THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 15, 1996 TAG: 9605150001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Allegations of sexual harassment - and they are common - must be handled discreetly, as far as possible, especially at the beginning. A complaint is one thing. A formal charge is another. A finding of culpability is yet another.
Discretion is appropriate to protect complainants' privacy and shield them from notoriety and possible reprisals. Discretion is also appropriate to protect the accused's reputation.
Many complaints, upon investigation, do not translate into chargeable offenses. That was the case with complaints from some of the female employees in Norfolk's Economic Development Department, who complained that department head Robert B. Smithwick, now a special assistant to City Manager James B. Oliver Jr, had behaved inappropriately toward them.
Part of the story became public several days ago when a copy of a letter from the city manager explaining fully to City Council the why Smithwick had been transferred from his $85,000-a-year post as economic-development chief to the city manager's office was leaked to the press. Some councilmen were displeased that the city manager had informed Mayor Paul D. Fraim of the delicate situation but neither city manager nor mayor had alerted the full council. Oliver earlier had given council an incomplete explanation for the move, saying the transfer would enable Smithwick to focus on bringing to fruition the $300 million MacArthur Center shopping-mall project and begin his transition toward retirement.
Councilmen unhappy about this half-truth read the retention of the sexual-harassment information by city manager and mayor as a sign of a lack of trust in council members. That's a fair inference, but the celerity with which somebody (likely some member(s) of council) shared the news of the embarrassment with the press suggests that any fear city manager and mayor might have had about some council members' discretion was warranted.
But Vice Mayor Paul R. Riddick also accuses city manager and mayor of ``a cover-up'' and demands that the city manager be reprimanded. He is off base.
There was no cover-up. City Manager Oliver promptly sought an independent investigation of the complaints against Smithwick after being told of them. He turned to City Attorney Philip Trapani - who answers to City Council, which appoints him - to investigate the complaints and recommend action. That means the city attorney, in addition to the mayor and city manager, was aware of the complaints.
The complainants' wish to remain anonymous was respected by the investigators. Other women in the office did not agree that Smithwick had behaved improperly. The complaints did not lead to charges.
Told that some of the women had complained, Smithwick asked for specifics and a chance to confront his accusers, who remain unidentified to him. Both requests were denied.
Obviously, an unhappy situation existed in the comparatively small city department. What to do? The situation was resolved ultimately by the city manager's bringing Smithwick into his office, enabling him to follow through on MacArthur Center and selected other economic-development opportunities. A retired Texaco executive, Smithwick, as the city's economic-development chief, has contributed substantially to the expansion of Norfolk jobs and tax bases.
Mayor Fraim says he is comfortable with his own handling of the matter, but both he and City Manager Oliver have promised to take the full council into their confidence in the future. For their part, every council member should promise to respect confidentiality when personnel problems are brought to the table.
All council members should ask themselves how they think administrators should handle reputation-damaging complaints from unidentified sources, especially when those complaints, after careful, independent investigation, do not produce formal charges, formal hearings or formal conclusions of wrongdoing.
The answers to the question might soften the criticism by some council members harsh assessment of the way in which city manager and mayor addressed the problem of the complaints in the economic-development office. by CNB