Wed, Jul 09 2008
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Published May 19, 2008 05:41 pm - Allegations that council member and former Mayor Jon Tupper engaged in a pattern of harassment of parks employees aimed at the ouster of parks director Jerry Calvin and that he accused a parks employee of stealing are contained in a memo that was included among open-records documents sought by the Globe. City memo holds allegations against former mayor w/ Jon Tupper memorandum of record By Debby Woodin
dwoodin@joplinglobe.com Allegations that council member and former Mayor Jon Tupper engaged in a pattern of harassment of parks employees aimed at the ouster of parks director Jerry Calvin and that he accused a parks employee of stealing are contained in a memo that was included among open-records documents sought by the Globe. Tupper allegedly told some city parks employees that he told City Manager Mark Rohr “to shut the f--- up,” during a telephone call, allegedly justifying his behavior by declaring that he was “the mayor of the godd----- city.” The memo is a report to the city manager by the city’s human resources director, Reba Snavely. City Attorney Brian Head had said last week that the basis of a complaint against Tupper was reports made by some city employees to the human resources director. Tupper did not return a telephone message left at his business seeking comment, and he declined, after a council meeting Monday night, to give his side of the story. Much of the report deals with comments Tupper allegedly made to parks worker Kyle Knight and a parks supervisor, Steve Curry, saying he intended to drive Calvin out of the job as parks director or get Calvin fired. The collection of alleged comments begins on March 7 and ends on April 16. Calvin resigned on April 22, effective May 30. Calvin’s resignation came after a City Council meeting in which softball players complained about access to city ball fields. Calvin declined to comment Monday night. The report portrays conflict between Tupper and the parks department over conditions at Joe Becker Stadium. City Council members, under council ethics rules, are not to interfere with city employees and department heads. In the memo, the human resources director says, “I received a personal visit from Jerry Calvin of Parks, Cemeteries and Recreation, on March 7, 2008, about his concern over Mayor Jon Tupper talking negatively about him to an employee at Joe Becker Stadium, Kyle Knight, and a Parks Supervisor, Steve Curry.” Calvin told Snavely that Tupper, who was mayor at the time, told parks employees working at Joe Becker Stadium that “if he (Tupper) continues to harass Jerry Calvin long enough, maybe he will leave.” On another occasion, Tupper allegedly called Knight and complained that Calvin had canceled a college baseball game “and that (Calvin) did not know what he was doing.” The memo notes that there was 2 inches of frozen snow and ice on the outfield, and that the rest of the field was wet. The memo, evidently meant to go to the city manager, notes that “(Calvin) wants this stopped immediately.” 
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