Three Bozeman City employees who have been disciplined for former hiring practices say they are ready to learn from their errors.
Assistant City Manager Chuck Winn, Bozeman Fire Chief Jason Shrauger, and Human Resources Director Pattie Berg have been placed on probation for six months for their role in asking city job applicants for Internet user names and passwords. Berg has also been suspended for a week without pay.
The three disclosed their punishments to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, but did not want to speak on camera with us.
"The fact that those individuals elected to share the information is their choice, not one that I could make or would make for them, that the organization could ask them or require them to do," Bozeman City Manager Chris Kukulski told us.
He waived his privacy rights at this week's Bozeman City Commission meeting, and revealed he will also take a week of unpaid suspension sometime this month.
The disciplined employees apologized for their involvement with the former policy and say they are now working to rebuild public trust.
The request for Internet user names and passwords began in the Bozeman Police Department in 2007, and had been asked of all applicants by the Summer of 2008. The practice was dropped this June.
(from October 13, 1009)
Bozeman city leaders have decided to suspend City Manager Chris Kukulski over former hiring practices that asked applicants for login and password information to social networking sites.
City commissioners went into executive session before announcing their decision that Kukulski will be suspended for one week sometime in the next 30 days.
The city manager said that other employees will be punished, but the details surrounding the disciplinary action will most likely remain private.
Before their decision, commissioners heard from investigator Michelle Puiggari. Her 23-page report found that the city's request for social networking passwords and login information from job applicants was not voluntary. It also found that false statements made by city staff were not intentionally misleading.
Bozeman Mayor Kaaren Jacobson called the practice intimidating and Deputy Mayor Jeff Krauss says it was a complete failure of upper management.
Kukulski told the commission he didn't have all the facts when he told them the policy was voluntary.
"As I reflect on my comments regarding the voluntary nature of the username/password section of the releases forms, it is completely unreasonable for me to believe that anyone would think that information was voluntary" Kukulski said during the meeting.
