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The Portland bureau manager also was paid additional benefits when she resigned. Controversial former Portland bureau manager Suk Rhee received a severance package that included a $176,464 payment and other benefits when she left the Office of Community & Civic Life on Friday, May 14. Current and former employees of the city bureau accused Rhee of creating a toxic work environment, according to a third-party review released on Tuesday, May 18. The review confirmed reports of employee complaints going back years. They include accusations of a dysfunctional work culture, punitive management practices, social and emotional harm experienced by employees, a disconnect between the bureau s goals and its practices, and a lack of resources needed to carry out its responsibilities. ....
Portland bureau review confirms serious management problems May 18 2021 Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, in charge of the Office of Community & Civic Life, opposed releasing the public record. The Portland Office of Community & Civic Life has severe, longrunning management problems that the City Council must acknowledge and resolve, according to a third-party assessment released on Tuesday, May 18. The assessment confirmed reports of employee complaints going back years. They include a toxic and dysfunctional work culture, punitive management practices, social and emotional harm experienced by employees, a disconnect between the bureau s goals and its practices, and a lack of resources needed to carry out its responsibilities. ....
Portland bureau director departs amid reported dysfunction, ‘culture of fear’ Updated 11:17 AM; Today 11:17 AM Facebook Share The head of a Portland city bureau reportedly plagued by widespread dysfunction and a “culture of fear” will leave her post at the end of the week. Suk Rhee, the director of the Office of Community & Civic Life, made the announcement Thursday in a joint statement with Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who has overseen the bureau since January. Previously named the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, the civic life bureau manages a grab bag of city programs, from cannabis and liquor sales to graffiti removal to assisting those facing deportation. ....
DA orders Portland to release controversial bureau audit May 11 2021 The City Attorney s Office had refused to release the third-party audit of the Office of Community & Civic Life. The Multnomah County District Attorney has ordered Portland officials to release a third-party audit of an embattled bureau. District Attorney Mike Schmidt said the audit of the Office of Community & Civic Life was not exempt from disclosure as the Portland City Attorney s Office had claimed. In a Tuesday, May 11 ruling released late in the day, Schmidt said the city had not proven its claim the audit was protected by attorney-client privilege. The City has not met its burden of showing that the primary purpose, or even a substantial purpose, of this document is the facilitation of legal services. All indicators show it to be business, management, personnel, and public relations advice intended to guide the transformation of a struggling office. Such advice, and ....
May 12 2021 The Portland City Commissioner said the audit of the embattled bureau should be released before Thursday s vote on next year s budget. Portland Commissioner Mingus Mapps is calling on the city to release the contested third-party audit of the Office of Community & Civic Life before the Thursday, May 13, vote on next year s budget. Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt ordered Portland officials to release the audit of the embattled bureau on Tuesday, May 11. Schmidt said the office was not exempt from disclosure because of attorney-client privilege as the Portland City Attorney s Office had claimed. A former office employee and three news organizations had appealed the denial of their public records requests to Schmidt s office. One of them was Oregon Public Broadcasting, which has reported extensively on the bureau s problems. ....