Published Saturday, December 14, 2002
to oust
Weaver
Greenville borough employees want council to get rid of Borough Manager Kenneth S. Weaver.
Employees sent a letter to council Dec. 2, expressing their "dissatisfaction, distrust and lack of respect" of Weaver, who is approaching the end of his first year on the job.
"We are asking council to seek a new manager, one who is better qualified to deal with the present difficulties and is willing to commit himself or herself and their family to the betterment of Greenville over the long term," the letter says.
In all, 33 of the borough's 51 employees signed the letter. In the letter, dated Nov. 22, the employees write, "It is evident to the borough employees that Mr. Weaver's primary interest and focus is self-serving and do not lie with the improvement of Greenville. Rather, they show he is more interested in improving himself and his personal resume. Our experiences with him have shown us that, at times, his intentions are not sincere, his statements not truthful and his actions with regard to us not dignified and deceitful."
The letter goes on to talk about Weaver's resume and employment history. "We surmise that our unhappy experience is not unique. ... Seven of his last eight jobs have lasted less than two years and he even fails to list every previous employer. We do not believe that his history of short-term employment has been shaped by fate but by his own doing.
"During such difficult times and uncertain future we believe that Greenville deserves a borough manager who is a uniter and motivator and can coalesce the efforts of the entire community to Greenville's betterment and who can also look to the strength and wisdom ... (of) its employees and cannot sustain a manager who looks with disdain upon these same employees."
The letter ends with the employees offering to meet with council to "elaborate on the above statements and the reasoning behind them."
The letter was faxed to The Herald Thursday night.
Fire Lt. Ed Cooper, who also works for the street department and whose name was the first on the list of signatures, said Friday council had not recognized or acknowledged receiving the letter.
"That's why we went to (the) press with it," Cooper said. "I will let the letter speak for itself. It is a consensus of the borough employees, even the ones who didn't sign it."
Weaver said Friday afternoon that he had not received a copy of the letter, and only knew what he had read in Friday's Greenville Record-Argus newspaper.
"The borough council members told me they'd received the letter. I haven't asked for a copy of the letter, and I haven't received it. Other than that, I cannot comment on the letter because I haven't read it," he said, adding he did not know which employees had signed it.
Mayor Cliff Harriger said he received a copy of the letter and employees from the fire, police, street and waste management departments had signed it. More employees told him they wanted to sign it, but felt they worked too closely with Weaver to do so, the mayor said.
"He has made more enemies than friends," Harriger said, "and he needs those friends."
Weaver's contract expires Dec. 31. Harriger said council would decide by Dec. 20 whether to offer Weaver a 3-month contract, a 12-month contract "or no contract at all."
You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Amanda Smith-Teutsch at: ateutsch@sharonherald.com