Coots, Vicki | Testimony transcript 11!20!13

Transcript of the Testimony of Vicki Coots

Date: November 20, 2013Volume: I

Case: In Re: Joplin Critical Investigation

Printed On: December 1, 2013

Holliday Reporting Service, Inc.Phone: 417-358-4078

Fax: 417-451-1114Email:[email protected]

Internet:

Vicki Coots In Re: Joplin Critical Investigation

417-358-4078

Holliday Reporting Service, Inc.

Page 1

IN RE: JOPLIN CRITICAL INVESTIGATION

SWORN STATEMENT OF

VICKI COOTS

Taken on Wednesday, November 20, 2013, from 6:09 p.m. to

6:37 p.m., at the law offices of Juddson H. McPherson, LLC,

626 S. Byers, in the City of Joplin, County of Jasper,

State of Missouri, before

SHARON K. ROGERS, C.C.R.650,

a Certified Court Reporter and a Notary Public within and

for the County of Jasper, and State of Missouri.

Vicki Coots

In Re: Joplin Critical Investigation

417-358-4078


Page 2

APPEARANCES

MR. THOMAS E. LORAINE

Loraine & Associates, LLC

4075 Osage Beach Pkwy., Suite 300

Osage Beach, MO 65065

[email protected]


417-358-4078


Page 3

S T I P U L A T I O N

IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED that this Sworn

Statement may be taken by steno-mask type recording by

SHARON K. ROGERS, a Certified Court Reporter, and

afterwards reduced into typewriting.

It is further stipulated that the signature of the

witness is hereby waived, and that said Sworn Statement of

said witness shall be of the same force and effect as

though said witness had read and signed Sworn Statement.


417-358-4078


Page 4

I N D E X

Page/Line

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LORAINE . . . 5-4

E X H I B I T S

Exhibit #A. . . . . . . . 5-8

Advice of Rights

Note: Exhibits in separate binder

(sic) - typed as spoken

(ph.) - phonetic


417-358-4078


Page 5

1 VICKI COOTS

2 Having been first duly sworn and examined,

3 testified as follows:

4 DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LORAINE:

5 Q. Ma'am, your name is Vicki Coots, is that

6 right?

7 A. Yes.

8 Q. Vicki, you have Exhibit #A in front of you,

9 it's an Advice of Rights form. You've read

10 that and I've read it to you, is that right?

11 A. Yes.

12 Q. And you understand it and we've talked about

13 it a little bit, you understand it?

14 A. Yes.

15 Q. I would ask you to sign it and print your

16 name and the date and then I'll witness your

17 signature.

18 A. Okay. (Witness complies)

19 Q. Vicki, in fact, you did execute and print

20 your name and put a date on here, is that

21 right?

22 A. Yes.

23 Q. And this is Exhibit #A, is it not?

24 A. Yes.

25 Q. Have you ever given a deposition or a


417-358-4078


Page 6

1 statement before?

2 A. No, sir.

3 Q. May I call you Vicki?

4 A. Sure.

5 Q. We met briefly outside your office, I

6 believe?

7 A. Yes.

8 Q. And you were supposed to give me some

9 information that the City Manager was going

10 to provide. Did you do that?

11 A. I actually put that in the mail to you, sir.

12 Q. So it will be coming to my home address?

13 A. Yes.

14 Q. Thank you very much.

15 A. Yes, yes.

16 Q. Now it's my understanding that you're a City

17 employee?

18 A. Yes.

19 Q. And can you tell me what that employment is

20 and how long you've been employed?

21 A. Executive Assistant to the City Manager and

22 I've been with the City almost 35 years.

23 Q. Okay. You've been in that position for how

24 long?

25 A. Approximately 15.


417-358-4078


Page 7

1 Q. So you've worked for other City Managers?

2 A. Yes, yes.

3 Q. Did you work when the Interim City Manager

4 McCoy was there?

5 A. Yes, yes.

6 Q. So you actually worked for him?

7 A. Yes.

8 Q. He's been there more than once, I understand?

9 A. Mr. McCoy?

10 Q. Yes.

11 A. Yes, he filled in.

12 Q. A couple of times?

13 A. Several times, uh-huh.

14 Q. So this guy leaves, then he's the City

15 Manager, he comes back and does it again?

16 A. He was employed with the City then as Public

17 Works Director and came in.

18 Q. Seems like a very intelligent man?

19 A. Yes.

20 Q. Have you seen several management styles then

21 with different City Managers?

22 A. Over 35 years, yes, yes.

23 Q. Well, you probably have seen quite a few?

24 A. Yes.

25 Q. So how would you call the management style of


417-358-4078


Page 8

1 the present City Manager, Mr. Rohr?

2 A. Very disciplined, very focused, very - well,

3 I'd say very, I won't use the word

4 controlling, but, you know, it's very micro

5 in management.

6 Q. Micromanager?

7 A. Uh-huh, uh-huh.

8 Q. Some people call that interference with the

9 underlying individual's authority. Do you

10 agree with that term?

11 A. I've heard that. I mean some could, you

12 know.

13 Q. Is he an angry man?

14 A. I think - I think at times he's very tense,

15 he's very focused, and you know, when

16 something deviates from that direction, you

17 know, I think he gets very frustrated. And I

18 guess you could say, you know, there's

19 moments, yeah, uh-huh, uh-huh.

20 Q. Have you heard that he intimidates employees?

21 A. I have, yeah, I have heard employees say

22 that.

23 Q. And you've witnessed some of that, haven't

24 you, in your position there?

25 A. Probably over the ten years, yes.


417-358-4078


Page 9

1 Q. You sit right outside the City Manager's

2 door, don't you?

3 A. Yes, uh-huh.

4 Q. And his door is usually open, isn't it?

5 A. Typically. Not always, uh-huh. Part of the

6 time it is closed, uh-huh.

7 Q. Can you hear him through the door whether

8 it's open or closed?

9 A. Not really. Not really.

10 Q. So when it's closed you don't hear?

11 A. No, no, not really unless, you know, it's

12 something that there's a large group and

13 voices or something, you know, other people,

14 uh-huh.

15 Q. Have you heard the City Manager raise his

16 voice on many occasions at employees?

17 A. I wouldn't say many, but over the period of

18 ten years, yes, uh-huh, uh-huh.

19 Q. Have you experienced some employees

20 expressing that they're fearsome, actually

21 afraid of the City Manager?

22 A. I wouldn't use the word fear. From what I

23 get from them I think more the word may be

24 frustrated, you know, seeking direction and

25 frustrated, yeah.


417-358-4078


Page 10

1 Q. They don't think he gives adequate

2 supervision?

3 A. Maybe not super - maybe communication,

4 uh-huh.

5 Q. Communication issue?


7 Q. You have witnessed the formation of the

8 Wallace-Bajjali company in the I guess

9 rebuilding of the City of Joplin after the

10 tornado, is that true?

11 A. Uh-huh, yes.

12 Q. And you've been in the City Manager's

13 employment during that period of time?

14 A. Yes.

15 Q. Are you usually engaged in setting up

16 meetings with Wallace-Bajjali and other

17 people when meetings are to be set up?

18 A. You mean scheduling those?

19 Q. Yes.

20 A. Yes, yes.

21 Q. I'd like to know has the issue ever been

22 raised to your attention that City Attorney

23 Head believes that he does not get adequate

24 notation on meetings in particular with

25 Wallace-Bajjali? Have you heard that?


417-358-4078


Page 11

1 A. There was one time that I was told to make

2 sure that any time we were having a meeting

3 and Wallace-Bajjali people were there or that

4 subject was going to be discussed to always

5 make sure that the City Attorney was invited

6 to those meetings.

7 Q. Who told you that?

8 A. The Manager, uh-huh.

9 Q. Now at what point in the proceedings with

10 Wallace-Bajjali did that happen?

11 A. Oh, I can't say it was early on, but it was

12 probably within maybe the first - maybe the

13 first four to five months that we were

14 getting into that process, uh-huh, uh-huh.

15 Q. So would it be fair to say that since that

16 notation from the City Manager that you've

17 made an effort to get City Attorney Head to

18 those kind of meetings?


20 Q. Is that right?

21 A. Yes, yes.

22 Q. Would it be fair to say until that direct

23 order from the City Manager to you would it

24 be fair to say that the City Attorney was not

25 involved with Wallace-Bajjali meetings prior


417-358-4078


Page 12

1 to that time?

2 A. Probably could say maybe hit and miss, that

3 it wasn't - you know, maybe not always, and

4 you know, I'm typically given a list of who

5 to invite and maybe it was hit and miss

6 during that interim starting period.

7 Q. Four or five month period?


9 Q. Who would tell you who to invite?

10 A. The Manager, uh-huh, uh-huh.

11 Q. And he'd prepare a written list on who to

12 invite?

13 A. You know, it may be on a post-it note, it may

14 just be verbally, uh-huh, uh-huh.

15 Q. The City Manager has a custom of making notes

16 on post-it notes. Is that my understanding?

17 A. He uses those pretty frequently, yes, yes,

18 uh-huh.

19 Q. Have you heard discussions with the City

20 Manager and the editor of the Globe, Carol

21 Stark?

22 A. I'm sorry, what was that question again?

23 Q. Have you heard discussions with the City

24 Manager and Carol Stark either telephonically

25 or in person?


417-358-4078


Page 13

1 A. I'm not heard the conversation, you know,

2 I've noticed on the calendar there may be a

3 notation, you know, call made or, you know,

4 been asked to maybe get that phone number for

5 the direct line there, uh-huh, uh-huh.

6 Q. And that's ordinary business with this City

7 Manager to contact Carol Stark?

8 A. You know, they do editorials, sometimes he

9 works directly with her on doing an editorial

10 on a particular issue or something we've got

11 coming up. A lot of times he'll go directly

12 to the, you know, rather than the reporter

13 the next level, uh-huh.

14 Q. Have you seen him work on editorials with

15 her, Carol Stark, or anybody in her employ

16 with Bill Scearce, the editorials that have

17 been in the paper over Bill Scearce?

18 A. Have I --

19 Q. Do you know that?

20 A. I did not know until I saw them in the paper.

21 Q. But you know that he worked with her and then

22 an editorial came out about that?

23 A. Not necessarily. Not necessarily, no. The

24 ones I kind of remember is we had an issue

25 coming up like a sales tax or something like


417-358-4078


Page 14

1 that he would approach them on running an

2 editorial for him in the paper. I don't

3 really remember too much or remember anything

4 with the one that was with Mr. Scearce.

5 Q. You've read those, haven't you?

6 A. Yes, oh, yes.

7 Q. Have you read the issue with Steve Coots

8 (sic.) the newspaper ad that came out when he

9 was terminated?

10 A. Oh, Mr. Cope?

11 Q. Yeah, Cope.

12 A. Yes, any time there's something that's going

13 to impact the next day's business, sure, I

14 want to see what that is for sure, yeah.

15 Q. Did City Manager Rohr have any - did he

16 involve himself in any newspaper article of

17 when Steve was let go?

18 A. I'm not aware of. I'm not aware of that,

19 huh-uh.

20 Q. Did you read the article about money missing

21 from the City?

22 A. Yes, yes.

23 Q. Under permits?

24 A. Uh-huh.

25 Q. You've read that?


417-358-4078


Page 15


2 Q. The first time you had knowledge about that

3 was when you read it?

4 A. I knew there was some things being looked

5 into in that department, but as far as

6 specifics did not.

7 Q. Okay. Do you ever sit in on meetings with

8 the City Manager and other people?

9 A. No, sir.

10 Q. He does not include you on those?

11 A. No, sir. No, sir.

12 Q. What observations have you heard when he

13 disciplines employees? What observations

14 have you heard when he disciplines employees?

15 Have you heard him do that in the hall?

16 A. You mean as far as down here in the office?

17 Q. Yes.

18 A. Probably I can say maybe there has been a

19 couple of times, but that was probably

20 another time period. It wasn't during

21 anything with this that you're talking about.

22 Q. Well, I'm talking about any time you've

23 worked with

24 him --

25 A. Yes.


417-358-4078


Page 16

1 Q. -- in the last nine years I'm wanting to know

2 his management style and the fact he's

3 intimidating. That's really what I'm doing.

4 A. I've heard voices, yes.

5 Q. And you've heard that?

6 A. Yes.

7 Q. Have you experienced that intimidation

8 yourself?

9 A. Um, --

10 Q. You're under oath, you know.

11 A. I know. Maybe early on. And not trying to

12 defend or anything, but maybe it's getting

13 adjusted to a new management style, too, on

14 my part. But there was a couple.

15 Q. Been times where he reduced you to tears?

16 A. At least once, yes.

17 Q. Once you remember in nine years?

18 A. Yeah, yeah.

19 Q. And you heard something about this issue

20 about notes being taken off his desk, I

21 assume?

22 A. Yes.

23 Q. And what do you know about that?

24 A. I know basically only what he has told me is

25 that there was a note that came up missing.


417-358-4078


Page 17

1 Q. Did he question you about that?

2 A. No, he really did not, no.

3 Q. Do you know how the note came up missing?

4 A. No, sir, I do not.

5 Q. Do you know any details about the note?

6 A. I know it was a post-it note, it was a yellow

7 post-it note.

8 Q. Have you read that post-it note?

9 A. No, sir.

10 Q. Do you know what it contained, what

11 information?

12 A. I only know what basically he had said about

13 it.

14 Q. What did he say?

15 A. There was supposedly a name, a phone number,

16 and maybe three questions or something on

17 there.

18 Q. And who did that note involve, communication

19 between what parties?

20 A. I think it was - I think the note what I was

21 told was it was with Carol Stark, uh-huh.

22 Q. And he told you that?


24 Q. And it concerned Bill Scearce?

25 A. Uh-huh.


417-358-4078


Page 18

1 Q. Is that a yes?

2 A. Yes, yes, yes.

3 BY MR. LORAINE: Court reporter, are

4 you indicating nods or are you indicating

5 yes, no?

6 BY COURT REPORTER: Yes and no.

7 Q. (By Mr. Loraine) Now you told me you were

8 nearing retirement?

9 A. Yes.

10 Q. When is that going to happen?

11 A. I hope in about three years.

12 Q. Three years, okay.

13 A. Uh-huh.

14 Q. Have you had any conferences or discussions

15 with other employees about Mr. Rohr and his

16 management style, complaints to you?

17 A. People complaining on it to me? Probably in

18 the nine years I've been there there's been

19 general comments, yes.

20 Q. From whom? Whom can you recall?

21 A. I know the City Attorney has been frustrated,

22 I know probably the Finance Director being

23 one, Leslie Haase. Probably those two would

24 be the main ones.

25 Q. Do you know the City Clerk?


417-358-4078


Page 19

1 A. Well, I was going to mention Barbara, but I

2 don't deal with her a lot anymore. I mean

3 that may be agenda items and stuff she may

4 have commented that she was frustrated there,

5 yeah.

6 Q. Is frustrated the word they use?

7 A. I use frustrated a lot.

8 Q. Huh?

9 A. I use frustrated a lot, yeah.

10 Q. Did they say they in some way were

11 intimidated? Did they use a different word

12 than frustrated?

13 A. I don't remember the word intimidated.

14 Q. Let me ask you this question. Have you seen

15 Mr. Head and Mr. Rohr actually in anger

16 hollering and shouting at each other?

17 A. Yes, I have, yes, I've heard it.

18 Q. And have you ever seen Mr. Rohr holler at his

19 spouse in your presence?

20 A. Not directly in front of me. Not directly in

21 front of me.

22 Q. Well, did you hear it?

23 A. Not knowing what the conversation was, the

24 door was shut, I did hear some raised voices.

25 Q. From both parties?


417-358-4078


Page 20

1 A. Yes.

2 Q. And have you ever seen her abused in your

3 presence?

4 A. No, sir, I don't believe so.

5 Q. Have you seen him abuse anyone else at that

6 facility in your presence?

7 A. When you say abused are you talking verbally

8 or physically?

9 Q. Well, verbally.

10 A. Verbally? Probably maybe with the Public

11 Information Officer, Lynn Onstott.

12 Q. Who was that?

13 A. Lynn Onstott.

14 Q. Okay. And he was hollering at her?

15 A. Yes.

16 Q. What was that about?

17 A. It was directly right after the tornado,

18 emotions were pretty high at that point,

19 people were pretty tired and stressed and

20 there was some news media issues and stuff

21 and it had been about two to three weeks into

22 it, yeah.

23 Q. So would you consider the conference with

24 Attorney Head was Mr. Head being abused?

25 A. I guess I view them as being on kind of the


417-358-4078


Page 21

1 same level.

2 Q. They both abuse each other?

3 A. Well, no, they were both at the same level of

4 staff and I know both were unhappy with what

5 the other one was doing, yeah. Now whether

6 you call that abusive I don't know, but I

7 know either party was not happy with what the

8 other was doing.

9 Q. And they were verbally hollering at each

10 other?

11 A. Yes, yes.

12 Q. Would you call that abuse?

13 A. I wouldn't have. My terms of abuse I didn't

14 view it as abuse, I viewed it as two people

15 that was not happy with what each party was

16 doing.

17 Q. Do you particularly enjoy working for this

18 City Administrator and his techniques?

19 A. It's challenging sometimes.

20 Q. You're a very positive person, aren't you?

21 A. I try to be. I try to be, I really do.

22 Q. Are you fearful of intimidation for coming in

23 here and talking to me?

24 A. There's part of it, I'll be truthful with

25 you, yeah, yeah, yeah.


417-358-4078


Page 22

1 Q. Have you seen him be vindictive on his

2 relations with other department heads?

3 A. Probably a little bit, uh-huh.

4 Q. In fact, are you aware of the tire incident

5 where he discontinued the use of the Goodyear

6 company because he had personal aggressive?

7 A. Huh-uh, no, sir.

8 Q. You don't know anything about that?

9 A. Huh-uh, I'm not aware of that one, huh-uh,

10 no, nothing on that.

11 Q. Do you know Becky Brill?

12 A. Yes, yes.

13 Q. What was her position?

14 A. She was the Grants Coordinator in our office.

15 Q. She was a department head?

16 A. No, no, no, she was staff.

17 Q. She was under your department?

18 A. Yes, she was under the City Manager's office.

19 Q. Did she feel intimidated? Did she ever tell

20 you that she was intimidated by this

21 gentleman, Mr. Rohr?

22 A. I believe so, yes, yes, yes.

23 Q. Do you know how many department heads have

24 been removed since City Manager Rohr came?

25 A. Okay. When you say removed are you meaning


417-358-4078


Page 23

1 taken out of the position or have left?

2 Q. How many have left since he arrived?

3 A. Have left.

4 Q. How many departments are there? Let's start

5 there.

6 A. There's 13. We have 13 department heads.

7 Q. How many department heads are still there

8 since Mr. Rohr came?

9 A. Just a second here. I believe there's 4 that

10 is still part of the original 13.

11 Q. And who are they?

12 A. It would be Dan Pekarek, the Health Director;

13 I believe Mark Morris, our computer

14 information systems person; Barb Hogelin,

15 City Clerk; and Brian Head, the City

16 Attorney.

17 Q. Now how many of those department heads are

18 not under your department?

19 A. It would be 2.

20 Q. Who would that be?

21 A. That are not under our department would be

22 the City Clerk and the City Attorney.

23 Q. So all the others that were under your

24 department are gone?

25 A. I believe that's correct.


417-358-4078


Page 24

1 Q. Since the City Manager arrived?

2 A. I believe that's correct, uh-huh.

3 Q. Did you see any efforts on the City Manager

4 to have these people orchestrated out of the

5 City government by the City Manager?

6 A. Probably the only one I can think of right

7 off the top of my head, the only one I can

8 think of in that category would be David

9 Hertzberg, the Public Works Director.

10 Q. And he's been reduced?

11 A. Yes.

12 Q. Okay. Do you know Charlie Kuehn?

13 A. Charlie Kuehn? I don't believe so, sir, not

14 Charlie Kuehn. It doesn't ring a bell.

15 Q. Do you know Mr. Woolston?

16 A. Mike Woolston?

17 Q. Yes.

18 A. Yes, he's a City Council member.

19 Q. Is he in talking with the City Manager

20 frequently?

21 A. He does come by. I would say maybe on an

22 average of a week maybe once or twice,

23 uh-huh.

24 Q. When you say it's challenging to work for

25 Mark Rohr can you be more specific as


417-358-4078


Page 25

1 compared to other managers that you've had?

2 A. I guess my style of work is I'm a very

3 pleasing person. I want --

4 Q. You want to please?

5 A. Please. And it did take some time to figure

6 out Mark's management style as far as to make

7 that a good working office, you know. I

8 always prided myself in that, and you just

9 learn those little quirks and stuff and it

10 was early on, yeah. But you find your nitch,

11 you know, you find the times that you don't

12 interrupt and you interrupt and things like

13 that, but I think that's with any new person

14 that comes in you've got to find, you know,

15 how that person works and how you work with

16 that person to make it work.

17 Q. Okay. I don't believe I have anything

18 further. You're supposed to be silent as to

19 our discussions.

20 A. Okay.

21 Q. Can you do that?

22 A. Sir, I worked in H.R. for nine years and

23 probably was one of the most trusted

24 employees there so I don't think there's

25 anything that --


417-358-4078


Page 26

1 Q. Would you call me if City Manager Rohr asks

2 you what you talked about?

3 A. Okay.

4 Q. Will you tell him to talk to me?

5 A. All right.

6 Q. Can you do that?

7 A. Yes, sir.

8 Q. Those would be my instructions to you. And

9 thank you very much for your cooperation.

10

11 (SWORN STATEMENT CONCLUDED)

12


417-358-4078


Page 27

REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE

STATE OF MISSOURI

ss.

COUNTY OF JASPER

I, SHARON K. ROGERS, Certified Court Reporter in the

State of Missouri, do certify that pursuant to the

foregoing Stipulation the witness came before me on the

20th of November, 2013, was duly sworn by me, and was

examined. That examination was then taken by me by

steno-mask recording and afterwards transcribed; said Sworn

Statement is subscribed by the witness as hereinbefore set

out on the day in that behalf aforesaid and is herewith

returned.

I further certify that I am not counsel, attorney, or

relative of either party, or clerk, or stenographer of

either party or of the attorney of either party, or

otherwise interested in the event of this suit.

__________________________

SHARON K. ROGERS, CCR-650

Documents

Coots, Vicki | Testimony transcript 11!20!13