Councilperson Burns

Councilperson Macaluso
Councilman Jennings
Councilman Butler

October 5, 2015

Dear Members of the Watertown City Council:

By now you are all aware of the recent events that are giving rise to this
correspondence. What you havent heard is the other side of the story. I know that you are
intelligent people and want to have all the information so that a just and proper determination
can be made.
I have worked faithfully for you and the people of Watertown for the past 18 years.
During that period of time, I have continuously strived to do my best for my department and the
City. Let me re-count some of my accomplishments. I wrote the first annual report for the fire
department, started the KNOX program, wrote 5 successful grants including ones for the fire
prevention trailer and the fire extinguisher training simulator. I placed over 2,000 smoke
detectors including one (5 days prior to a fire) that saved the life of a young boy on Salina
Street. I was the 2006 Firefighter of the Year for saving a mans life, and won a commendation
from the New York State Legislature. I was the departments Accreditation Manager, served on
numerous committees, earned a field citation, was the first department EFO, have appeared
over 50 times on local media outlets promoting fire safety, earned the department two
International Fire Service Awards for Excellence, and went on to earn a Masters of Science
Degree in Organizational Leadership.
Recently, I had the honor of announcing my intentions to run for an open seat on the
Watertown City Council. However, since my announcement I have been bombarded with, what
I consider, bully-tactics that were intended to intimidate me out of the race and deny the people
their rights to my representation.
Most recently, Mayor Graham disclosed confidential personnel information on his blog
Mayor Grahams View that was being held CONFIDENTIAL by the City of Watertown. Upon
seeing this information on Sept. 24, 2015, I promptly texted Mr. Graham and asked that he call
me. He completely ignored this request. I texted throughout the day telling him that the
information was confidential and urging him to remove it. My records show that texts were sent
at 6:18, 8:56, 9:00, 9:33, 10:06 and 2:27 PM. All were ignored.
On the 24th at approximately 3:30 P.M. I noticed the Mayors vehicle in the parking lot at
City Hall. I could not confront him at that time because I was still working. At 4:00 P.M. I
clocked out from my job, removing myself from duty, and went to find Mr. Graham so that the
issue could be dealt with. At that time, the post had been up for close to 24 hours.
I found Mr. Graham in the City Managers Office, but he attempted to side-step the issue
by telling me that I should follow your chain of command. I told him that this was a personal
issue related to a post on his blog and that I was there to deal with it man to man. I never
swore, I never yelled or lost control of my emotions, never threatened him with physical harm
and never called him any names. I questioned the ethics of his actions and the integrity of his
blog. The conversation ended when I told him to take down the post.

The following day, I looked at the citys ethics policy and felt that Mr. Graham had
violated the city policy. I drafted a complaint and submitted it on Monday to the City Manager.
Later that day, I received a letter that indicated I had been summarily transferred from the
position I had held for 12 years, and that I was to report to the Fire Chief for re-assignment. No
reason for the transfer was given.
On 9/30/15 I received a letter from Ms. Addison stating PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT
YOU ARE BARRED FROM ENTERING THE WATERTOWN CITY HALL DURING WORK
HOURS (9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) UNLESS IN UNIFORM ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS. If you are
found within the premises for any reason other than official business, I have instructed City Staff
to contact the Watertown City Police, at which time you will be charged and prosecuted to the
fullest extent permitted by law.
As a city resident and taxpayer I find this action unconstitutional and absurd. I was
apparently restricted from going to a pubic building where I have every right to go and was
never afforded any type of due process. I am aware of many times that people have come to
city hall (including our office) and were genuinely irate, load, swore,etc.. and these people were
not barred from the building. This looks like targeted harassment to me, and is just the latest
move to interfere with my legitimate personal and professional interests.
To begin, it was Mayor Graham that violated my right to privacy, and the city that failed to
properly protect the information. I was OFF DUTY when I confronted him, and I had every right
to seek a redress of my matter, no matter where he may have been found. This issue had
nothing to do with my job and nothing to do with Mr. Graham as Mayor. Instead, this was a
personal issue and was clearly stated to be man to man. I tried many times to contact him and
was totally ignored every time. What would you have me do? What would you do if your
confidential information was being publicized? Would you wait to follow the chain of command
for a (quasi) non-work related issue?
You have an ethics policy but damn those who access it. I had a legitimate concern and
Mr. Grahams actions were a clear violation of the policy. So, I did what I was supposed to; I
filed a complaint. In response, was I treated like the victim that I was? No. I was retaliated
against, removed from my job, publicly shamed, and then thrown out of city hall. This is
wrong!!!!
Mayor Graham is the person who did something wrong, but I am the one that has been
punished for it. Removal from my job, reassignment, pubic ridicule, and now an illegal removal
from a building where I have a right to go to. I have many friends there, legitimate business to
conduct, and the person that I am raising three children with works there. I became locked out
of my house last week and had to remain stranded because I was prevented from going to city
hall to get her spare key. Is this right?
Mayor Grahams Blog is supposed to be his PERSONAL blog, but instead is a cancer on
the community and is nothing but a forum for character assassination, defamation and slander
all under the guise of being anonymous. Now he is using the page to commit possibly illegal
acts against city employees and other members running for public office. To title the page
Mayor Grahams View implies that this is an official website and there was even a link from the
Citys website to his. This is highly inappropriate considering the content of this site. In my

opinion, he is abusing his official title on both his blog and at his bar, and is bringing great
shame to the city. This blog should be shut down immediately as we have all been its victims.
Please do what is right and investigate my claims. I am asking that you review the
surveillance tapes from the day in question and feel that you will see that I am correct in my
claims that I did nothing wrong.
Sincerely,

Todd R. De Mar