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DeSalvo makes public statement

ESCANABA — Prior to her termination by the Delta County Board Tuesday, County Administrator Emily DeSalvo made a public statement about her employment with the county and recent actions taken by the board and the Delta Conservation District. Below is the statement in its entirety.

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Good evening. For anyone here tonight who does not know me, my name is Emily DeSalvo, and I’ve been appointed by the board of commissioners as the Delta County administrator.

Before I continue, I’d like to acknowledge the time, sincerity and work that Commissioner Malnar has put into county business. It’s appreciated and the support I’ve received as administrator is noted. I want to be clear, my statement is not directed towards him or Commissioner Viau, as a new commissioner.

My job as county (administrator) is an appointed position. The board chose me, and I serve at their pleasure. The purpose of this job is to review and relay information pertaining to county business to the board of commissioners, ensuring the functionality of local government.

I lead approximately 130 employees and make sure the policies and procedures that the board initiates are being followed. I generate positive working relationships with county stakeholders and network as much as possible to allow the county to be in a position to utilize all opportunities that are available, both financially and procedurally.

I was not voted for by the public, and I am not part of a union. I am here to inform the public and to remind the board that I serve at their pleasure. I typically refrain from commenting because my role rarely calls for it. The board is my boss and my role is to give them information and my professional opinion.

If my work displeases the board, it’s within their power to dismiss me. I feel it imperative to remind the board of this, as I have recently been asked many questions regarding my position by the board and by individuals of the public.

During my three years as administrator, I have remained an ethical and neutral party in many controversial issues and have worked hard to maintain positive working relationships with outside entities. During my time in this position, I have received several emails from sitting commissioners or sat in meetings with commissioners in which I was told not to voice my concerns for the county, not to engage in information finding, and not to perform duties within my job description. I am concerned this board is more concerned about their political capital or personal gain than serving the county. The board’s recent elimination of the ethics committee supports this concern.

I am speaking tonight to remind the board that self-serving interests of board members should not be brought to local government at this level. If commissioners feel the need to change legislation due to their political affiliation, they belong in Lansing and not in Delta County.

Our county’s viability rests in the decisions that are made by the board. People’s livelihoods are immediately impacted by the decisions made here. This is not the place for your unresolved personal issues to be unleashed.

I have sat through two public job performance reviews, which I have chosen and opted to have public, in which the board chair at the time commented positively on my disassociation from political views in my decision making, even noting he could not tell which side of the aisle I align with. During this time period, I was chastised by Commissioner Moyle for not protecting him in a public meeting when he takes a political stance and is met with criticism from the public.

At these same job performance reviews, I was given exceptionally low scores from both commissioners Barron and Moyle with no justification. I commented publicly, welcoming the feedback, so as to learn where my shortcoming are and to work towards improving them in the coming year. I was met with silence. I then offered a private meeting to the board, considering the commissioners may be more comfortable explaining my perceived shortcomings in private. I have yet to receive any feedback, either publicly or privately, justifying these low, discrepant scores.

It’s difficult not to make assumptions from this type of behavior. It is impossible not to feel disrespected. However, at the time, I chose to move forward completing my duties to the board and public in the manner I had been — diligently and professionally.

However, I cannot remain silent. When a current commissioner takes an oath to work in the best interest of the county and then fails to notify the county administrator that the Delta Conservation District is pulling out of their contract with the county, that he had been party to a conversation containing this information prior to it being publicly announced, how can I move forward trusting that commissioner has the county’s best interest at hand?

I can understand, but I do not excuse the disrespect towards me. I know I represent a certain type of perspective some of you are transparently uncomfortable with, but I cannot remain silent when you abandon your post to this county and the citizens.

For the past three years that I have been administrator I have made every decision based on the best interest of the county. I have vested interest in the county’s success, because I am from here, generationally from here. My life is here, my family is here, and this is and has been my community. I’m educated, I am qualified, and I’m experienced enough to understand my role as administrator.

I have also been undermined, ignored, and disrespected and now have endured personal attacks on my character by Mr. Rory Mattson, the CEO of the Delta Conservation District. When Mr. Mattson stood up here three weeks ago and pulled out of the contract on behalf of the district, I was told publicly by several commissioners that we needed to get moving on where the county goes from here in taking back the parks and we needed to act quickly.

Following the very public directive, I started gathering information on financials, grants, procedures, to allow the board to have all the information I could find so that they could make a decision moving forward. In the next few days I received two emails, one from Commissioner Barron and one from Commissioner Petersen, telling me that I was being “presumptuous” and to cease anything that I was doing regarding the parks. I found this directive odd, as it was counter to the public directive I had been given only days earlier.

I later discovered Mr. Mattson desired to remain in contract on behalf of the district with the county forest land maintenance and the soil and erosion land permitting, as this is a source of revenue within the contract. The revenue from the permits would allow the county to offset much of the cost of the abandoned contract it now stood to absorb. This is in the county’s best interest to received this money directly, and yet these details and the abandonment of the contract in the first place were not discussed in a transparent manner.

This is unethical.

For the last three years I have sat at tables in meetings with commissioners who do not listen, do not ask for my opinion, and do not take my recommendation. But now, just weeks ago, since Mr. Mattson’s public comments and contract abandonment, I have had to hear from people in the public that commissioners are having discussions regarding my position, and suggesting a replacement. I have had commissioner Petersen request a copy of my contract, ask if my position was part of a union, and then, when I directly questioned him about these inquiries, his response was that he had been thinking what would happen to the county if I got hit by a car.

I serve at the pleasure of the board. If my service displeases you, you are under no obligation to keep me in this position, but you also have no right to threaten me and I will not be intimidated.

If these actions are about the severance payment in my contract, I can assure you that you’re wasting your time. I would also mention, you are wasting the county’s time and money by attempting to find a breach in contract by myself. Feel free to continue to search, but I am and always have been ethical and professional. I believe you know this to be true, because I’m still waiting for one reason why you marked my performance so low.

I questioned whether it was appropriate to address these concerns with the board in a public forum. I then came to the realization that if I do not stand up for myself and other county employees, we will continue to experience this unethical behavior, and the citizens of Delta County will really be the ones to suffer. So I decided I must speak publicly, because this is bigger than me and whether you choose to keep me in this position or not. Also, because speaking to you privately has rendered no progress regarding any of these issues.

Should the board choose to move forward with me as county administrator, I do not feel it appropriate to leave the board without a path onward, so I will leave you with two suggestions, the first being that I will suggest all communication with me to be in writing through email to serve as a public record of the board’s actions as well as my own, and two, I will not be silent if I witness unethical behavior, so stop behaving in a manner which disrespects the office you hold and the community that you serve.

I serve the county at the board’s pleasure and I will continue to ethically and morally do so until which time the board members determine they no long align with that type of service that I provide and the manner in which I provide it.

Thank you for listening.

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