More evidence surfaces Fairhope mayor directed investigation into former employees

Wilson originally claimed she found out about investigation after the fact

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A copy of an email from Fairhope Mayor Karin Wilson to the city's IT director seems to also contradict Wilson’s statement she was not directly involved in the search of city equipment used by two former city employees. Wilson's statements had previously been contradicted by Elias Technologies, the company used to perform the equipment searches.

Wilson fired former Community Affairs Director Sherry Sullivan and former Public Works Director Jennifer Fidler on Feb. 24 of this year and used a police contract with IT company Elias Technologies to investigate the city equipment used by those employees.

In a post on her blog July 14, Wilson wrote Elias was not hired to do such work for the city.

“To clear up any confusion, Elias was not hired for purposes of processing the computers or devices used by former employees,” Wilson wrote. “That job is handled by in-house IT professionals working for the City.”

Wilson also wrote that she had become aware of the work done after seeing the invoices provided by Elias Technologies to the city.

“Elias contracted with the City to perform security services as described in memorandum called ‘scope of work,’” Wilson wrote. “Elias agreed to perform those specific services for a total amount not to exceed $35,000. Unfortunately, Elias performed additional services that were not described in the scope of work, and Elias billed for those services. I did not receive an invoice indicating that this additional work had been performed until well after those services had been performed.”

In the email obtained by The Courier, Wilson asked Fairhope IT Director Jeff Montgomery at 4:53 p.m. on Feb. 26 for evidence to help back up her reasons for terminating Fidler and Sullivan.

“Please have evidence from either Jennifer Fidler or Sherry Sullivan’s city computer or cell to backup my reasons for termination for meeting noon tomorrow,” Wilson wrote. “It is okay for me to see the evidence as well. Please respond all confirmation (Attorney) Matt (McDonald) or (City Attorney) Tut (Wynne) so we can be prepared for tomorrow.”

Earlier that day, Wilson had met with Montgomery and Elias Technologies employee Dan Dollarhide to explain the company’s statement of work for the city.

After a phone call with Wilson following that meeting, according to invoices to the city from Elias Technologies, Fidler’s phone and hard drive and Sullivan’s hard drive were picked up from Montgomery’s office.

At the Feb. 27 council meeting Wilson refers to in her email to Montgomery, she gave a statement about the firings that seems to allude to some wrongdoing on the part of Sullivan or Fidler but produced no evidence of wrongdoing.

“I do want everyone in this room and the citizens of Fairhope to know that although I cannot talk about this issue because of liability from the city and out of respect for Sherry and Jennifer, I made this decision based on something that came up, and it was very hard decision,” Wilson wrote. “I cannot be specific, but I can say that it was a situation that would prevent me from doing my job successfully.”

Elias Technologies worked on the devices to try to retrieve the data Wilson had requested, and the search of Fidler’s phone provided no such evidence.

"The phone data was extracted and parsed using a Cellebrite UFED and Oxygen Forensics Suite, but provided almost no data," Dollarhide wrote in a Feb. 28 email to Montgomery. "In short, that phone is very old and had little to offer."

Wilson continued to drive the investigation into the Elias Technologies equipment search, contacting the company on March 2 and March 6 for further followups and texting the company keywords and email addresses to search for on Fidler’s hard drive on March 10.

Neither Fidler nor Sullivan’s hard drives provided any other evidence, according to Elias Technologies.

“Elias Technologies performs data extraction, but does not play the role of investigator,” Elias Technologies CEO K. Gus Dimitrelos wrote in a statement sent to The Courier. “In this case, the Mayor, playing the role of investigator, provided some names of persons she believed to have been in contact with employees and email accounts through which she believed City information was being mishandled. No evidence of mishandled information was ever identified.”

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Wilson said “the mayor does not comment on pending or potential litigation.”

When asked for a comment by The Courier, Council President Jack Burrell responded:

“Based upon what I have read and have been told, but without an investigation, it appears that city employees, resources and contracts may have been used to benefit the mayor politically.

“If these searches were politically motivated, the people of Fairhope deserve to know what keywords were searched on these same devices by Elias, and also what the results of those searches were.

“So, here’s the bottom line. As Mayor, she didn’t need a reason to fire them, so the question is what possible reason would she have had in instructing Elias Technologies or pressuring a city employee to give her something she could use, except for her own political gain?”

Councilman Kevin Boone agreed with Burrell's concerns.

"This is disappointing and extremely embarrassing that the mayor had attempted to ruin two families' lives by firing them for apparently no reason other than politics, and used city funds and resources to justify her actions after the fact," Boone said. "One can only construe from her actions that this is for her own political agenda and does not benefit Fairhope in any fashion."

Councilman Robert Brown sent a statement to The Courier, which said:

"In my opinion, this email from Mayor Wilson to the IT director confirms that there was no legitimate reason for firing Fidler and Sullivan.

"'Please find evidence,' 'It is ok for me to see the evidence as well' is what she wrote in the email.

"Mayor Wilson terminated these two employees. I understand that Alabama is a right to work state, so Mayor Wilson didn't have to have a reason.

"However, if she had a reason, why would the IT director have to supply a reason?

"Since I wrote my response to Harry Satterwhite, the city has received several more resignations from city employees, one within the IT department and another from the city treasurer who exemplifies ethical conduct.

"Mayor Wilson and her counsel, whether city employees she has hired or local bloggers, are responsible for continuing to disrupt the governing of the City of Fairhope.

"This email being published is not another leak; it is transparency of governance."

Councilman Jay Robinson said in a statement he was saddened by the continued negativity surrounding the city and its employees.

"The citizens of Fairhope deserve honesty, accountability and humility from their elected leaders. As elected officials in this community, it is our responsibility to protect Fairhope's assets.

"I believe our city employees have always been one of Fairhope's greatest assets. Employees of the City of Fairhope deserve a respectful work environment free of hostility and political pressure.

"It is disappointing to me to see the continued negativity surrounding our city and our employees. If this negative climate continues to exist, Fairhope will continue to lose valuable employees and will miss out on future employees that could benefit our community."