Jen McDonough

TOWER— The city council here, on Monday, rejected a move by Mayor Dave Setterberg to terminate interim ambulance supervisor Jen McDonough over an apparent disagreement over how to schedule on-call staff and other issues centered mostly on chain of command. The council did, however, agree to place McDonough on a personal improvement plan.
The council hired McDonough last December in replacement of former director Dena Suihkonen, who the council terminated after a paralyzing injury left her unable to conduct parts of her job.
Council members noted that the service has experienced a financial turnaround and improved staff recruitment during McDonough’s brief tenure, and at least two council members said they were surprised when they read a copy of an Aug. 3 email from Setterberg to McDonough that notified her that the city’s “Human Resources Committee” planned to recommend her termination “as part of preliminary consideration of allegations” against her. The nature of those allegations was not clearly explained during comments Setterberg offered on Monday, although they appear to center around several issues, including insubordination for McDonough’s refusal to return to a scheduling procedure that the city had adopted a few years earlier. McDonough had made changes in that procedure, which she says have increased scheduled coverage from on-call personnel to 100 percent.
In addition, Setterberg said that a member of the ambulance staff had complained that McDonough had replaced some hours they had scheduled, and that she had, on occasion, tried to work around the clerk-treasurer, who is McDonough’s direct supervisor, by going to members of the council. Setterberg also stated that he had observed McDonough impatiently cut off a staff member who asked a question during a training meeting.
Setterberg noted as well that McDonough had applied for a state variance for the service that neither he nor the clerk-treasurer knew about.
Finally, he accused McDonough of engaging in “aggressions” against him and other city officials by submitting numerous emails (he claimed 19 such emails in just a few days) questioning city ambulance policies.
“So, on July 23rd, the HR, we had a meeting. We did engage our attorney to get his response and to ask for a resignation, and that because we felt that at this point it is something that isn’t going to change.”
Setterberg, in his Aug. 3 email, gave McDonough the opportunity to resign, but McDonough declined to do so. While Setterberg had indicated the council intended to hold a closed session to discuss the allegations against her, McDonough exercised her right under state law and asked that the allegations be addressed in public. She also asked to be provided with the specific allegations to be considered, along with any documentation that the Human Resources Committee relied upon in reaching its recommendation to terminate her. “I also respectfully request the opportunity to submit a written response to the allegations for consideration by the City Council before any employment decision is made,” she wrote.
The council did not provide McDonough with an opportunity to respond in any substantive way to the issues raised by Setterberg, nor did the city provide her with written documentation of their concerns.
Setterberg said the Clerk-Treasurer Tammy Mortaloni and McDonough did meet Aug. 6 to determine if there was a way to salvage the relationship. During that meeting, McDonough told Mortaloni she felt she couldn’t work with Setterberg, whom she described as “condescending” during the Monday council meeting. According to Mortaloni, it seemed the meeting was constructive. “At times, it felt like Thursday, we left in a good place,” she said.
But then, on Friday, McDonough insisted on including the email from Setterberg and her response in her ambulance service report, an action that both Mortaloni and Setterberg viewed as another aggression.
But council members weren’t ready to overlook the progress the ambulance service has made under McDonough’s tenure.
“So much good has come from Jen’s contributions and this is the very first time I’ve heard about any trouble,” said council member Bob Anderson. Council member Kevin Norby suggested some modifications of job duties might be one way to resolve some of the concerns. “Because there are so many things that Jen does really well,” he said.
Norby suggested that it could be a personality conflict between McDonough and Setterberg. “I wonder if others could try working with her. When I talk to her, I still feel there’s an opportunity.”
Setterberg questioned that possibility. “How can you fix something if there isn’t agreement on chain of command?” he asked.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mortaloni said the issues with McDonough went beyond a conflict with the mayor. She indicated that McDonough had repeatedly failed to follow Mortaloni’s direction and that she continues to go around established procedure. “So the problem is not just between [McDonough] and the mayor. There are many instances of insubordination and treating people both above and below her position with disrespect, as we discussed with her specifically in one of our meetings.”
Council member John VanDevoort said the city would be taking a risk that the next director could come with their own host of challenges. He also said he would want to hear from both sides before making a decision to terminate. “We’ve only heard one side of it here,” he noted.
After considerable additional discussion, Setterberg called the question and his motion to terminate McDonough failed 4-1. Norby then motioned to develop a personal improvement plan for McDonough for council consideration at their September meeting. “We need to try to get some objective things in place,” he said.