by P.D. Lesko

Robyn Wilkerson, the City of Ann Arbor’s long-time Director of Human Resources, was placed on paid administrative leave via a phone call on April 6 by City Administrator Howard Lazarus. Lazarus reiterated Wilkerson’s leave in a letter dated April 8, 2019. A city staff member leaked that information to the Ann Arbor Independent on April 8. On April 8, a FOIA was filed with the City of Ann Arbor asking for the names of all city staff on paid administrative leave and documents related to those paid leaves.

The day the FOIA was submitted, City Administrator Howard Lazarus and City Attorney Stephen Postema both allegedly interrogated multiple city employees in an unsuccessful effort to find out who had “leaked” the information about the allegations concerning Wilkerson’s job performance and the investigation into those allegations.

In May, Wilkerson is expected to leave her job with the City of Ann Arbor.

Public records released in response to the FOIA include screen captures of Wilkerson’s city-provided phone text messages. The records appeared in a document titled, “Robyn Wilkerson in her own words, a sampling of text messages from 2017 and 2018.” In most of the text conversations provided, Wilkerson appears to be communicating with another city employee, perhaps an employee of the AAFD since many of the more sympathetic texts exchanged concern the AAFD and more of the acerbic texts concern the AAPD.

In a message dated June 29, 2017, Wilkerson texts her unidentified city employee confidante: “Not sure what I can do other than blow up city hall….an idea that has some chance of success given our lack of an emergency plan…LOL! What a circus.” This message was sent almost a year to the day after current city administrator Howard Lazarus was hired.

In many of the text messages turned over, Wilkerson complains about the city’s lack of competent leadership, including Howard Lazarus, whom she refers to in multiple text messages. In one text sent about a year after Lazarus was hired, Wilkerson writes, “We need to create a special emoji for the shitty leaders we have.” In another text message dated August 1, 2017, Wilkerson writes “I hate my job. I am running out of coping strategies.”

In October of 2017, Wilkerson frets about non-union employees in a text in which she writes, “You know who will get screwed…non-union…got to have that fairytale train station.” She is referring to the $80M train station which certain members of the City Council minority want to see built with Ann Arbor taxpayers footing a large portion of the bill.

A year later, in August 2018, Wilkerson in a text wrote, “Yes tonight is the work session on the Police Commission shit…now that is a fucking sitcom. They want to run PD [police department].” The individual who replies via text says, “Someone should…lol” On August 24, 2018 Wilkerson texts, “I hope they try to fire me. I will sue their asses off and retire early lol.”

In her texts, sent after the hiring of Howard Lazarus, there is a clear picture of the head of Human Resources who is “frustrated” with what she alleges is “poor” and “shitty” leadership in place in City Hall, the AAPD as well as the AAFD.

Lazarus’s most recent evaluation by City Council resulted in a majority of Council members refusing to award the City Administrator a raise. Instead, in a close vote, he was awarded a small lump sum bonus. Five Council members voted against awarding even that amount to the City Administrator.

Like Wilkerson’s obviously strained relationship with Lazarus, other public records recently released show that the City Administrator is at loggerheads with several of the women who serve on City Council. He has admonished his female bosses for their “tones” at public meetings and bridled at public criticisms of allegedly shoddy work by city staffers. Before the August 2018 primary elections in which five of Mayor Taylor’s candidates lost, the City Administrator was consistently rude and disrespectful in public meetings to Ward 2 Council member Jane Lumm.

Wilkerson’s texts in 2017 and 2018 make clear that she, too, considers the work of Ann Arbor city employees substandard. “Performance doesn’t matter when you are using other people’s money,” the HR Director complained in a July 14, 2017 text message. “I think it’s just the whole public sector.”

While the FOIA submitted asked for public records related to Lazarus’s investigation into Wilkerson’s allegedly unprofessional conduct, city officials turned over no such records. In addition, no text messages sent by Wilkerson in 2019 were turned over. Those omissions are being pursued.