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Richard Piatt ReportingSalt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson says he has proof he's not the grumpy, unreasonable boss that media reports often portray. It's an employee opinion survey.
Rocky Anderson says it is taken by independent researchers, saying that working for him isn't that bad, contrary to word of mouth from people who don't work there any more.
Mayor Rocky Anderson says he feels 'brutalized' by media reports over the firing of A top staffers a couple weeks ago.
On August 29th, Communications Director Deeda Seed told us she was relieved she was gone, saying Rocky creates a hostile work environment, uses foul language and berates people.
This week, Anderson says he has proof things aren't so bad in the mayor's office. An independent survey, conducted by NCS Pearson and the BYU Statistics Department includes among it's conclusions that job morale is very high for workers in the Mayor's office.
And, Anderson points out, 80 percent of workers in his office agreed with the statement, "I am satisfied with my job as a whole, compared with 70 percent citywide.
Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City Mayor: "To go public and portray me as something that I'm absolutely not, or to portray our office atmosphere as something that it's not is extremely unfair."
Staffers like DJ Baxter, whom we---not the Mayor---picked, back the mayor up.
D.J. Baxter, Senior Advisor to the Mayor: "Absolutely. He's a very demanding boss. And demanding to the extent that he pushes us very hard. "
Holly Bell, Staff Assistant: "I don't think that's a negative thing. I think I demand a lot from myself, and to have someone hold those same expectations can be important."
Still, city council members, many whom have had run-ins with the Mayor, say surveys are one thing, frequent turnover is another.
Dave Buhler, Salt Lake City Council: "When we have a lot of turnover in top level people in the city, it does affect productivity, it does have an impact on morale."
We asked the mayor if he thought people responded positively because they were afraid to do otherwise. He says absolutely not, bBut one city staffer said a little fear of the boss isn't unusual in most places.
