance workers, instead of certified operators, were used to staff Pump Station 64, the problem-plagued facility that, until recently, had a notorious history of spilling millions of gallons of sewage into Los Penasquitos Lagoon because of mechanical failure or operator error.

- Employees who have filed grievances have been threatened and harassed. Plant managers have kept a list of employees to be retaliated against, and these employees have been told that incidents can be “created” to justify the treatment.

- Several female employees have been sexually harassed.

Richards said she went to the city manager’s office in December with the allegations, but received no satisfaction and decided to write the commission in March.

But Bruce Herring, the city’s labor negotiator, said Richards raised only mostly general allegations in the December meeting. The one specific charge Richards brought was investigated and found to be untrue, Herring said.

Since January, however, the city manager’s office has been looking into the panoply of allegations, added Herring. The probe will be completed in two to three months, he said.

Civil service commissioners said Thursday that their investigation will be conducted in tandem with the city manager’s probe.