Fairhope Mayor Karin Wilson took to her official Facebook page Sunday to sharing her side of several recent claims and issues regarding the city.
Wilson wrote she wanted to provide an “accurate account” of what had occurred over the past few weeks.
“As you know, I have pledged to bring you openness and transparency, implement ways to protect the way we grow, bring fiscal responsibility and make decisions that are in the best interest of the city,” Wilson wrote.
With regard to the personnel claims filed with the city alleging an assault by Wilson on current Fairhope Human Resources Director Pandora Heathcoe and wrongful termination filed by former Director of Community Affairs Sherry Sullivan, Wilson said their claims were false. She also alluded to a possible third claim that could be filed, likely by former Fairhope Public Works Director Jennifer Fidler.
“There are two claims against me and the City and we may receive one more,” Wilson said. “The cases include falsehoods, exaggerations and are legally without merit. I have instructed the attorneys representing the City to fight these baseless claims. I will not agree to pay one dime of tax-payer money (or money from the City’s insurance company) to anyone for this purpose. To do so would only encourage more of the same in the future.”
Wilson also addressed a recent story filed by Gulf Coast Media involving key logger software that was placed on the computers of seven city employees.
“Recent implications of misuse of monitoring ‘spying’ is groundless,” Wilson wrote. “The mayor has the right to protect the city and citizens’ tax dollars from the misuse of city property and disruption from the day to day efficiency of running the City. All cities and most businesses have this in place.”
Gulf Coast Media contacted every municipality in Baldwin County, the Baldwin County Commission and the Baldwin County School System to see if any of their organizations used key logger software on employee computers.
While some of them do monitor employee computer usage, none of the officials contacted said they had ever used key logger software like the one installed on the seven Fairhope employees’ computers.
“There is absolutely no worthwhile reason why a municipal government should be using key logger software for its employees,” one IT official said.
Wilson quoted the city’s policy book as justification for the software’s installation.
“The following is from our policy book which every employee receives a copy of before they’re hired: ‘Employees have no personal right of privacy with respect to use of the City’s email system or internet access,’” Wilson wrote. “‘The City may review, audit and download e-mail messages that employees send and/or receive and may review employees’ use of the internet.’”
The quoted section does not directly address logging the individual key strokes put onto city computers, however.
Wilson also called out the media for the recent coverage.
“Since becoming mayor there have been a number of stories containing innuendos using secret sources that seem to show more interest in creating conflict than substance about the changes necessary to move Fairhope forward,” Wilson wrote.
Gulf Coast Media made multiple attempts to contact Wilson before filing its initial story on the key logger software installation, but Wilson declined to be questioned or give a comment.
