Surgoinsville Mayor Merrell Graham agreed Monday to look into the city’s Public Works department after Alderman Randy Collier stated his distrust for director Bobby Hickman as a leader.
Collier alleged Monday that Hickman showed a history of disrespect and lack of care towards the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and set a poor example for the city’s employees.
During a meeting in which a 13-cent tax increase was passed, Collier said that it was the board’s duty to ensure that efficiency was being met in all aspects.
“We’re put in this role to oversee efficiency and the spending of taxpayer money,” Collier said. “It’s your all’s money, it’s my money. If we’re going to jack people’s taxes, it’s our job to efficiently call people’s hands.”
Collier alleged that employees use the department’s garage for their personal use during work hours, and that workers were using paid time to relax.
“I’ve got concerns about the way we’re paying employees to do a job and the job’s not getting done,” Collier added. “The citizens are watching.”
‘Not confident in his leadership skills’
“I usually do my homework … and I talk to several employees,” Collier told the board. “The disrespectfulness to this board is uncalled for coming from a supervisor.”
“When I sent you an email about getting a letter from Jay Turner, did you have a comment to all the employees out there about what a (ugly name) I was for requesting all that,” Collier asked Hickman.
Another incident involved Hickman allegedly locking an alderman out of the Public Works and supposedly bragging about the incident.
Collier said that he had been working on a case for two months and had seen Hickman’s truck in the Public Works garage during work hours.
“The garbage can sitting beside his truck had oil that we didn’t have to put in a lawnmower anymore,” Collier stated. “That said, we shouldn’t have the truck out there.”
Collier also asked about workers allegedly sitting around in the shop during work hours and incidents of smoking in public vehicles despite warnings against doing so by Vice Mayor Bobby Jarnagin.
“You are the leader of that department, you set the example,” Collier told Hickman.
“I’m not confident in (Hickman’s) leadership skills, his management skills, and I think (going separate directions with Hickman) is something this board should consider.”
‘He is a great supervisor’
Though Hickman admitted to smoking in Public Works vehicles, he denied every allegation of misconduct and disrespect.
Hickman denied calling Collier an ugly name. “Why would I do that,” Hickman asked.
Hickman also said that though he had used the garage for his truck, it was during break periods, and he did not use city oil or other items bought by the town.
After the meeting, resident Cheryl Battaglia said that Hickman was a fine example of a city employee.
“I don’t know about smoking in the vehicles, but that man jumped through leaps and bounds to help us when we called him about an issue,” Battaglia stated. “I think he is a great supervisor.”
Innocent until proven guilty
Hickman will remain as Public Works Director while an investigation is conducted.
“I’ll look into the situation and get back to the board,” Mayor Graham told Collier at the end of the meeting.
Alderman Warren Bishop added, “I think at the next work session, we can look into restructure and all that stuff. See what we can work out.”
Though Collier restated he did not intend to drag drama into a public meeting, he added that it was just to the town to bring issues forward.
Collier added, “We’re raising taxes on citizens. We have to efficiently manage our departments.”
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