As was reported in August , former Cape Charles Director of Public Works Dave Fauber is suing the Town for wrongful termination and violation of the Freedom of Information Act for $500k.
Northampton County Circuit Court has issued a wet noodle order regarding the FOIA violations, but the wrongful termination suit is still under review.
Judge Lewis has ordered the town pay $14,000 for Fauber’s legal fees.
No matter the outcome, the court case has once again exposed the sleazy underbelly of Cape Charles and paints a very different picture of a town that works so hard to create a dubious narrative of itself in order suck at the teat of outsider tourist dollars.
Should Mayor Dize resign?
Never mind the legal ramifications, but who acts like this? Who treats people this way? Who treats employees like this?
Mr. Fauber has been in that role for close to 20 years. If you have an issue, discuss it. Tell them you are going in a different strategic direction or (insert BS line here). Instead, he was fired without notice, and was given no reason for the change.
According to Fauber’s legal team, not only was the process flawed but it was also illegal. Apparently, the town has no record of any closed session in which Fauber’s termination was discussed. Oddly, there is a “proposed” org chart that did not include Fauber. Kind of like, “Hey dude, we’re putting the band back together, only you’re not in it.”
So, did this all happen behind closed doors? We have seen this in Cape Charles before, so this is hardly surprising.
The big problem for Dize and Cape Charles is that failing to keep accurate minutes of discussions that involve town business, as well as holding secret, unauthorized closed meetings is a serious violation of the Code of Virginia.
As a citizen, it appears Fauber was certainly denied due process.
Whether or not Fauber is awarded $500,000 for wrongful termination does not change the facts. Mayor Dize and Town Council willfully violated the Code of Virginia and violated Dave Fauber’s right to due process.
Putting the town in the position of possibly losing half a million dollars, not to mention citizens’ tax dollars to defend the crimes seems to put the effectiveness of this group in question.
In the private sector, anyone that would have violated the code of ethics and put a firm in this position would be terminated forthwith.
For elected officials, if they don’t resign, termination is left up to the courts:
Code of Virginia: § 24.2-233. Removal of elected and certain appointed officers by courts.
About the Author
‘Should Mayor Dize Resign?’
Why was he elected?
What were his qualifications?
No one knows why he was elected or what his qualifications are?
I guess no one knows why he was elected or what his qualifications are ???
WOW!
Note: As was pointed out in the book “The Adrian Mole Diaries”, there are no qualifications, you just have to be an idiot.
But seriously, G. Pruitt, with small-town politics and elections, isn’t that the way it normally is, that nobody has a clue why any of these people were elected or what their qualifications were?
As is the case with the latest national election, the public no longer has the intellectual stomach for judging the merit of their ‘leaders’ beyond personality and appearance. Perhaps this was the case in Cape Charles, as well. The ongoing issue of the Mayor and town manager serves to underscore the dubious decisions being made in town. As I stated before, maybe it’s time for the voters in CC to start asking themselves exactly who the council is looking out for… have they become addicted to the power they wield within their small kingdom ? And does the shallow minded majority go along because they , too, enjoy compelling others to behave in ways contrary to the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness? As Thomas Jefferson said, A government which governs least, governs best.
I know this is a little dated, but to answer your question it does not appear that there are any responsibilities falling on the Mayor if Cape Charles beyond presiding over Town Council (if thats what you call it) and doing things like breaking earth for the bike path, kicking off parades etc.
Thus, I honestly don’t think there are any real qualifications. Breathing. Thats the only one.
That’s cute – above is not written by me
Yes it was.
I am not on the inside of this situation to know what was, and was not done. What I do know is that I have been trained as a manager inside Fortune 500 companies and there are very specific guidelines for termination. Steps to be followed unless there is an outrageous act against company rules and regulations. A verbal warning, then a written warning signed by employee and mgr. If the employee continues to not correct the situation there needs to be a 2nd written reprimand/warning, perhaps with a suspension. After that, the 3rd sit down is the termination. If procedures like this wee not followed for a the termination of a Municipal employee, there may very well be validity to this complaint.
If the mayor doesn’t know the ignorance of actions like this and he did indeed wrong this man, I would think that as a matter of common decency he should resign.
To me, a very big question is, is the town insured for this kind of thing ? If/when the town loses this suit, do new lawsuit taxes pay the bill ?
Maybe Jay C. Ford will get the CBF to pay the bill for good community relations ?
Doesn’t the Town have a Human Resources Manager? I have over 45 years HR experience and the Mayor and the Town Council should have been advised by the Human Resources Manager and/or the Towns Lawyer. What are we paying these people for? This is HR 101. We are better than this. Hopefully, our errors and omissions insurance will cover this fiasco.
I doubt he will resign, myself.
Very seldom do they ever.
In a couple of hours, or a couple of weeks, people are exhausted of talking about it, and they move on, and let’s face it, the dude is a politician, and he knows that, so he’ll sit tight and let it blow over and he will still be there with the power when all the people screaming have gone back home and no longer have the energy to keep it going, especially as there is no punishment they can mete out, like forcing him to resign, which let us face it, simply is not going to happen.
Mary F says:
‘As is the case with the latest national election, the public no longer has the intellectual stomach for judging the merit of their ‘leaders’ beyond personality and appearance. ‘
I Say:
OK, I will play along. What appearance or personality caused people to vote for him.
I am shocked that no one can answer why they voted for him or what his qualifications were to become a Mayor. Well, not really shocked.
In The Land of Fools, they say Ignorance is Bliss.