Personnel, use of resources are among the issues
BY TED JACKOVICS
The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA -- The board of Tampa's mass transit agency placed its chief executive on administrative leave for up to two weeks on Monday to allow attorneys to complete an investigation of allegations against him.
David Armijo said in an interview after the board's special session he was neither aware of specific allegations nor has he done anything wrong.
"I have been here for four years and have made a lot of tough decisions but have completed a great deal of work," said Armijo, who has led HART to record ridership for more than a year amid personnel and other restructuring to keep the budget balanced.
"I've heard people have questioned travel and other processes, but we do have processes in place I have followed," he said.
The allegations were leveled against Armijo by unidentified employees of Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority.
After an hour discussion, the board reluctantly approved the paid leave by a 9-1 vote to ensure employees could discuss allegations without concern of internal influence. Board member Ron Govin opposed it; two members were absent.
"I'm very sensitive to the employees, but I'm also sensitive to the chief executive and his reputation," said board member Fran Davin before the vote.
Board members were frustrated that they were not alerted beforehand about allegations that board secretary Wallace Bowers kept confidential in accordance with HART personnel policy.
The allegations were not specified at the public meeting.
But attorney Dawn Siler-Nixon of the Tampa law office of Ford & Harrison, whose firm was hired by the board to investigate, said the allegations include issues of "retaliatory conduct" on the part of Armijo against employees who have challenged him on unspecified issues and whether Armijo "misused HART resources."
Siler-Nixon said the matter has not been discussed with Armijo.
She characterized the allegations as "very serious ... that could have implications for years to come if they are true. We are trying to determine whether they are factual or not."
Vanessa Cephus, president of Local 1593 Amalgamated Transit Union who was terminated over absences she said she had doctors' notes for, said she took several complaints to the board.
"I feel that there's a hostile work environment here. I'm not the only one that feels that way," Cephus said.
"What the public sees is, 'Oh we're number one in the nation,' or 'Oh we got an award for this.' Meanwhile your whole employee morale is zero and no one's paying attention. And finally we got attention."
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News Channel 8 reporter Lauren Mayk contributed to this report.
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