But the winds are getting ready to change.
Most people in Watonga already know…I have been
asked by several “I hear you’re suing the City, are you?” I have not yet, and don't want to, but if I am forced by the City to file suit to deal with this matter, so be it.
I have filed a claim against the City of Watonga for
wrongful termination, based on the harassing treatment I received while working
as deputy City Clerk and my subsequent dismissal for no reason. It has been over five months since I filed my
claim and neither the Mayor nor the City of Watonga has responded in any way. The only thing I can do at this point is to file a lawsuit in Blaine
County District Court to get the claim dealt with. I have an
appointment next week to meet with my attorney and sign a retainer agreement
for him to proceed with a suit. I’ve
been more than patient to hear from the City, so I have to assume their answer
is “No” payment to me on the claim.
In November 2012, I gave formal written notice to OMAG
(the City’s insurance carrier) and to the City of my claim for wrongful
termination. Under state law, I was
required to give them 90 days to investigate and respond before filing suit. Prior
to that formal notice, I sent Mayor Clay
Loosen a written description of my claim and a request to discuss it. He did not want to discuss it. As of this time, neither OMAG nor the City
have had the courtesy to respond to my formal
claim – neither a “yes” or “no” or any communication. The matter has not been
discussed at any City Council meeting, so they are obviously going to ignore it
and hope it goes away. It will not. I
have only asked for fair treatment and nothing more. I don’t necessarily want the details to come
to light in the public but the City won’t act until the details come out.
I spoke to three different attorneys back in
November 2012 and all three wanted me to sign a retainer agreement based on the
fact that I have a valid case for wrongful termination, including a claim for
punitive damages. At that time I only
wanted legal advice to see if I had legal grounds for a claim, and I then wanted
to give the City a chance to remedy the situation before engaging an attorney
to file suit and making the matter public.
I know from my experience working with attorneys and courts that a
lawsuit is not a quick remedy and in my opinion should be pursued only as a
last resort. But we are now at that
point.
Once I've signed the retainer agreement, the attorney
will take a percentage of any court award or settlement, so I won’t be able to settle
for the amount I am willing to settle for prior to filing suit. On the other hand, the City will have to pay hourly fees to probably both the City Attorney and to any attorney they retain to defend the lawsuit -- to the tune of hundreds of dollars an hour. The City has a choice to pay my claim and save
money, or fight it out in a public forum.
It appears that they would rather pay more in attorney’s fees and increased liability insurance
premiums (both at a cost to the City taxpayers) to defend a lawsuit than settle
my claim before suit is filed.
A lawsuit and subsequent proceedings will unfortunately
bring to the public eye some unsavory details about our City officials and
their actions, specifically the former Mayor and current City Clerk. It is not my intention to give the City a
black eye, but as of this posting that seems to be the way the City wants to
proceed. Harriette Nitzel told me she “doesn’t care” what comes out in a
lawsuit. I have been more than
reasonably patient. Our city
representatives are regularly complaining that they get “bad publicity” and
want more “good publicity”, but here is a chance for them to avoid bad
publicity and they refuse to avoid it.
Go figure.
On a brighter note, the weather here in Watonga is finally going to be spring-like this coming week, I hope for the rest of the season! We've had an unseasonably cold spring so far and gardens are being planted late. I'm hopeful we have a good Farmers Market but at this time we don't yet know what products we'll have on the first weekend. But the Farmers Market will definitely be open on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Even if we have none or few vegetables, we'll definitely have some "Made in Oklahoma" products for sale that day. At the Chaparral Retreat, we will have a full house this weekend, coming from Tulsa OK. We plan on taking our guests to Roman Nose State Park, the Whirlwind Winery, The Ferguson Home, hunting for mushrooms (if the weather permits) and possibly to the Okeene Rattlesnake Festival. We'll observe Cinco de Mayo with appropriate food, drink, and music!
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