Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024
Vol. 6, No. 18
PCMExplorer Local People. Local Stories.
It feels like a small town Christmas
Santa heard Christmas wishes all throughout the day at the Monroe Fire Department holiday event Dec. 15
Kids were excited to see Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Prairie City Holiday Shindig Dec. 15
Jamee A. Pierson/PCM Explorer
The perfect present PCM Elementary kids shopped ‘til they dropped at the annual winter gift extravaganza Dec. 13
Jeff Shannon returns to the Monroe City Council Shannon fills seat vacated by former council member Jean Goemaat By Jamee A. Pierson PCM Explorer
Jamee A. Pierson/PCM Explorer
Four candidates submitted their names for the open Monroe City Council seat and at the Dec. 9 meeting Jeff Shannon was selected for the spot. The city council unanimously selected Shannon but were encouraged in the interest in the position. “I was impressed we got four letters,” council member Andrea
Steenhoek said. “I thought we might get zero or one.” Shannon is filling the seat previously held by Jean Goemaat. Goemaat resigned at the beginning of November, leaving a year left in her term after originally filling a seat left vacated by another former council member. “She was actually nice to come in COUNCIL | 2
Veterans affairs administrator fired following investigation by Jasper County Wilson was completely absent In total, that is 150 hours missed in Supporters denounce the commission’s decision after esfromwhere the office or worked shorter days. three-and-a-half months, whether it was Many of these instances were not docu- excused or unexcused. That equates to a heated exchanges mented on her timesheet. Although Wil- little less than four work weeks. By Christopher Braunschweig PCM Explorer
Alyssa Wilson said she did not have enough time in the day to do her job, but the findings from an internal investigation into the veterans affairs administrator’s working habits say that is because she often arrived late, left early, had extended lunch periods and other breaks and even falsified her timesheets. In addition to a number of other alleged policy violations that Jasper Wilson County uncovered within the past three-and-a-half months — including insubordination and failure to follow proper procedures during home visits — the veterans affairs commission decided in a 4-1 vote to fire Wilson, effective immediately. Wilson was placed on paid administrative leave on Dec. 5, less than a week before the commission meeting. She had to turn in her keys and remove all personal items from her office. In the meantime, shared benefits coordinator Josh Price answered calls to the veterans affairs office and handled any walk-ins. The internal investigation report from human resources showed more than 60 instances of Wilson not working a full work day or taking time off. INTERNAL INVESTIGATION REPORT MADE PUBLIC Information about the investigation was shared publicly during the veterans affairs commission meeting on Dec. 11 inside a relatively packed conference room at the
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Jasper County Administration Building. Since Wilson was not present to request a closed session, the findings were discussed in an open meeting. According to a copy of the internal investigation obtained by Newton News, the county alleged Wilson violated a number of working rules, which are divided into classes. If an employee violates Class I rules for the first time, it will not usually result in a discharge. Here are the Class I rules the county alleged were violated: • Failure to begin work at start time. • Frequent tardiness, absenteeism or leaving work early without authorized or just cause. • Working unauthorized hours or violation of working hours, rest periods or lunch periods. • Leaving employee’s workplace during work hours without authorization. • Unauthorized extensions of break and/or lunch periods. Jasper County also alleged Wilson violated Class II rules, which are of a more serious nature than Class I. Any violation of Class II rules will result in more serious disciplinary measures, up to and including discharge. Here are the Class II rules the county alleged were violated by Wilson: • Dishonesty, theft. • Deliberately falsifying, altering or supplying false information on county records. • Failure to notify supervisor that the employee will be absent from work. • Failure to follow the proper procedures or policies of the county. • Absolute disobedience, insubordination or refusal to comply with reasonable instructors or authorized supervision. From Aug. 19 until Dec. 5, human resources documented a timeline of instanc-
son is a salaried employee, she must still track her work for the county. REPORT SHOWS PATTERN OF ABSENCES & SHORT WORK DAYS Excluding the times she was on vacation or in training, Wilson did not work one full week in the office in the entire time she was being investigated. Jasper County Veterans Affairs is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every weekday in the administration building near the 300 block of West Third Street North. Which means Wilson has roughly 30 minutes for a lunch and eight hours of work each day to reach 40 hours per week. In those 108 days her work habits were being investigated, human resources indicated Wilson had left early about 15 times and was late to work around four times. The report also classifies many late starts and early departures as a “short day,” of which it was mentioned about 21 times in the report. The report also said Wilson was “out all day” on 10 occasions in a three-and-a-half month period. That amounts to 80 hours lost. Or two weeks of work. However, absences can be covered by employers. When Wilson was out all day, she often cited that she was sick or her kids were sick or that she needed to go to a doctor appointment. While commissioners are supposed to be informed of when she will be gone from the office, the report shows they rarely were. The report also shows Wilson utilized 55 hours of sick time, 52.5 hours of family sick time, 10.5 hours of vacation time and eight hours of floating holiday hours. It is also assumed Wilson did not work on Labor or the Thanksgiving holiday; that adds another 24 hours of holiday time.
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From the time the county started its investigation until human resources notified Wilson she was on administrative leave, approximately 78 work days had passed, which amounts to roughly 624 hours of work. Factoring in sick, vacation and holiday hours, Wilson was missing from the office 24 percent of the time. IMPROPER CODING & HOME VISIT PROCEDURE VIOLATIONS In late November, the report found three incidents of improper coding on Wilson’s timesheet. After previously mentioning she would be taking vacation around that time during past commission meetings, she documented 24 hours of sick time instead of vacation time on her timesheet. Dennis Simon, director of human resources for Jasper County, confronted Wilson on Dec. 2 about the use of three consecutive sick days, and she revealed she had documented it incorrectly and was going to call payroll to check. Simon told Wilson to contact Melissa Hartgers at the auditor’s office to get it corrected. Apart from issues of stolen time, the county alleged Wilson did not follow proper procedures when conducting a home visit on Oct. 30. Price asked Wilson if she wanted him to go with her to the home visit since commissioners stated they wanted two people there and that she inform the sheriff ’s office before leaving. Wilson said a social worker would be present, so she did not need him. Simon followed up with Lt. Brad Shutts of the Jasper County Sheriff ’s Office and found that Willson had not contacted dispatch to notify them she was conducting a home visit. No call was logged providing any FIRED | 3
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