IWD field employee resigns

Dillon Pulatie started working at the Idyllwild Water District August 2016 and submitted his resignation dated March 15 to the district with a last day of March 23.

In his resignation letter, Pulatie cites “Leo [Havener, general manager] and Joe [Reyes, chief water operator] have managed to put a divide between all employees and in doing so they have made it a rather hostile and stressful work environment to work in. Management has also let two board members Dave Hunt and Steve Kunkle get further involved into the day to day operations. This has been an ongoing problem that I do not see being resolved any time soon.

“In conclusion Idyllwild Water District no longer promotes teamwork nor is a healthy environment to work in. In the last couple months, I have been harassed and bullied into ‘disciplinary’ write ups. With the divide between office, field workers and management there is no communication amongst anyone.”

Pulatie went through his exit interview with Havener the week he submitted his resignation. Pulatie stated in a phone interview with the Town Crier that he was told by Havener that the newspaper requested his resignation letter but that he would not hand it over to the paper and that Havener told Pulatie that if he gave the letter to the newspaper, he would not receive a positive recommendation. Havener declined to comment. The response the newspaper received from the district in response to a public records request for Pulatie’s resignation letter was “In this instance, the district finds the public interest in personal privacy for employees and former employees and the confidentiality of such personnel file information clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure of such information. (Govt. Code Section 6255, 6254(c).) Thus, such exempt information will not be produced. The determination as to these exemptions were made by IWD District Counsel.”

Pulatie also told the newspaper that Havener said Reyes was waiting for him outside to turn over his work truck, keys and uniforms after the exit interview. Havener also told Pulatie that Pulatie would be paid through March 23 but that he would not be permitted back at the district.

“Look at how many people have left since this new board,” Pulatie told the Town Crier.

Since July 1, 2019, the district has been through multiple general managers, had turnover of office staff and had three field employees leave, including its field supervisor.

Pulatie said there have been three different work schedules: 4/10, 5/8 and a COVID 5/8 work schedule (3 days worked). One of the write ups was due to the work schedules, which according to Pulatie, were never communicated to employees in writing.

When the COVID schedule was implemented, Pulatie told Reyes he was going to leave town because he was going to be off for multiple days per his work schedule. When Pulatie returned, he was written up for leaving and job abandonment. When Pulatie received the write up from Havener, he asked Havener why Reyes, who was present during this meeting, did not tell Pulatie he could not leave town. According to Pulatie, Havener said he told Reyes to not tell him.

Reyes delivered a memo to Pulatie while in the field on a piece of paper, not on district letterhead, with multiple infractions listed.

The newspaper asked Havener if he had a comment regarding the write ups and asking Pulatie to leave the district after his exit interview but pay him through March 23. Havener was also asked if he had a comment regarding the hostile and stressful work environment and management allowing Hunt and Kunkle to become further involved in the day-to-day operations.

“No,” Havener wrote in an email. He responded 3 minutes after the newspaper sent the email asking for comment on the items mentioned above.

According to Pulatie, management signed neither write-up. He signed the one regarding the work schedule but did not sign the one delivered out in the field.

Pulatie is not the only employee to resign due to the district’s work environment. Darren Milner, former general manager, resigned abruptly on a Sunday evening, effective immediately, after about one month with the district. In his resignation letter, Milner cited “experiencing an unhealthy culture and difficult work environment at the district due to poor communication.”