POWELL & STELLA PROJECTS 2002

Finley Engineering Company, Inc. 12/03/2001 Clay Beard and I were sent by Kim Little to work on a job under construction. C-Com Construction Co. had the project. They were contracted to bury and place new phone plant in the Powell & Stella phone exchanges. Mike Donaldson of Eldorado Springs, Mo. was the resident engineer. He stayed with the C-Com crew. Mike had one or two of his sons working for C-Com on this project. Mike's very long time and very close friend, Kenny Fryer was one of the inspectors on the C-Com crew.Kenny had a nephew, Rick Delks, to serve as inspector #2 on that crew. C-Com subcontracted out a portion of the project to Johnny Johnson, (a local in the area) who owned a construction company. Johnson's crew was where Clay and I were appointed to work. The resident engineer, Mike Donaldson, was a Finley employee assigned by ITD (Independent Telephone Department), manager was Kim Little, to the project. The next positions were the Plow Inspector & under him, the Trench Inspector. Clay & I had never been plow inspectors. I had trench inspected for a short time a couple of times in the past. The normal job that Clay & I had done for years was drawing and creating the staking sheets similar, but MUCH BETTER than the ones this job was being constructed from. Sometimes I thought ITD should have stood for INFERIOR TELEPHONE DEPT., and that isn't to slam all the people in that dept. because there are some very honest, hardworking, dedicated people there. In fact this whole collection of stories I am presenting is in support of those who see things everyday that irritates and frustrates them to no end, and yet with a need for a paycheck, they keep it inside and go on. I am the exception and I am speaking to help them have a voice as well. This was an RUS project and had a language we had learned some of in past exposure to those types of projects. At this point I want to insert something Charles Orrell told me after I had my "livelihood " stolen. He said," William, Kim probably couldnt' even do what you do." That was a nice compliment to my experience. Clay & I are both from the Bell Telephone Dept. & worked together a lot thru the years. Clay and I were started off in our positions with no training. We knew telephone & when we queried the resident engineer, Mike Donaldson, we got a skeleton crash course in our job duties. Actually with me. Mike's remark to me & the way he expressed it. left a negative impression. "Why William, a man with your intelligence, I'm sure you'll do just fine." It was a remark presented with a hint of sneer in around the edges. I questioned if I was being paranoid. I think time has shown I wasn't. The job was being constructed off of staking sheets that had been drawn and drafted by people in ITD at Finley's, (the dept. Clay and I were loaned out to). Clay & I discussed how poorly done the sheets were & as time passed that became a subject of mention amongst everyone, including the clients own people that were exposed to doing things from the sheets. LE-RU Telephone was our client that we were building this job for. There were times we might accidentally cut a cable & put people out of service and that is when their repair guys & our people got acquainted. I know one guy named Bill, who I saw from time to time. He asked me why the sheets were calling to do some of what they were. He said they were poorly drawn & he was sitting sometimes scratching his head trying to make sense of it. All I could do was say "Hey, I'm like you." "I am on loan to this department & I am having trouble with what I'm seeing." There were times it was hard to tell where you were in the field by looking at the prints.
Mike Donaldson is someone that I worked with for a short time in July of 1990 in Berryville, Ark. This was an exposure to him that left me not caring about the guy & not wanting to be on a project with him again. 10/29/2002 It was a couple of days before my termination that I went to Mike's room at the motel we were staying at to visit. He had earlier that day told me that Kim had called him & wanted me to know I needed to come into the office on Friday. Mike claimed he didn't know why--maybe lay off. Kim never once called me directly in the field. If he had a complaint that involved me he would call Mike in the field & then Mike would contact me to let me know Kim called and the subject matter. In my visit with Mike we talked briefly of the Ark. job. He was helping stake an aerial job. Mike said,
I watched you doing a # of things that I felt were not neccessary." In our dept. that info you were getting was already obtained by someone earlier & isn't needed to be done again." I listened and said nothing. The sequel to this visit was a visit I had with my old boss, Charles Orrell, 12/11/2002 at his home. I brought up Mike in conversation & mentioned he had workded with me in Ark. Charlie said, "Yes, I recall the job BECAUSE everything Mike staked on his own down there, I had to send some of my guys back to redo it." "Finley's went out on a limb when they hired Donaldson, because if I remember right, he had been in trouble with drugs & going thru a divorce." This guy that we had to go back & redo his notes has become a resident engineer---go figure that one. Mike was on loan to our Bell Dept. at that time, he is in ITD, just like I am on loan (or was on loan), from the Bell Dept. to ITD. To bring this up to date with Mike Donaldson, he accidentally was in my presence when I went to the license office for car tags in 2006. He came up to me and went into a conversation letting me know that he had nothing to do with my being terminated. He went over the thing that he thought maybe I was being layed off. Well in my notes above I see that he stated that way back in 2002. Why did it take you over 4 years and accidentally running into me for you to say that too me? I am in the phone book. Perhaps Mike did not have anything to do with it and if that is factual then I apologize for my statement feeling that he did. If you lied too me Mike, shame on you man. We had a # of times, (Clay & I), that the sheets called for placing new cable on private property, only to discover that the property owner hadn't signed an easement or been talked to. Jobs are not supposed to be run this way. We were placing fiber along highway 90 in McDonald County. We had gone on private property only t0o discover that what the property owner discussed with the RW agent & what we were doing, was opposite the agreement. Mr. Gluekert came out when he saw we were in his hayfield & he yelled at Clay for nearly one half hour. I was not there at the time as I'd gone to lunch. We still had a piece of fiber cable at the end of a creek bore that needed to be buried. You had to go thru the edge of his hayfield to get to it. Everything came to a halt on his property when he blew up. Gary Forest, the RW agent who originally dealt with him, went that weekend to see him and try to straighten things out. I came back to work on Monday & found Mike Donaldson. I approached him & asked if everything was OK now with Mr. Gluekert? "Not OK," he said.
"He is still mad and plans to let his lawyer handle things." "He's talking lawsuit." I said, "Well, we have a piece of cable on top the ground along the hayfield that needs to be buried, but we need to leave it till this is resolved, right?" "No." "He is already angry, we probably won't make him much mader." I looked at Mike and it took me about 5 seconds to come real close to him. "No sir, we ARE NOT going to dig that cable down." "In fact I am going right now to his house and visit with him if he is home." "If he gives me permission, then we will go dig it down." This was our first rub on the job. In the "service letter" I requested from Finley's there is a section that covers why I was forced out of the company. One of the things it says is: OVERALL POOR JOB PERFORMANCE IN YOUR FAILURE TO FOLLOW SUPERVISORY INSTRUCTION, INSUBORDINATION TO SUPERVISORS AND SUPERIORS. Later I will put this "service letter" on the blogspot for you to view. I will also put a recent job evaluation from my present employer with it and you will immediately see something is terribly wrong here.
If doing the RIGHT THING in relation to Mr. Gluekert is considered as "not following orders", or "insubordination to supervisors", then I will say that I would not change a thing. Mike Donaldson did not use proper judgement and I was correct to resist his orders as he was wrong and out of line. I did his job for him by going to visit with Mr. Gluekert, something he should have done. It seemed to me that Mike didn't care what happened to me or to the crew over this. I felt I had just done the residents job for him. I sure felt I wasn't one of the residents people because of his instructions concerning Gluekert. I was left with feeling "alone" and making my own way. It is important to note that we kept daily logs of units placed & progress. Logs had carbon copy. Clay was plow inspector & I was instructed to turn my logs in to Clay & then Clay kept updating Mike on Saturday with a phone call to report Fridays activities. Mike always left near lunch on Friday's so he wasn't there to witness the afternoons activities. Neither Clay nor I wanted to be inspectors. We knew work was not in abundance so we both decided to do it hoping as time passed we'd be shifted into what we were used to doing. Larry Long came to work, and he was put with C-Com at first to trench inspect. At the time we were on these exchanges Kim Little had a big project for Grand River Telephone in Princeton, Mo. going on. Larry Long has a long history in inspection & travel. He took the job with Finley's because Kim told him the work was not far from his home. Larry, at 52, was wanting to get off the road. He had located a few jobs and Finley was lower than the others on wages, but Larry chose it to be home nights. He worked about a month & on a Friday afternoon Kim called him and told him he was being transferred up north on the project to be plow inspector & he needed to be there at 7a.m. Larry got very upset because Kim had hired him with the understanding he could work this project to be home nights. He loaded up Finley's truck with their equipment & took it to the office at Lamar. He told Kim he was too cheap to pay him what he'd need to go up north. He gave Kim a verbal going over & was walking out the door to go home. Kim needed people really bad and he followed Larry outside the building and convinced him to go back to work on the project he'd been on. Larry decided, ok. At the time this happened I was totally unaware of the incident. It was the next Friday in the afternoon on the 4/12/2002, that I got a call from Kim telling me the same thing he'd told Larry the Friday before (that I was unaware of). I had not wanted to do inspection to begin with. It is watching people work to see a job is built within specifications. I for sure never wanted the responsibility of being plow inspector. The one thing I dreaded the most, Kim informs me he is appointing me to do. I had just gotten settled in here on the project & was making the best of it & he wants me to go up north almost to the Iowa line & be a plow inspector. I tried to talk my way out of it & he said he was running out of qualified people to send. This mean't going before a crew of construction workers ( usually 5-8 guys) and going cold turkey to do something I'd never done, amongst strangers. Kim Little was expecting me to take a position with more responsibility & stress, something I'd not done & only observed Clay when possible. He would be expecting me to eat 4 hours of travel a week with no pay for those hours, and get up at 1 or 2a.m. Monday morning to be there at 7a.m., and no increase in pay. It ticked me. I told him I would stop at the office in a few hours & we could discuss it more. I stopped at the office and Kim & I sat outside and talked. I was too open in my conversation. I discussed wages. I was at that time making $14.45/hr. I told him I felt $16/hr. at least would be a start to be more in line. When I was on the Tennessee project I had made a tape overnight & it was airing out some minor complaints I had with Larry Fausett. I happened to have a copy of that tape with me and I knew Kim didn't really know me, nor I him. I realized that the tape gave a good picture of who I am & how I am as a person. I made, (I feel), a mistake by allowing Kim to listen to the tape. I got it back from him later & nothing from him was ever mentioned concerning it. He asked me if I could use a week off. I needed a week off really bad. I, at first, was tempted to appreciate the offer. I had not agreed yet to go up north even with the week off & him going in my place. I agreed to think abokut it while he was up there. He was expecting me to do it, I knew that.
The 4/14/2002 was a Sunday. Kim came by my house and picked up my Finley truck to use up north for a week. It was like 4-5p.m. I thought to myself, there is no way I am cutting off part of my Sunday to start a job. Time at home is precious when you work for Finley's in the field. It was Thursday, the 18th that I called Kim to discuss some things. I felt that if he would take me off full expenses & place me on a fair per diem, it would allow me some compensation without a wage increase. He was willing to do per diem but for a far lesser amount than I'd come up with. He said he couldn't pay what I asked because that phone company wouldn't allow it. I told hiim he had juys on the job where I just came from paying $53/night for motel & $20 for food a day. He said, "Well, that's a different phone company & contract." The more we talked things became tense & Kim at one point THREATENED me to decide right now what you will do or I'm going to let you go. I don't remember exacta words he said but it was to that effect. I think I reluctantly agreed to go up north but when we hung up we were both upset. He later told me he didn't sleep well that night.
The man had created bad feelings with me. He delivered the truck on Friday & we patched things up more or less. I decided I would go and try it but I was very unhappy about the whole thing. I traveled a lot of places for Charles Orrell (my boss of many years), but Charlie always called me and asked how I felt about working here or there. It was respectful & I always felt if I would have refused for a valid reason, he would have been accepting. I was to meet the resident (Lyle Weiser), on Monday around 7a.m. Lyle was the guy who drew up all the sheets we'd been complaining about on the Powell project. Lyle is a likeable fellow. I got there on time & we went out to the yard, (Lyle & me), and met with the other inspectors. I shook hands & we all stood around talking. One guy, Ron Orndorff, was talking to another fellow & we got to discussing Kim Little. These guys were upset at Kim & the week he came up before they had all gotten together and cornered him so to speak & demanded a raise in pay. Some strange things had been going on, like younger, inexperienced guys arriving on the scene & being paid more than guys that had years with the company. That was just like the Tennessee project in 2001 I was on. Finley Field Services hired a number of guys to work on that project and they were also paid more than employees with years of experience and I was one of those people. We had a large number of guys that were supposed to have experience but when they were put to work it quickly became clear that they didn't know too much and we ended up having to go back and redo their bad work as well as do our own. Ron said they didn't get all they wanted but they go a raise. I I was still an employee of a dept. other than ITD & so I was still loaned to them & I was not offered or included in the raise. Larry, my trench inspector back out at the Powell project got a dollar an hour raise, but Kim hired him. Kim Little THREATENED that that if anyone discussed with anyone else how much he was making an hour that he could plan on being fired. They were saying how Kim THREATENS and lies. He even sent out a memo that stated a person on one project could not call a person on another project to discuss things. I found it ridiculous how this man thinks. The statement that put the icing on the cake for me was when Ron Orndorff, in conversation, mentioned he'd heard that Kim Little had made the comment in reference to the guys loaned out from the Bell Dept. " I never wanted those Bell boys in my department." I never heard anything that was said after that. I was one of those Bell boys. I did not go to Lyle & tell him anything. I just walked to my truck, got in & headed home. I was determined not to be where I wasn't wanted. On the 4/18/2002 the Thurs. night I called Kim when he was at Princeton, I wrote a letter that next day on 4/19/2002. Charlie Orrell has read the letter but to date I have never given Kim that letter.
Here is where I am going to insert that exact letter:

Kim,
To make a few things perfectly clear to you. I have never wanted to be an inspector and I think I need to clarify why. As a young man I did not grow up lazy. I always had ambition & desire to do better for myself (and that hasn't changed if the opportunity arises). In my first 8 years out of high school I held 43 different jobs. Some might have been as short as one day. I have worked construction, (commercial & residential). I know what it is to use tools, get dirty, & sweat. A # of people see inspection as a pansy job, something maybe that, that's all they could do. I never felt good about watching people work. I don't care for the feeling that brings me. I know how I'd feel if I was that swamper working my butt off & some guys always there just watching me sweat. It is fortunate that a lot of construction crews are used to the presence of an inspector & they realize he has the power to bring things to a halt. Inspection is good to learn construction methods & understand what is reasonable & what is not. I enjoy people, I don't enjoy being in a position of feeling so useless.
I am not power hungry & I don't have any defiencies that need filling in the ego department. I pointed out to you that Clay Beard & I had both saved someone money by being fortunate enough to get decent motels, yet at a good rate for the area. Your response was stunningly insensitive, & inconsiderate. You are exposing to me exactly what I need to see in you, to realize the type of individual I am before. So be it, I'll deal with it. There are people no longer employed at Finley's (retired), that have volunteered comments about you. There are a growing # of people presently employed that volunteer comments concerning you & they do it fairly regularly. It's really sad to have to realize that I cannot recall even one of those comments as saying anything good about you. Your tone with me on the phone last night brought up in my mind a # of those people and their thoughts on you. I am beginning to see where all that is coming from. The next time you want to make a remark about Charlies department & about how it just shriveled up & couldn't make money- why don't you take that comment & before you even speak it, stick it where the sun doesn't shine.
You filled in for me this week & I don't know if I'm right on all these things, but I just might be. Ater 20 years it felt good to get out & away from home with the boys. One trip is easy, almost a vacation if you go needing a change of pace. You are so much into the phone company game that you were willing to let me off for a week-but what sucks about that is it smells more like a bribe. I would of thought highly of you had you done it out of concern that perhaps I desperately needed the week. I would have thought highly of you if you had any concern about Ruth's health problems. I did need the week off. I am so far detached from my life & behind I really need 6 weeks off to do nothing but reconnect and get caught up. I can't afford 6 weeks without money. All you were concerned about is what benefits you & your needs. You said it yourself. "I need people on these jobs & so I came to allow you time off so that after this week you will come here and carry on." It appears that you have no genuine concern for others. You & I live in two very different worlds as far as how we function as people. My motto for years has been " I care about people, who themselves care about people." It appears you don't fall in that category. It was such a fake line for you to say to me that Friday at Finleys. "It's good William that you are willing to open up & talk about what bothers you & not keep it bottled up till you explode." That's what I'm doing as you read this letter, I'm not keeping things inside. The sad part is you don't give a damn about what people feel. You voiced that on the phone. You only listen to that which you are willing to agree with, or is in your favor.
You made it perfectly clear that if I wanted to get up at 2a.m. on Monday & drive to the job, that was ok with you. It isn't ok with me but I will not sacrifice my Sunday for a telephone project. The fact that getting up at 2a.m. will be a hardship is of no concern to you. You could care less. You could have worked out a decent per diem arrangement so that I'd feel like being ambitious & I'd think something of you & develop a decent relationship. Well, you informed me it ain't gonna happen.
I worked with your brother Ed Little. Not known, or maybe known to you Ed is known as "Special Ed", when others refer to him. I worked with him at Lanagan, Mo. Ed is easy to talk to, good drinking buddy for those who are of that nature. He in some ways was a likeable fellow. There were 133 sheets that covered the Lanagan exchange that we were to take our notes on. I did 122 of those sheets and your brother "Special Ed", did 11 sheets. I never mentioned that to you, but I am now. It's history never to be repeated. Ed is handicapped & it's unfortunate that he is, he does seem however, to play it for what it's worth, some say. I was totally amazed one day when he & I went to lunch & as we left the trucks to go eat in a cafe, I noticed Ed left his engine running. I said, "Arent' you going to shut it off?" "No," was the reply. "I'll keep it cool for when I come out." I shut up.
That Friday that I came by the office & took a chance handing you that tape & visiting with you, I made the comment to you in fact when I sat down. I may be making a mistake here. It sure was. I'm sorry I ever took the time. Some people are of the opinion that you are callous enough to force people into things of an unpleasant or unfair nature, in hopes they will quit the company. You even voiced that there were some thing you wanted to do but you'd have to wait till Bill Rawlings retired as he'd never hear of it. Those things didn't sound harmful but they did sound like pouring more work on people without increased compensation.
I'm going to say to you that I am honest, I care about work I do for people that appreciate at least some of my efforts and qualities that I have. In your case, you & you alone have damaged my desire to produce the way I have for so long. You have under you, damaged my ambition. My concern for the company & desire to be a fair & good employee will remain there and in tact. In regards to this project, I will do a decent job on it providing I am capable of doing it.
IN REGARDS TO YOU REQUEST I GO UP NORTH
An explanation on my views of compensation thru per diem. You have guys, a number of them that pay $53/night for motel. You don't seem to have any trouble with $75./day on them with food included. I am 2 hours from home now & working on the Powell project and it was a good situation. It does as I told you put more hardship on my life & you want me to do a job with more responsibility, get kup at an ungodly huor every Monday, swallow 4 hours of travel with no pay for it a week------you expect this for exactly the same wage & everything. Excuse me but it feels worth more. I thought about this & there is one way a person can be compensated & that is thru per diem. I chose $70/day because it is reasonable. It is $5 under what a number of your guys receive. You say you can't do that. Well, I don't know---maybe you can't. Clay & I were not trying to make anyone look bad by staying at less expensive motels---we fouind suitable lodging & it jkust happened to be had for a good rate. You say, well it doesn't come out of Finley's pocket---hey, maybe not, but somebody pays & it filter down to you in the end.
I drove straight to Finley's to find Kim Little. They said he was checked out to the field for the afternoon. Kim owns a telephone business. I don't know in what capacity. Normally it is not allowed tht ;you could own a business & work for a company in the same business. So how is it this exists? Kim, when he goes to the field refuses to carry a cell phone. He is a dept. manager---why would you not carry a cell phone? I think it's obvious why---he doesn't want to be found. I visited with Larry Fausett. I calmed down some and after I left the office I drove by Kim's house. Lo and behold on Monday at 3p.m. in the afternoon, I find him at home. In 2006 I was 2 hours early to pick up one of my clients in Lamar. It was an error on my part. I was aware that Kim had moved to a new home. A friend had made mention of that and approx. where he now lived. It was a beautiful day and I was just about, wasting time till my client could be picked up. I thought of that conversation and decided for the fun of it to see if I could find his house just to see what it looked like. I did find it. I cruized that area a little as I 'd not been down there before. The ironic thing is that the way I recognized his house was that I saw his old blue pickup in the driveway and that is the truck he always uses when he leaves the office. He drives it too work when he goes to the office. It was the afternoon and as I looked at the pickup it took me back to that day in 2002 when I had found him at home at 3pm Monday afternoon. On a hunch I called the office and asked for Kim Little. I bet myself I'd never talk to him because I believed he wasn't at the office. It was like 2002 all over again. They said that Kim was checked out to the field for the afternoon. This is one thing I did that i shouldn't have done and I am willing to admit that. Then I was left with the thought of ----well , it is possible that he could have changed his way of doing things and maybe he drives a company car now. My curiosity and hunches got the best of me. It was around 2p.m. & I tried to call his house to see if anyone would answer. No one would answer. I finally left a message indicating that it was not fair to the people at Finley's to lead them to believe he was going to the field, only to do something else. I should not have let my curiosity get the best of me as I am no longer an employee of that company due to him. Some time later I was served two orders of protection filed against me by Randall Kim Little and Lonnie Joe McFadden. In the orders of protection that Kim filed he states: Intimidating phone message on home answering machine after driving past residence on February 28th, 2006. I don't know but I guess he was home, IF HE KNEW I drove by his residence.
( continue story)
I called him out of the house and we sat in his yard & discussed a # of things. He denied saying "I never wanted those Bell boys in my Dept." He came up with a story that he had requested a certain # of people when Charlie retired & felt he had places for them. It was later that I ran into Terry Anderson who lived around Eldorado Springs, MO. He was on highway 13 at a cheese business. He had been fired by Kim Little also just before I was. Terry brought up in conversation that Kim had made the statement about "NOT WANTING THOSE BELL BOYS IN HIS DEPARTMENT. Well I knew right then that Kim had LIED to me sitting there in his front yard. There were rumors about his brother Ed, sitting home in Illinois for months and not working, but he received pay checks anyway. People raised such a stink in the office over it that they finally put a stop to it. I confronted him about that rumor & he explained that what happened was people were wanting raises. He decided since work sometimes had down times due to weather that he would create a choice for employees to make. 1. They could choose the raise & during layoffs or down time they would receive a check. 2.They could choose not to take a raise and during downtimes they would continue drawing a check. "That's how my brother got that." That was believable, sort of------then in my last visit with Charlie Orrell I mentioned Kim's explanation & Charlie said, "The only person I know of that ever got any money that way was just his brother." Basically it shoots you back to square one.
While I was in Powell, Mike Donaldson brought up private stock in the company. Mike was surprised I didn't know about it. I asked some questions and learned that private stocks in the company were made available to certain people----offered to certain people. You had to be invited to purchase a minimum of 5 shares. I have covered this before in another post. Charles Orrell later admitted he had been financially blessed with a large sum of stock value. Even though he retired he wanted to reamin with the ownership in the company to grow that more. He retains a 10% ownership . The end result of my talk with Kim was I decided to go back to Princeton. When I started back I listened to what people were saying about Kim and his time there. I took over on notes that Kim had stopped on just before he left. He had been with the crew I was now with. As I looked at Kims notes I called attention to places where Kim had recorded sequential numbers that there was no reason for. I asked Lyle why he was putting sequentials like that where it was totally not needed? He shrugged and indicated he was a little confused on that himself. The crew was having to bury across a ditch that wasn't all that big of a deal. Kim had written on the sheets to bury the cable no less than 8 feet deep thru this ditch. It was the type of ditch that normally we would have buried it 5 feet deep. The contractor was very unhappy about the instructions and didn't understand why the depth on such a mild ditch. I agreed with him but I felt since the orders were left by the man that I work for, we probably needed to do what he requested. I told him I was not in a position to make changes like that which he directly issued. They went ahead and had all kinds of problems. I remember at one point the walls of the trench caveing in and they had to start over and keep trying. It took a lot of time and effort to do and in most of our opinions, unneccessary. Too me, Kim has irrational thinking at times. I was there 2 weeks and one day Lyle got a phone call from Kim saying to bring me back to Powell & he was sending Clay up there to work on a different crew. Clay doesn't like the Monday mornings but he is still employed & currently making that trip. I was never told why I was returned to Powell but I was very thankful. I returned 5/06/2002 to Powell & Larry Long was now my trench inspector on Johnson's crew. Before I forget, March, 14, 2002 was official retirement of Charles Orrell. I found Larry to be a most pleasant & helpful fellow. His years in the business helped teach me things I hadn't had a chance to learn. Typically construction crews and inspectors experience prejudices & differences of views that usually results in an underlying current of feeling that keeps them somewhat distanced from one another. I feel I broke thru that mold by being original and being me. I was lucky to have a really good bunch of guys. In May, when I came back I was down about it all. I didn't want to be where I was. As time passed Larry and I watched Mike, his actions and the whole situation developing. Larry told me one day, "We are outsiders William." "Come winter, these boys are going to fix a place for themselves & you & I will be history." "I've seen this too many times before." Larry was hired as a contracat employee, without benefits. I slowly grew into the position I'd been appointed to. I got to know the crew and over time unique things happened. I noticed right off when I took up my position with Johnson's crew that Mike (resident eng.) was doing things differently. Instead of the proper procedure, I was told I could give my logs to my trench inspector Larry, and he would call Mike on Sat. about Fridays units. It was ok with me on one hand as it was less to worry about. As time passed however, I started realizing changes & updates seemed to be going to Larry and I was learning about them through him. It seemed that Mike was avoiding me, as though he had some kind of difficulty in going straight to me. He did however, get with me on private R/W decisions. It seemed those times were casual & relaxed. When I came back to start again on Powell, I asked Kim for a copy of the contract on Powell & Stella. I never was given one. A plow inspector really should have one. I began again on ESA 25. Started on County road almost on Section line (North) of section 10, Range 30W, Township 22 N. We were headed for Hwy. JJ. In our progress I asked Mike to pick me up a phone book. He said he would. I later requested a field phone fom the office. I got both items myself, but Mike never mentioned them again. I got them on my own. Earlier in the year when my original boss retired, the concensus was that the Bell Dept. would merge with the power Dept. I was in the office near this time & I learned a little after the fact of Charlies retiring. The "powers to be" decided since I was handy, I might as well meet my new boss. I was invited into an office belonging to Keen Steely who runs the power dept. Mark Ogle from Nevada (where I live), came in. There was a nice little speech to make me feel invited into the Power Dept. & Mark was to be my new boss. Mark had an attitude with a big "A" that hard as he tried, he could not hide it. Time passed & Clay Beard let me know that Mark had taken his LASER GUN that had been provided by Charles Orrell. They are $2500 guns used for measuring. It is at this point I enter my letter addressing the employees of Finley's concerning the Ogle situation. It is dated 8/27/2002.

FINLEY EMPLOYEES

This is an open letter to the employees of this company. My name is William Vincent. Some people know me---a lot of you don't. I'm in my 23rd year here. This letter has been produced as a way of sharing with you concerns I have. A little background is needed here. I have worked for Charles Orrell. I experienced many years of working with a number of people and it was a good experience. We always pulled together & had respect for each other. I cannot recall out of 23 years even one real injustice from any of those folks with which I worked. Mr. Orrell was not only a department head, I also grew to feel he was my friend. He always was interested in others & had a helpful attitude. Recent events have changed the whole picture of being employed at Finley's. I now begin to relate some events that have occurred recently that are disturbing & may be warning flags, of future problems in the company. Before I cover this I would like to repeat a snip-it of conversation between Mr. Orrell & myself. It was some years back and we were visiting, and Charles said, "Do you know what I like most about you William?" I was clueless. "No Charlie, what?" "Your honesty." I was pleased and it is true that I try to be an honest person. It is an honor to be noted to be honest because that is perhaps the #1 trait that all else about us is formed around.

In the beginning this letter might have been about Laser guns being taken from the employees of the Bell Dept. Due to events recently occurring, the focus has evolved to the behavior & character traits of a dept. head, rather than just the forced removal of equipment from Bell employees. I wish it to be noted that what follows is not gossip, but the facts put forth as openly & honestly as I know how to record them. It has been a # of years ago that Mr. Orrell issued (made available) to a # of his field people --Laser guns for measuring in the field. It is my understanding that Mr. Orrell has chosen to retire & a restructuring of the company has occurred. At first it was decided (by whom?) that the Bell Dept. would merge with the Power Dept. I was informed that my new supervisor would be Mark Ogle. This person is where the problems seem to begin. Clay Beard & I go back a long way together. Clay is a fine young man that has been an excellent person to team with. He let me know one day a few months back that Mark Ogle called him & ordered (not asked), ordered Clay to bring in his Laser gun as they were taking them for the Power Dept. to use. Clay was very disturbed by this, but he isn't one to make waves. Approx. 2 weeks later Mark Ogle called & left a message for me to turn in my gun to him. It is exactly here where injustices begin. Mark Ogle did not call us & discuss with us giving up these guns. He did not show respect of any kind. A genuine friendliness was actually absent. It was without warning or discussion that he appeared suddenly, ORDERING us to give over this equipment. Being ordered by this stranger was wrong. This is a clear showing of a dept. head that is the kind of individual that Finley's doesn't need at the helm. If you have not the ability to be respectful of others, then you cannot expect respect from them. Mr. Orrell was the reason we had this equipment. How can it be that a stranger can come into our midst & take things from us and do it with no regard for people or how they feel? It is my feeling that we had a very definite right to the possession of that equipment. We should not have been forced into anything, but we were. It was brought to my attention by a dept. head tht Mark Ogle was a worry & a concern. The reason was that he hasn't been here all that long & he displays an attitude that makes one uneasy. This observation by another person with importance in the company validated my own feelings & observations. It was later stated by another key Finley person that the Power Dept. has only 2 field people so why do they insist they need all those Laser guns? When Mark Ogle militarily demanded mine I drug my feet & at one point was going to fight it. I decided not to fight. I instead took a knife & carved my initials in the equipment & I used a marker to cover the bag with my initials. I delivered it to him at his home on the weekend as he lives in Nevada as I do. He greeted me & took the gun. He attempted friendliness, but people who are fake do a very poor job of that & most people can see thru that quickly. The last thing I told him in his driveway was that I use the gun a lot & I wanted it back when the power dept. finished. He said in kansas winds had done damage & the power field people needed them for this. His last words were "Oh ya, sure." I drove away feeling I'd just been lied to. Let me zoom up now to Monday 8/26/2002. at which time I point blank asked about the gun & his curt, irritated & unfriendly answer was "That gun belongs to our dept. & your not getting it." "You can talk to Kim Little, maybe he will get you one." The gun becomes a side issue as Mark Ogle takes center stage. It is my understanding that Kim Little is not very fond of Mark Ogle either. It was about 2 weeks ago I attempted to contact Mark & only got his voice mail. My message was that time had passed since he'd received the gun from me and I needed it & would like it returned. I also added that if he couldn't return it then provisions for a new one needed to be made. Two weeks past & no reply from Mark Ogle. It was around 6:30a.m., August 26th, 2002--( Monday), that I came by the office to pick up a field phone for Larry Long. I wondered if Mr. Ogle was at the office since there were a few other people there. I walked to an office he used to be in. The door was open & I saw a yellow Laser gun bag. I was curious if it was mine so I flipped on the light. My initials were absent. I did not completely enter the room, I only stepped half thru the doorway to reach the light switch. As I flipped it off Mark Ogle appeared in the hall. "Good morning, Mark." "Good morning", he replied. Then he harshly, verbally attacked me with----"What were you doing in that office just now?" "It's Phil's office." He walked on. I followed him & asked if he got my message 2 weeks ago. "Yes, I did." He went about doing things, mostly ingnoring my presence. "What about the gun?" I asked. It was again in that harsh, unfriendly, almost defiant tone that he said,----"That gun belongs to our dept. and your not getting it." I also want it to be noted that when I asked if he'd gotten my message, he said he did. He also then stumbled around & told what I believe was lie #2. "I mean't to call you, but, ah, we were busy, and, " he drifted at this point. I was fed up with him and his attitude & I simply told him "I figured this is what your reaction would be." I turned and left. This person feels to me like a threat to the well being and health of this company. I have no use for people that are not respectful of others. This reason alone is enough that he should not be a dept. head. Disrespect SHOULD NOT be ignored or tolerated. Arrogance has no home in the workplace. Each & everyone of you would be wise to abserve this person & any dealings you may have with him. Dishonesty should be grounds for dismissal. I have a long history here & I take an interest in the company. The people that make it up should be the right kind of people. DO NOT ignore injustie and sit silently while seeing it. To see wrong occur and not oppose it, is to condone it. This letter may very well mean the end of my employment here. It shouldn't & I'm not wishing to leave, however, the future remains to be seen. I feel this way. Injustices & disrespect have been displayed. I have recorded it honestly as it has occurred. I am not in the wrong. If I lose my job for being truthful & seeking what is right, then it's ok.-----because if a company can't stand behind honesty & innocence and support it, then I should not be here. WILLIAM VINCENT

Since the writing of this letter I had one more chance to attempt to talk to Ogle. I came by the office to pick up some supplies on Monday, Sept. 23rd, 2002---5:15a.m. Ogle was in the supply room. I attempted a calm & cordial conversation and to accomplish a ground we could both meet on. His attitude once again reared it's ugly head and blocked all my efforts to create peace. He busied himself gathering equipment. I approached him & asked him if I could take just a few minutes of time to discuss a few things. "Maybe we can if you do it while I'm loading up." The man couldn't even find it in himself to be hospitable. The attempted conversation became another confrontation & that attitude of his. I later sent him a letter that I stand behind & I ended it something like this. "If you can't find it within yourself to treat me with some respect, & if you are going to continue to treat me as you have when I've attempted to talk to you------then, "JUST STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME."

This is my actual letter to Mark Ogle dated 9/29/2002

Mark,

I am probably wasting my time but at least I'll have shared what I need to. I started with this company Dec. 18th, 1978. I was 27. It's been 23 good years as far as my relationship with Charles Orrell, Jewel Dearing, Clay Beard, Ron Arft, Lu Joyce (deceased). Lu was a wonderful breath of fresh air to the company. I have friends from other offices & people that I have worked with thru the years & all those folks I have dealt with employed by other companies, and sure there is a bad apple from time to time, but all in all working with, being respected, and enjoying the work enviorn came easy. A few times thru the years I found myself being a temp in ITD. I was a temp but the people I worked for treated me pretty good. I am not sure at all just whats happened to this company but everything is different. It isn't a good feeling & it isn't a positive feeling.

Are you an honest person? That question isn't for me to hear the answer, but rather it is a question for you to answer to yourself. If you aren't basically honest, then all else about you follows down that same road & it just isn't a pretty picture. There are two issues of discussion here & I will cover both.
1. Charles Orrell made it possible about 4-5 years ago for some of his people to have the Laser guns. I think we had these when you weren't yet even an employee of this company. It really does'nt matter that Charles retired & the Bell Dept. was absorbed by another Dept. It doesn't matter that properties became the property of that dept. The correct thing would have been (for whoever made the decisions about who uses what), would have been to acknowledge that these items have been in the possession of certain peoples for quite a time & it would have been appropriate that they be left just that way. That would of broadcasted to all of us that friendliness & a RESPECT of us was being displayed & you gave a fancy little speech in Steely's office about working as one & it turns out that your words appear very hollow and meaningless. You are the individual that ORDERED guns be turned in. I won't attempt to speak for others but I assure you I am not alone in this feeling of being slapped across the face & then expected to take it. Suddenly, a # of people realize that things don't feel quite right anymore. I turned the gun over to you at your house. I don't know you & so I tried to give you the benefit of a doubt. Your friendliness at your house felt forced & fake to me. When I left I made it a point to express to you that when your guys were done using the gun on an evergency project that I wanted it back. You replied in the affirmative & I felt as I drove away, I'd just been lied to (hence the question--are you an honest person?) After much time passing and hearing nothing I attempted to call you. I was forced to leave a message & I requested the gun back. 2 weeks pass and nothing from you. I am in the office early on a Monday & you see me peering in an office & you get all bristly & defensive. I am more at home in that building-anywhere in it than you will ever be. You didn't want to talk to me (though I did bid you "Good Morning". At the end of our short & curt talk lie #2 came out. "I, ah, have been, well pretty busy, and , I, Just handn't called you but mean't to." No, I don't think you ever mean't to or you would have already.
Now let me back off a moment & cover issue #2 which evolved out of issue #1.
ATTITUDE!!!!!!

I normally don't have trouble getting along with most peoople & I think that's because they are real people who have the ability to give & appreciate friendliness from the heart, and there is mutual giving of respect which flows both ways-----and then there is you.
If someone asked me to describe the characteristics of Mark Ogle, I would be uncomfortable with what I'd have to say, because when I think of what he has put out so far, I feel very uncomfortable with it.
I don't know if your just from a bratty generation, or what, but I think you need to realize that the display of attitude in me toward you is your creation. I was initially a calm & friendly person. I am now simply reacting to what I have been handed. Take a look in the mirrir & you will see the responsible party. Even after I saw you in the hall that morning & you weren't friendly, I told myself that should I approach you again, that I would be civil, calm, & reasonably friendly, Well I got the chance to try that on my last time of running into you. I asked you calmly & politely if I could have just a few minutes of your time to visit with you. You came back with something like "Well, maybe, if we can do it while I'm getting things around." It's not only the things you say that projects clearly who you are but also the tone with which you say them. If you want respect, learn to give it. Your attitude, tone, and display of military like mannerisms all stand out like a sore thumb.
"You will reap what you sow." Think about it. A company is only as good as the people that make it up. It would be my wish that this company not be run by greedy, power hungry, disrespectful people. I don't want to see the company used as a private piggy bank to rob from time to time, at the sacrifices of good employees.
Getting along with me or anyone is simple. Be original, be real, treat me decent & with respect & we will do just fine. I am always amazed how people create problems & then attemp to lay the blame on others around them.
Going forward you have an opportunity to change how I see things. If you see tht I am wrong in this letter then please visit with me about it. I don't like to be wrong about something as involved as this is. I wish to be at peace with all people's & maintain a flow of respect & friendliness. I will not tolerate injustice from anyone, EXPECT THAT.
If we should meet at the office or anywhere I will attempt civility with you, and perhaps between us a better understanding of whats happened. I'm always open to discussion. If you find that the best you can do is more of what I've already been handed ---then just stay the hell away from me.
( continue original story)

It was around Aug. 14th, 2002 and we were working from ESA-07 on highway V. We were on V about 1 mile south of highway V & highway 76 intersection. I was fed up with engineering notes that ever so often were not thought out very well. I decided one morning I was becoming a plow inspector for real. I called Larry over & told him "We are going to start today & going forward we will fix things & change things if its needed to make a better job." We completed ESA-07 & moved to 09. There was an instance Sept. 6th on a Friday. Mike Donaldson had gone home early as usual. A lady at the cafe we ate a lot at asked where Mike was because over in Powell a fellow needed a new fiber located that C-Com had placed. I told Larry to stay with the crew & I'd try to locate it. We were in the Stella exchange so I had about 15-20 miles to go just to reach the area of fiber to be located. I got there, met the guy & located the fiber. I also ran into Phil (one of the Le-Ru repair guys). He wanted me to look at a deep sunken part of a rip where Mike Donaldson and his crew had been earlier in the year placing cable. he said the state guys were mowing and tore up a mower pretty bad on this hole. I found it but couldn't tell if it was C-Coms or the rural water people's hole. Phil also asked me to check a peice of cable on top the ground near Sim's store at 90 highway & highway E. After this I came back thru Stella exchange & delivered & got signed an easement for private Right of Way and I'm not a Right of Way agent. That was a long Friday, and I got home late.
In around Sept. 25th, Kim Little called Mike Donaldson (resident engineer), to complain about my hours & miles on the job. I noted that Wed. 25th, I was in Stella & saw Danny Duncan with Le-Ru at Click's grocery at 7:09p.m. I was just ending my day. We start our day at 6:30a.m. This was 12 hour day (one half hour off at lunch). During the summer a mexican hired on the construction crew. His name was Juan. Later, his uncle Pedro came aboard. They were good workers & made little money. Oct. 1st, Pedro came around to us with a brown bag in his hand. He held it toward me, smiled, & said, "take one---Pepsi." I was impressed as Pedro didn't make much money but he had a giving heart. This is the kind of thing that makes the color of the wrapper so unimportant. Some of the highlights of the year were-----I remember winter of 2001, maybe into beginning of 2002, we had a snow. I was trench inspector & Clay Beard was Plow inspector. We hadn't been too long on the job. I was with Carl (backhoe oper.), and Russell Johnston, his swamper. We were burying loops left for pedestals and placing peds. I had my truck near, and as inspector I could have gotten in my truck and kept comfortable as the late evening was coming on. It was getting miserable out & snow had begun with a strong, unrelenting wind chilling you to the bone. We were trying to finish up a ped. I stayed right there with those guys. Russell was placing the ped & things that go with it & he had to do most of it without gloves. I knew he was hurting but he just kept working. This is one of the ways people develop respect for one another. You share the misery when you don't have to. Staying by Russell was a very correct thing to do.
I brought coffee out once for everyone. That was a treat for the crew. As we got into summer I ice-teaed them one day. The crew were people native to the area. I learned after a bit, I was in indian country. The superintendent, John Kimbrough & his right hand man, (Dozer Dale), were arrowhead hunters. The day came that John invited me to join Dale and him after work one Friday, as they had a patch of land where many relics were & they were going to turn up an area with the backhoe. I went & I was so glad afterward. We all found arrowheads and John turned up a grain bowl on the end of the bucket on one dig. It was used to grind grain in. None that I found were exceptional on that trip but it was very rewarding. I had found my first one on the job along highway JJ near a spring. It is very nice. I later found another one a few feet away from the first. These guys were a great bunch. They worked hard & played hard. Dozer Dale was always the first one on the job. One morning about mid-Sept., I met Dale as usual & he pulled out a quart jar of honey from his old Bronco. He thought I'd enjoy some honey harvested by a bee keeper friend of his. Well he was sure right!
It was late July & really hot. I had reached a point where I could quit for the day. It was a Friday. The guys were putting in a long day. I saw how tired, hot & dry they were. I had never done it before but instead of heading home, I headed for the Longview Grocery store. I bought a cold six pack of beer & another single for me. I drove back by the job site. Juan was closest to the road so I handed him 4 beers & that was one a peice for the crew & Carl & Russell got the last 2. Those were some very happy guys. The new kid Jason told me the next Monday, "Hey, I really appreciated that beer Friday." "I drank with the guys over the weekend, but you know , none of it was as good as that one, cold beer you gave us."
The most memorable day of the year was October 7th. Johnson's crew came to a point where they were pulling their equipment out and moving to a different job in Oklahoma. I was in my truck & I saw Dozer Dale getting out of his Btronco & heading my way. The cable plow was ahead of myk truck & Dale was going to help put it on a lowboy. Dale came walking up to the window & as he got there he held a gloved hand with fist clenched. He was holding his hand indicating he had simething to drop in mine. He had a grin on his face like he'd had a number of times before when he had come up jkust like this with a closed fist to show me what he'd found, "arrowhead hunting". He placed his gloved hand in the window. I cupped my hand under his and as I did he opened his fist, the most beautiful, nearly perfect arrowhead fell in my palm. As quickly as it fell, he withdrew his hand and without a single word, or even a sound, he walked on to the plow. I stared at the arrowhead. I could not believe my eyes. I was sure I recognized it from his collection. It was an arrowhead made from an unususal stone. It was translucent & white. He had told me before that it was a ceremonial arrowhead and was appraised at around $250. Arrowheads mean "the world", to these guys & for him to part with this was UNBELIEVABLE. I stared at it, realizing what had just taken place. I was so taken with emotion, I cried a moment. That was the HIGHEST OF HONORS. I sat there, stunned, trying to get myself back together. Dale finished loading the plow and he was coming back by my truck on his way to the Bronco. I realized as he approached this time, that he wasn't stopping. He was a ways past me when I rolled down my window and called to him. He came back & I was still rather speechless. I think I managed a very serious "THANK YOU". He pulled off a glove & said, 'It's been fun working with you William." He then turned, walked on and left.
I had an incident near the Longview store that was suspicious. It was around Sept. 10th & we were preparing to do a road bore across highway D. Mike Donaldson came by day before the bore & he was telling me what cables were on the east side of the highway that we needed to be careful of. There were 2 existing cables on private property, a 400 pair & a 25 pair. He & C-Coms crew had buried a fiber & a 50 pair on highway right of way. This was 4 cables total. I appreciated the information. The next day I was over in Stella exchange & Larry Long was watching the bore. Larry came, found me, & informed me there was another cable on that side of the highway. They had come within inches of cutting it. Larry said it was a fiber cable. It was uncovered at 2 feet of depth. The shallowest it should be is 3 feet. Mike Donaldson and his friends Kenny Fryer & Rick Delks were down in the motel lobby the next morning having breakfast. We all stayed at the motel and never once had they invited me to join them, so I didn't. I came down this morning however, & I approached the group and asked if anyone knew anything about a second fiber on the east side of the highway. Kenny speaks right up. "Ya, that was a mistake." "We were supposed to bury a 50 pair cable with a 36 fiber." "Someone put on a 24 fiber by mistake." "When we got to the handhole where your boring across, we realized the mistake so we went back and plowed in the right size. "It would have been nice if someone would have mentioned it," I said. I expected Mike to say something & he did, "Did you cut it?" That's all he had to say. I don't know for sure but I felt he hadn't forgotten it when he was telling me of cables, expecially when he offered no apology or reason for not mentioning it. Mike complained in the field a lot about Kim, but I realized in the same breath he also did a lot of talking with Kim.
The resident engineer has certain responsibilities. One of those is to place colored flags on the highway rights of way before construction gets there. I ended up flagging my own. Mike just didn't do it. We had one situation where the original staker (Lyle Weiser), must not have cared about the "rights of way" during staking because what he staked ignored the rights of way & terrain on the area of the rights of way. I flagged the rights of way (which should have been Mike Donaldson doing that), & that was a challenge. A high, steep slope came off the edge of the highway shoulder & at the bottom was a creek. The plow could not bury cable following the rights of way but Lyle's notes called for placing cable on public rights of way through this area. He did not even show the creek or problems. This was near section line of 33&34, (area was in section 33), township 23 north, Range 30 west, in McDonald county. I have photos of this showing my flags on the rights of way and how it falls into the creek. Mike Donaldson was unaware of the problem until I flagged the rights of way & took him to see it. It came to my attention due to my years of experience with drawing staking sheet. I knew we were in trouble before I even got out & measured anything. Mike could not see this without my pointing it out to him & even then he asked if I was sure. I had the highway plans to work from & that's as real as it gets.
In around Sept. 25th, Kim called Mike and was having a problem with my miles & hours, Mike told me Kim was just "livid" with anger. Livid was the word Mike used.
The second time I approached Kim in the office to go sit with me in private & tell me why he terminated me, I remember I brought that up to Kim that Mike expressed to me that (Kim) was just "livid" with anger. I said, "Thats really surprising." "Is it true you were livid with anger?" He neither denied nor admitted either way. He again would not discuss anything with me, except I would receive a service letter, and I could just wait & review it.
It was in early February 2003 that Charles Orrell (my boss of many years), called Lonnie McFadden to give his feelings on things. Charlie told me that he told Lonnie that Kim's accussations and complaining about hours & miles was a bunch of bunk. He said there was no response from Lonnie. Some where back in this period (early Sept.) I had gone to Joplin from Neosho (where I was staying) to have a change of pace for supper. I also needed some supplies so I went on down to Lamar to the office, and then returned to Neosho. Kim called Mike complaining that I'd been spotted in Joplin & also in Jasper that night (which Jasper is on the way to Lamar). I called Kim & explained. The miles I logged as job miles. Seneca, Mo. is 12 miles from Neosho. Once a week I went over there to play bingo. That wasn't always every week. I invited Mike with me one night. He refused. I did not show this as personal miles. Most of the guys would not have either. Joplin is, I think about 19 miles, Kim sat at his office & made judgements. Depending on what is needed, a lot of driving sometimes is required. I was pulled into a dept. (ITD), by no choice of my own. I knew a little about some of the people in that dept. because of working on a temporary basis as (loaned) in years past. I called Ben Humphrey on 2/19/2003 at the Slayton, Minnesota office. Ben is a very important figure in the company. In 1994 & '95 I worked on a project in Colorado & Ben and I met on that project. I worked for Ben & Ron Erickson (retired). The Slayton office also had to come in and RESCUE the Tennessee project I had been on in 2001. My friend, Gene Lehman, told me the Slayton office was very pleased with the work I'd done. I called Ben to see if there were any jobs I might work on. I felt my conversation with Ben had immense value. He lifted my day thru things mentioned. He said things are about as tough as he's ever seen them & short term he had nothing. Gene works for Ben and Gene is laid off so I know this is factual. I hadn't spoke to Ben since 1995. He remembered me immediately. I told him Kim Little terminated me at Lamaar and without "JUST CAUSE". Ben expressed his sympathy to me in an honest way and the event did not sway Ben. He said, "You always were a very conscientious worker & did good for the company." "We know that about you." He said he'd let me know if things improved & if a position could be found. I felt he was honest. 2 weeks ago I called Norm Jensen in Des Moine, Ia. He is outside plant manager in the Des Moines office run by Steve Sienne. I called Norm to inquire about work. I got acquainted with & worked for Norm in 1999. He asked me about Lamar & I told him Kim Little had terminated me. "Well, the jerk," was his remark. I did not attempt to explain to either one of these people why I was terminated. I don't have a clear understanding myself. In working for ITD I attempted to do as I have always done-----do a good job. Kim Little informed Charlie that he didn't want his field people to have "LASER GUNS", because then they would become too efficient & that would mean less time they would spend on the job. Charlie disagreed with that way of thinking. This reflects how Kim's concern is not about the client, but rather about how to extract money from the client without the client realizing it. I was sent to Tennessee project & ousted because I was to independent for the cheif and he had a problem with that. I think it is of interest that he since that time was himself removed. Slayton was very upset when they found out I'd been pushed off the job. I was forced into inspection by Kim Little. I took something I dreaded & made the best of it. It surprised me in that due to the working relationship of the peoples involved, I grew into & found great benefit from it. I attempted to do somethings better than the original plan. Lots of people agreed with most of the changes I made. At one point I was putting a section of the job that the resident himself (Mike Donaldson) had staked, in the spotlight. I showed him that he was placing unneccessary cable & how to fix it. He acknowledged that he agreed with me, but he said, "It causes too many questions when you change things, so we are not changing this.".
The bottom line is I was terminated in a department in which shoddy work has been the norm for years. I introduced a higher standard. It was met with grumblings & resistance. For caring about people, about the public, about the client, about being a decent & honest employee with 23+ years behind him, he gets forced out while those that love a paycheck & want to do as little as possible to get it, people that don't care if their work is poor or not accurate or lacking, CONTINUE as always to produce more of the same.