CLEARFIELD – A resident is taking aim at a Clearfield Borough councilman for alleged abuse of power.
At Thursday’s Clearfield Borough Council meeting, Christina Fulton read a statement alleging Third Ward Representative Tim Winters had abused his power by sending an e-mail to Fulton’s employer. Copies of Fulton’s statement were given to the media.
Fulton said while reviewing her personnel file, she found an e-mail, which had been sent on the evening of May 14, to Fulton’s employer, which she declined to identify. Fulton said the e-mail is proof that Winters, a public official, attempted to interfere with her job.
Fulton asked if the council wanted her to continue, or if they wanted her to speak to them in an executive session. Solicitor F. Cortez Bell and President Wade Cowder instructed Fulton to continue.
Under the Pennsylvania Sunshine Law, executive sessions can be called in order to discuss personnel issues, litigation and the acquisition of property.
Fulton said state law allows employees to review their personnel files once every year. She said she was able to review the e-mail and take detailed notes. However, she said her employer’s human resource department’s policy prohibits copying or redistributing personnel documents unless subpoenaed by a court of law.
Fulton said if Winters denies the content of the e-mail, she will provide the solicitor with the name of her employer and contact information for her employer’s chief legal counsel.
Fulton said the e-mail was allegedly sent to Winters from another individual at 2:07 p.m. The e-mail was then allegedly forwarded by Winters to a second individual at 3:46 p.m.
Fulton said at 8:35 p.m., Winters allegedly forwarded the e-mail to a third individual who had worked for Fulton’s employer but was no longer employed with the company. The former employee then allegedly forwarded the message to Fulton’s manager.
Fulton said the e-mail contained 18 attachments of screenshots of recent posts made by Fulton on her Facebook page. The screenshots included comments from Fulton’s friends and were regarding Fulton’s opposition of Winters’ campaign in the Primary Election for Clearfield County Commissioner.
Fulton said the day after the Primary Election, she changed the privacy settings of these specific posts, so they could only be seen by Fulton. She said the posts were to persuade voters not to vote for Winters for Clearfield County Commissioner. She said after the election, the posts were hidden from view.
Fulton said the subject message in Winters’ alleged e-mail to her employer said “I am forwarding you some information regarding one of your (name redacted) employees in Clearfield, Pa.
“I have dealt with abuse, harassment and threats from Ms. Fulton for several years, not your problem and it will be dealt with. What may concern you is the time stamps on many of the postings attached, while these are being sent during work hours.
“I shall assume your company does not condone this behavior. Attached are just a sample, there are dozens more Facebook posts and hundreds of posts on a local gossip site attributed to her. Thank you for a moment of your time and your consideration regarding this matter. Feel free to contact me at any time. Tim J. Winters.”
Copies of Fulton’s statement did not indicate whether Winters identified himself as a member of the council in the e-mail.
Fulton said the e-mail is an “abuse of power” by Winters. Fulton said a public official cannot use the power of his office to interfere in the private lives of citizens.
She said if a citizen has allegations, the public official should answer to them, not try to circumvent the allegations by trying to get the citizen fired by their employer. Fulton alleged that Winters sent the e-mail in retribution for her public opposition of his campaign for commissioner.
Fulton said her Facebook posts regarding Winters’ run for commissioner were available to the public and to her employer. She said that Winters has no knowledge of her work schedule or hours and has no way of knowing if the posts were made while she was at work or not.
She said the “gossip site” Winters makes reference to is anonymous and no one can determine who is posting. Fulton said making an assumption that a comment came from her is “slanderous and irresponsible.”
At this point, Cowder said that Fulton’s five minutes for public comment were up. A member of the audience, Joe Marino, said he didn’t sign the sheet for public comment but wanted to speak. He said Fulton could have his five minutes in order to finish reading her statement.
Bell said that each person was only allotted five minutes. Marino asked if he could use his five minutes to read the rest of Fulton’s statement for her and the council allowed it.
Fulton’s statement alleged that Winters “went to extreme measures to hurt and violate” her rights. The statement said Winters’ alleged abuse of power and soliciting employers of people who oppose his views will damage the borough council and limit the council’s ability to serve the public in a productive and professional manner.
Fulton’s statement alleged that Winters has “no place serving the public because his unprofessional and unethical actions are indeed an abuse of power and a disgrace to our local democracy.” She then asked the council to remove Winters from its authority and activities effective immediately.
While reading Fulton’s statement, Marino also alleged that Winters had made threats against him and his business.
Bell said a request had been made to remove Winters from council. Bell said the council does not have the authority to remove a council member. He said only the governor could remove a member of council, and that removal could only be done under specific reasons.
Marino asked if the council had authorized Winters to contact Fulton’s employer and Bell said not to his knowledge.
At the end of the meeting, Winters apologized to the council for the “diatribe you were all sucked into.” Winters said Fulton’s statement was a personal vendetta against him. As council members were talking prior to adjournment, Winters made a comment that “she is an attention whore.”
Winters then gave members of the media a statement which said “it saddens me that malcontents have chosen to use this public forum to pursue their personal vendetta against me, rather than address actual issues.
“Many positive things are happening in Clearfield Borough, including numerous new businesses and millions of dollars of private investment. I will continue to focus on the bright future of our community and encourage others to do the same.”