Councilwoman accuses mayor's office of placing 'gag order' on city workers

 A Louisville Metro Council member accused the mayor's office on Thursday of issuing a "gag order" to prevent city employees from speaking directly with the council as it looks for budget cuts.

Metro Councilwoman Paula McCraney, D-7th District, said during Thursday's budget committee meeting that she had received a "ridiculous" email from a city employee in which the director of Louisville Metro Animal Services appears to tell all of his employees not to speak with city lawmakers "per the Mayor's office."

At a time when the city is looking to patch a $35 million hole in the budget, council members should be free to speak with city employees about their ideas for savings, particularly front-line workers, McCraney said after Thursday's budget committee meeting. 

"They know the job," she said. "They do the job every day. They probably don't have an opportunity on a daily basis to give examples of work-related efficiencies," she said."If we ask the questions and they feel comfortable with giving that to us, that could be a way of saving money."

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The email, obtained by the Courier Journal, appears to have been sent by Louisville Metro Animal Services Director Ozzy Gibson on March 28 to "Animal Services Everyone DL."

"Per the Mayor's office. Should a council person or one of their staff reach out to you about LMAS operations or LMAS budget, you are required to inform me an will handle," Gibson wrote. 

Gibson told the Courier Journal late Thursday that there was "no secretive or malicious intent," explaining it was meant to ensure they'd have accurate information, not rumors.

"We just want them to have whatever they want, and I need it to be accurate because, man, this is a tough year for everybody," Gibson said.

Jean Porter, a spokeswoman for Mayor Greg Fischer, said in a statement that the mayor's office always wants to make sure the council is getting the most accurate information and "the full picture of an issue or initiative" when it asks employees questions. 

In this case, Porter wrote, Gibson asked his employees to refer council questions to him "so he could make sure they were handled appropriately."

"We also encourage council members to work with our designated council liaison since it is her primary job to coordinate with them on any issues they may have," Porter said in the statement.

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McCraney and Councilman Bill Hollander, D-9th, chair of the budget committee, said they'd heard of no other Metro Council members who had run into the same issues or had difficulties communicating with city employees. Hollander called it concerning and McCraney said it needed to be cleared up. 

"I think it's ridiculous that you would put a gag order on any employee that would want to speak up and help with efficiencies of a department, or to help your city," she said after the meeting. 

Metro Council President David James, D-6th, told the Courier Journal that city lawmakers should be able to talk to any Metro employee without having to ask permission from the mayor's office to do so.

While administrators may know about their agencies, the employee often has a different point of view and may have more accurate information about their actual job functions, James said.

"It's important for the Metro Council members to hear from the department heads and the actual workers themselves," James said. 

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Louisville's chief financial officer, Daniel Frockt, who was testifying to the budget committee, said during the meeting that he wasn't aware of any such directive but explained that during budget times, the city will try to rout responses through the Office of Management & Budget for streamlining purposes.

That way, he said, the entire budget committee gets the same response, the office can keep track of what information is relayed and to make sure that the information is accurate.

"We try to be consistent in our responses, as well," Frockt said. "I think that's for accuracy and to make sure it's transparent."

McCraney told Frockt that she appreciated that, but the email in question was "clearly a mandate to not speak to Metro Council members" that has "nothing to do with streamlining."

"It's just very disturbing that a supervisor got a mandate from the mayor's office not to speak with us. I think that is ludicrous and should never be employed again," McCraney said. 

Darcy Costello: 502-582-4834; dcostello@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @dctello. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/darcyc.