Retaliation.
I was awakened on the morning of Wednesday, March 31st by a phone call to my home from the Recreation Manager for the City. She told me that a complaint had been received that I had sung a disrespectful song at the Senior Center on Thursday March 18th (thirteen days previously), which had offended a staff member. She made no attempt to determine whether the allegation was true. She told me that this would be a verbal warning, the first step in the disciplinary process which governs participants' use of the Senior Center. The provisions of that code may be found here .
Every Thursday it is my custom to provide entertainment for the seniors who attend the Center. This usually takes place immediately after lunch, in the dining room. We sit around in a corner, and I sing old songs from the Victorian or Edwardian music hall era. Everyone who attends does so entirely voluntarily, and apart from my custom of introducing one new song every week, all the other items are performed in response to requests from the audience, who number between 15 and 20. I publish and circulate a list of the song titles from which requests may be made.
I asked the Recreation Manager which song had caused offense, but she could not identify it. So I was being asked to believe that a member of staff had been offended almost two weeks previously, yet this complaint had only come to light within 24 hours of a visit by my wife and myself to the local police station to ask what could be done about clear evidence of misconduct taking place within the City administration. Had the offended staff member been sitting there, seething with anger for almost two weeks, and then only decided to make a complaint quite coincidentally after our visit to the police station?
The reason the Recreation Manager had my telephone number was that my wife and I had met with her and some other City officials on March 16th in order to bring to her attention the misconduct by the Recreation Manager in writing emails which distorted the information I had supplied. Because of the copies of those emails which had been shown to her in that meeting, she was fully aware that she had a failing employee in her department, and as an effective and compassionate manager she should have stepped in to correct the error, and then arranged for that employee to get the proper support, counselling or training necessary to help avoid a similar situation occurring again in the future. But she chose not to do that.
No member of staff had ever attended one of my musical performances as far as I am aware, but it didn't matter that this was a preposterous allegation. Within a corrupt city administration which has lost its moral compass and cannot tell wrong from right, much harm can be caused by a spiteful official. What struck me as particularly chilling was that I had been called at my home, in connection with a matter relating to the Senior Center which I attended every day. She could, and should have waited until I went into the center later that day as part of my daily routine. I know of three other instances in which the disciplinary process has been carried out with persons of my acquaintance, and in each case the verbal warning was given while the person was attending the Center, and as far as I am aware, the entire process took place upon the premises of the Center itself. But of course, since the intention on this occasion was to attempt to intimidate and harass me, an intrusion upon my private domestic space was a legitimate tactic, I suppose.
So I decided to protect myself as best I could. I resolved to discontinue attending the Center after that week's entertainment which was planned for the following day, Thursday April 1st. In addition, later that same day I started publishing this web page so that the public would know what was going on. I was determined not to be intimidated into silence about the danger the seniors were facing.