Since Friday, there's been nary a tweet from LVEDC, the Lehigh Valley's publicly funded economic development nonprofit. Not one crotch shot. No pictures of CEO Phil Mitman's chest. No double entendres. According to The Morning Call's Scott Kraus, LVEDC has fired its twitterer, Vanessa Williams, for her tweet about the suits leaving early on Friday to play golf.
Vanessa Williams?
Look, I could hire Vanessa Williams for lots of things, but tweeting isn't the first thing that comes to mind.
It was certainly a tone deaf remark. But what really did Vanessa in, more than anything else, is that she told the truth. Sure, she later covered up with "flexible hours" bullshit. But you just don't go from "most of the staff leave at noon, many to hit the links" to "Nobody teeing off today. Too much work to do" in a matter of a few short hours. ... Unless you're feeding everyone a big, fat bullshit sandwich.
One person who failed to tell the truth is CEO Phil Mitman. He told Scott Krauss that there were no raises for LVEDC workers over the past four years. But tax returns filed with the IRS reveal that Mitman himself received a 14% raise in 2009.
Maybe he forgot.
Anyhoo, now that there's a job opening, I figured I might as well audition. On my left sidebar, as LVDEC, I show the dudes that I have my shit together.
I want $100,000, a company porsche and a summer cottage on the banks of Monocacy Creek.
48 comments:
Don't these asshole pols every learn? This is only going to make it worse.
You ain`t even gonna get a wigwam O Hare on the banks under the 8th street bridge
old news - move on
i feel bad for the silly tweeter.
on the other hand, mitman's salary is a disgrace.
Firing for that??WTF??? Unless she was on probation for other workplace offenses, this punishment (for telling the truth) does not fit the crime. The valley taxpayers are going to get stuck paying for this one once the lawsuits start.
Vanessa was thrown under the bus for making a mistake she could have easily apologized for. Whose fault was it that there were no guidelines for tweeting content? Her supervisor should accept some responsibility for the incident since he/she was responsible for her training. She probably told the truth in a lighthearted way that led to her abrupt downfall. Seems unfair.
I'd check for a severence package that includes a clawback if she tweets, speaks or otherwise discloses any more of their nonsense.
And if she didn't get one, maybe you could do an interview and she'll spill the rest of the beans.
With permission, I'm reposting what I posted the other day about this matter. It comes down to poor management. This young person never should have been given this level of responsibility:
"One thing you have going on here is that younger folks have been hired to "manage" the social media outlets for the LVEDC. They do so probably without much supervision simply because the 'adults' among the management don't consider these outlets that important.
The folks placed in charge of the Twitter and Facebook accounts, left to thier own devices, are hard pressed to produce useful posts since not that much is going on on a daily basis. So they become creative.
The venue being 'social,' the tendency is to 'chat' and the tone lapes into conversational banter thus, the "We're moving to summer hours, do you observe summer hours? What are yours like?" feels to the author like a useful exchange among peers.
The young 'professionals' placed 'in charge' have very little experience - in other words, they don't know what they are doing.
No one will be fired because the little darlings are just doing what they've been encouraged to do: make the LVEDC 'hip' and happening and, well, youthful."
A Congressman from a safe district tweets photos of his wiener and nasty comments about Jewish women's reluctance to perform oral sex - and he's still a Congressman.
She tweeted the truth and is out like a boner in sweatpants.
Where's the justice?
Thank you for giving us more information Bernie. I am so freaking incensed over this I cannot even begin to tell you. I linked to your blog from my post. http://lehighvalleywithlove.com/post/6318362632/lvedc-fires-worker-over-tweet-because-phil-mitman
porsche with a lowercase "p"
How dare you?
Please cancel my subscription!
@ 8:18 I wouldn't say she is young.
This is really outrageous.
Lots of companies use "summer hours". I'm going to work under the assumption that the LVEDC uses the same formula - work 4 ten hour days and take Fridays off.
If that's the case, even if one has issues with the LVEDC and its funding or raises or management, that's a legitimate business practice and disclosing that fact should in no way be grounds for dismissal.
Sounds like Phil Mitman has a guilty conscience. I'm in no way a Lawsuit Lisa, but I hope Ms Williams speaks to an attorney about this.
UT
Wait didn't the Geeting with the Heating rush to the defense of these job robbers the other day?
Let's see:
Reibman (Dem) gives a large amount from his campaign money to Ed Rendell for Governor, is appointed to the Bridge Commisson at a decent salary
Goldsmith (Rep) as mayor supports Rendell for Governor, is given a post with the Liquor Control Board.
Mitman (Rep) supports as mayor Rendell for Governor, and takes over the head of the LVEDC
Need I say more..............
9:23,
By my standards, she is not just young, but a baby.
"She tweeted the truth and is out like a boner in sweatpants.
Where's the justice?"
You should be doing this blog.
Hilarious.
"porsche with a lowercase 'p'
Yes, they're a little less expensive.
"Wait didn't the Geeting with the Heating rush to the defense of these job robbers the other day?"
Yeah, now he's blaming me and the "politics of resentment."
I won't be surprised if she's not the only one canned over this, especially if talk about LVEDC salaries and trips doesn't go away.
I agree that if anybody was going to get fired, it was the supervisor. If she didn't have a supervisor and was posting without direction or policy, Mitman has to go because if you don't have supervision over something lame like Twitter, it gives the appearance of an organization that's rudderless and in various levels of chaos and cluelessness.
So you assume no responsability for this?
I hate to see her get fired for telling the truth, but do not consider her termination my doing. But if it makes you feel better, fire me.
Bernie,
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Phil Mitman was a lazy Mayor, and is a lazy head of LVEDC. Hell Phil rarely appeared at City Council meetings during his second term. (The first term he had "Summer hours" to leave office before his term ended.)
The few times Mr. "I will pay a consultant to think of an idea for me and get back to you", did show for City Council meetings, he often slid out the back door before they ended. To both avoid the media and public, and probably get his drink on.
See if the tax payers are paying Philip, he has no interest in actually putting in a days work.
As someone who lived under the Handsome lazy man, I had to chime in.
He is like Mike Fleck, a bum mooching off of the tax payers.
People should go through the Easton Undressed archives to see what "Summer Hours" are when Phil is in charge.
Oh and his inability to appear at Council Meetings, or stay to the end is why Easton had a charter study that lead to the Mayor being Council President.
Spike Rogan
P.I.T.A. who never forgets.
Never thought I'd say Spike is dead on!
At some point maybe you will realize your actions have consequences. You do actually hurt people and families from time to time.
Anon 1:34, thank you. I am an equal opportunity P.I.T.A.
anonymous at 8:28 the comment about women not wanting to give oral was also accurate. its like lets make a deal with many!
@ 3:20 PM -- are you kidding? Can you think of a single responsible company that wouldn't can someone who publicly posted something that stupid?
"Gosh, everyone is just screwing around here and the guys at the service desk are already at the bar!"
Agree with anon on the Jewish women reluctant or refusing to give oral. I married one and am well aware of that policy!! LOL.
I would like to play golf on Fridays, but since I am unemployed I usually spend my summer hours looking for work while I wait for LVEDC to "lead economic prosperity in the Lehigh Valley by ensuring national best practices in economic development services and marketing"
anon 6:00....maybe you can carry their bags. I'm sure Bernie would give you a recommendation.
LVEDC is the biggest damn joke going and our County officials do absolutely nothing about it. May be we can't do anything about LVEDC but we can do something at the polls about our elected officials in November. You think the Gracedale vote was something, Watch this vote to oust our elected officials who just ignore this kind of behavior.
That's funny bc Angle has been LVEDC's biggest critic and you want to get rid of him, remember?
"Agree with anon on the Jewish women reluctant or refusing to give oral. I married one and am well aware of that policy!! LOL."
How the hell did this end up being a topic of discussion? This could get me fired.
To my Jewish and non-Jewish friends, I am unaware of no study that charts the desirability of oral sex to different ethnic and religious groups. I know of many people who have volunteered and are actively conducting such a study, but it will be years before we know.
"At some point maybe you will realize your actions have consequences. You do actually hurt people and families from time to time."
At no point in time will you realize that you are a dufus. I accurately reported what was said. I did not write the tweet that got this young lady fired, nor do I think her firing was an appropriate sanction. But guess what? Unless you are an anonymous coward like you, you have to take responsibility for what you write.
Anon 7:13, I would carry their bags if it meant I could put some gas in my car and some food on the table. It probably pays more than most jobs out there right now. Summer hours... bs.
The depression has created three classes. Those who never knew it happened, those who are struggling to pay the bills, and those left behind. Appears the tweeter was part of the first class and just joined the third class.
What exactly is this organization's revenue stream? It certainy isn't solely a hotel tax.
The lion's share of its money does come from the hotel tax from both Lehigh and Northampton County.
Good Job O'Hare. A young professional with her life ahead of her gets canned. You must be so proud.
You live a miserable existence because of your personal problems, so you just have to destroy innocent peoples lives.
The three miserable men, Stoffa, Angle and O'Hare claim another victory.
Bravo!
I feel bad for the young woman. this was a witch hunt.
A witch hunt started by Mr O'hare
The lion's share of its money does come from the hotel tax from both Lehigh and Northampton County.
Their website says the exact opposite. What is the actual breakdown or is this extracted from an orifice?
That's no surprise. It is impossible to get an exact breakdown bc they won't supply it. But I know from numerous people that the two Counties are the biggest contributors by far.
So the next question is, How much does Lehigh county contribute? Do you think the gang of four will allow this county expenditure to continue should they be elected? Since they seem to think they can cut the budget. Whatup.
Between LC and NC, the figure is around $800k. The money goes to the Convention and Visitor Bureau, which in turn doles it ($800k) out to LVEDC after taking its share. There are two ways around this: (1) Abolish the hotel tax, referred to as the nuclear option; (2) Find another agency that the state will recognize and give the money to them. It cannot be a county agency. It has to be one that covers the entire LV and promotes tourism.
Bernie:
To whom or to what entity does LVEDC answer? Who is Phil Mitman's boss?
Curiously yours,
UT
A few local business dudes from the LVP.
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