Furmon said while he cannot control Carpenter’s behavior, “I refuse to continue to sit silently without commenting about your abusive and irrational behavior.
“If a county supervisory staff member spoke to anyone under their command the way you have been known to do, it could, and should, be cause for dismissal,” Furmon continued.
Carpenter did not return calls for comment, but sent an email with a letter she sent to Furmon. Carpenter said Furmon’s claims were a political attack.
Carpenter’s letter does not address her alleged cursing and yelling at employee, but claims she has been left out of meetings where she could have been educated on a Land Banking plan.
“I recently expressed my frustration to Administrator Mike Campbell regarding the Land Banking legislation, which came as a total surprise to me. Unfortunately, he was also uninformed about the progress of that initiative, therefore, was not in a position to have provided a full report,” Carpenter said.
In November, Pete Landrum, assistant county administrator, hired an attorney and told the county he was mistreated by Carpenter.
Through his attorney, Landrum said he had not received a pay raise he was promised when he was promoted to assistant county administrator. He’s also concerned Carpenter could take more actions against him.
Landrum claims Carpenter continues to defame and verbally abuse him since he told Furmon about an April 2011 incident in which Carpenter named the people she’s displeased with.
On April 5, 2011, Landrum reported Carpenter said, “Line them up and shoot them” during a conversation in which she was expressing frustration about the public defenders project and how items are placed on the agenda.
Carpenter said she apologized for her statement shortly after the incident.
Furmon said in his recent letter to Carpenter, “your tirades and tantrums are becoming the norm rather that the exception. You seem to be driven to continually create a hostile work environment.”
Campbell said Carpenter was frustrated with the flow of information concerning the county land bank resolution adoption, which had been debated at the commission meeting on May 28.
“I am used to various kinds of emotions and all types of conversations on different topics,” Campbell said, noting he does not get upset. “I worked in a steel mill for 14 years, I’ve heard everything.”
Campbell said he did not inform Furmon about the conversation. But he understood if other employees heard the incident, it would not be good for morale.
Commission President Don Dixon said he will ask for a executive session to discuss the issue and try to find a resolution.
“Obviously, there is tension between commissioner(s) Carpenter and Furmon,” Dixon said. “But they need to leave the politics out of this office. We need to stay focused on the job we are doing for the county. The election is over.”
Furmon, who will leave office at the end of the year because he lost the GOP primary, said he did not hear the incident between Carpenter and Campbell, but said several people came to him after hearing the “tongue lashing.”
“My hope in writing the letter is that she would take it to heart and try to improver her manner in communicating,” Furmon said.
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