I don’t live in Portsmouth but if I did, I’d be outraged at this.
Council members have fined [Mayor James] Holley $2,500 for an ongoing pattern of using his city assistants to perform personal chores. If he doesn’t contest the fine, the money will be deducted from his paycheck.
Holley was elected over a relatively unknown candidate in May 2008 by a meager 202 votes. Gotta love those May elections! This article says turnout was 20%.
So what to do now? Well, if I lived in Portsmouth, I’d acquaint myself with the recall provisions (Article X, Sec. 10.09) of the City code. Reading that section, it appears that petitioners would need 7,446 signatures, representing 30% of the votes cast in the 2005 gubernatorial election. And I’d be trying to find a replacement candidate – either Martha Ann Creecy, who ran against Holley in 2008, or someone else.
Properly timed, all of this could happen in November, when people are going to the polls, anyway, and when turnout will be higher than it would be for May.
Like I said, I don’t live in Portsmouth, but if I did, I’d seize the opportunity to do something other than post my complaints on PilotOnline.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Many senior staff members who work for politicians, Generals, Admirals and CEOs regularly perform what amounts to valet services for their bosses.
While fetching the boss’ dry cleaning is not in the job description, most executive staff will do this sort of go-fer work without complaint, and many will justify doing these sorts of butler duties as being a helpful part of the leadership team (and they are).
I did a lot of this sort of thing when I worked for an Admiral. He never knew about the myriad things that I did, and other staff members did, for him and his family; but we took care of many things on our own, as a way of helping our boss stay focused on the big issues. The philosophy was that when our boss looked good, then we all looked good.
In Mayor Holley’s case, the published complaint does make it appear that he treated the one staff member as a personal valet, but it is unclear if she ever met with her boss regarding her unwillingness to do extra-curricular assignments.
If we look at the issue purely based on the job description, then many staff members, especially executive assistants, are routinely outside of the limits of their job description. The difference in this case, is that the lady apparently grew tired of doing those little extras, and rather than resigning from the leadership team, she decided to make a public debacle in order to embarrass her former boss.
My point is not that it is OK for the boss to treat staff like servants, but that many staff (and I was one of them) willingly do all sorts of extra errands and niceties for the boss because, in most cases, we really like the boss and like contributing those extra tasks, so that our leadership team, and our boss, continues at the top of his game and is always sharp.
I can see how an old politician like Mayor Holley could get so accustomed to having team-spirited staff, who are willing to go well beyond their job descriptions for him, that he could really become tripped-up by someone who joined his staff and merely wanted to collect a paycheck, like any nine-to-five job.
The lady was of, course, within her rights to refuse to do extra errands, but there are some obvious ways of reaching a remedy without dragging the Mayor and the City’s name through the mud.
She should have been re-assigned to a position outside of the executive leadership team, where she could limit herself strictly to within her job description and collect that 9-5 paycheck, as do other city workers.
Being on the Mayor’s leadership team is a special honor. Those who are not willing to go the extra mile, when needed, should not join the leadership team.
However, senior leaders must also be careful not to exploit the loyalty of those who are eager to serve as staff members on their team.
I guess I’m having difficulty believing that you are defending the Mayor here. From what I’ve read, it wasn’t just the personal chores – it was the belittling behavior of the Mayor towards this person. And it appears that she’s not the first, just the first one to actually complain about it.
Do you think all the other members of council would have taken this step if the case had been as benign as you are trying to make it appear?
The point you missed is that this city employee is getting paid for city business not to do personal business, or they need to change the job description with the city. Yes many time over the years I have picked up things for my bosses while I was out on my lunch hour or run an errand now and then. I did it willingly and was appreciated for it. However, Mayor Holley’s actions are just more proof of his being so far removed from reality. He stated on TV that “his secretary scheduling his hair appt was within her duties, since the hair salon pays taxes they are his constituent” This is one of those times where he should shut up, pay the fine, and hope that no one takes action to have him removed. He was a good Mayor in his day, but that day has past and the citizens of Portsmouth need to get leadership the city can, once again, be proud of.
It would be in the mayor’s best interest to just shut up and give up (resign). We’ve all been witnesses to his “talk before you think” policies. He’s reckless- especially when driving city cars and he is an arrogant racist. Folks are quik to forget about his typewriter incident that got him recalled a couple of years back. If this is all that the black community has to offer as leadership in P town then it is no wonder why we are having problems. Slavery has been outlawed and we do not have paid civil servants to be “go-fers”. Let the good major pay for his own servant- not my taxpayer money! I’ll be glad to add my name to any recall petition. No city employee should have to take such abuse, and the city council should give her mayor
Holly’s fine for bring this to the public attention. Quite simply,
this is…
BS
What I was pointing out in the prior post was how senior staff personnel routinely do tasks that are well outside their job description, not because they are exploited, but because the senior staff typically share a team spirit and a high sense of loyalty to the boss. Most of us who have held such positions are glad to do those extra chores because we see all of those little details as helping to accomplish the mission.
If the lady didn’t want to do any extra work, she should have discussed that with the Mayor, or resigned, or perhaps taken an assignment at a lower level agency. As a City employee, those options, and more, were available to resolve her issue.
If Mayor Holley had a skillful Chief of Staff, this sort of issue would have been quietly resolved and the work flow of the Mayor’s office would never have missed a beat.
With the myriad ways that this issue could have been resolved without becoming a public debacle, and that it has deliberately been made into an embarrassing episode for the City and the Mayor, indicates that something more is in play here.
BTW, by describing these points, one simply illuminates the broader issues involved, and this is not a defense of any of the parties involved.
This is proof that politicians have the biggest egos of all. This guy is over the top. What an arrogant sort and what an exaggerated sense of entitlement.