Allegations investigated in City, little support found
September 7, 2018
On the heels of former Zanesville Associate Planner, Ashley Leddy, George Kagafas resigned from his Planning and Zoning Administrator position in mid-July and did not go quietly.
During the July 23 City Council meeting, Kagafas met reporters outside City Hall to speak of his resignation and raised allegations regarding poor city management and procedures.
His claims were enough to spark two investigations within the Community Development Department, of which Director Jay Bennett oversees.
According to Mayor Jeff Tilton, a personnel investigation led by Human Resources Manager, Darla Wooten, yielded no evidence to support allegations against Jay Bennett.
Tilton said employees in Bennett’s department were asked if they felt their work environment was toxic or if they had any concerns about Bennett.
Tilton said he was the one to hire Bennett, having worked with him in the past and being impressed with him.
“Does he make his people accountable? Absolutely,” said Tilton. “The same way I do, because I don’t think that they should sit here and do nothing. They should come here to work.”
In addition to an HR investigation favoring Bennett, recent resignation letters from the Community Development and City of Zanesville yielded an overwhelming majority of positive last messages.
Just three of the 111 total resignation letters from 2010-2018 indicated any distaste with the city.
All three employees were under the management of Jay Bennett, two being Leddy and Kagafas.
In Leddy’s resignation letter, she wrote “I cannot work under toxic leadership, and for that I must leave.”
Leddy wrote that the turnover rate was high and the subject of firing employees was openly talked about.
In Kagafas’ letter, he wrote, “I’m leaving the position as a direct result of the lack of management support and communication.”
He also noted several issues regarding the way sign permits were issued, variance applications were reviewed and approved, Historic District changes were made and files were kept.
Tilton said some of the problems Kagafas noted stemmed from differences between Kagafas’ prior experience and the way the City operates.
However, Tilton did say an investigation was launched immediately to look into the missing files and improper permitting allegations.
Laura Adams • Sep 11, 2018 at 2:07 am
The last interview I saw with Tilton, he said he was not investigating Bennett.
Laura adams • Sep 11, 2018 at 2:05 am
Of course when people resign they are afraid to say anything negative as they need to get another position somewhere else. Also, consider the people who retire because of the hostile work environment. I quit and 6 or 7 people left the wastewater plant after me in a short period of time. Not one left because they were happy with their jobs there. They all left because of the hostile work environment. Only 2 of us received better paying jobs. People don’t want to speak up and put them selves through it. Simple as that.
Cyndi Royce • Sep 7, 2018 at 8:54 pm
We know a lot of people who work for the city. They all say toxic work environment is a mild understatement. They said what they said to keep their jobs. We were there once and mentioned a former mayor’s name and was told not to do that or Mayor Tilton “would go off”. Then she kept looking out her door to see if he was coming or if he heard our comment. Also where are the documents? You don’t have the fox investigate the hen house. We needs an independent investigator to look into the allegations or someone to go in undercover. 111 people left a good city job in 8 years and you think that is not odd. You have benefits, a pension all holidays and weekends off, job security and you quit? Doesn’t seem right to me. Thank you for your hard hitting investigative reporting and not letting the story die. The people of Zanesville need a voice thank you for being that voice.