Regarding the Farmers' Market

[Koski,Anthony]

Hi John,

In case we have difficulty connecting...we're both busy people. Some quick bullets about my concerns.

• First, my concerns about the Extension office come from a place of concern for the people in this office - some whom I've known since my kids were in 4-H 25-30 years ago. We exchange Christmas cards, go to dinner together, have parties, etc. Some in this office are family to me and I'm worried about the climate in which they work (and, no, this is not a new, COVID problem). While a specifc concern I have is about how the refilling of the vacant farmers' market manager position is being handled by Kerri Rollins, a larger and overarching concern is about the office climate since Kerri became director in 2018. The mismanagement of this position by Kerri is symptomatic of larger systemic problems in this office.
• This office functioned perfectly prior to Kerri Rollins becoming its director in 2018. Under the previous director (Laurel Kubin, for 20+ years), the Larimer office set the bar in the state for productivity, collegiality, staff happiness, and incredibly low staff turnover rate. In other words, people LOVED working in the Larimer office. In the 3+ years since Kerri became director, 9 people have resigned or retired early - most for reasons completely or partially related to Kerri's abusive (strong word, I know) and bullying management style.
• Emily Alligood - the market manager whom, I believe, you met on her last day at the market this summer - resigned TWICE in the past 3 years because Kerri made her work (and extending to her personal life - including the need for counselling) life unbearable and unworkable. I firmly believe that Emily would NOT have resigned if Alison O'Connor had been Emily's supervisor - but Kerri stubbornly insisted that she (Kerri) had to be Emily's supervisor. Despite her (Kerri's) meddling, micromanagement, and abusive management tactics, Alison and Emily formed and worked as a perfect team. They were recognized each other's roles, complemented each other's strengths, and meshed perfectly in their respective roles - with the result being record, sustained growth of the market, even despite COVID. For reasons impossible for everyone to understand, Kerri used every tactic to break up this team (but this is what narcissist bullies do when they are in positions of power). 
• In July of this year, Alison and Emily presented Kerri with a proposal to slightly revise Emily's position (Emily had some county fair duties that disappeared after the 2021 fair) - with the goal of keeping Emily as market manager. The plan was sensible, budget neutral (the market would pay for the entire position, as written), and recognized additional duties that Emily would take on to continue the success of the market. When they met with Kerri, she dismissed the proposal (without even reading it - which she admitted) and said that she would develop a position description. This left Emily, essentially, in work position "limbo" - so she resigned her position.
• Kerri did NOTHING in the months since then to create a position description - until this last week. Alison had been proposing different ways of getting Emily to come back and resume her duties - but Kerri rebuffed and ignored those proposals. Her recent effort at creating a description once again lists her (Kerri) as the supervisor of the market manager, and not Alison - the logical supervisor. Further, she is conflating the market manager position (essentially a person who will be running a business - the farmers' market) with another role of local foods programming. The local foods programming work is already being done by other staff in the office, so there is no need for the market manager to be in that role. This position, as written by Kerri (refusing any input by Alison, by the way), demonstrates that Kerri has NO understanding of how the market operates and the qualifications needed to do the job successfully.
• Because Kerri rejected the proposed position description made by Alison and Emily this past summer and did nothing in the intervening months, things that should have been done in preparation for the 2022 market have not been done. Alison WOULD have done these things, but she has a personal family health situation to deal with - as well as the other job duties. She already regularly works 40+ hours weekly, so there isn't enough time in the week to do these other things. And contrary to what Kerri might claim, there is NO ONE else on staff who could perform these market duties in Emily's and Alison's absence. It is very specialized stuff that requires familiarity with farmers' market protocols, knowledge of the vendors, etc.
• The logical person to allow "catch-up" at this point is Emily. Emily, in short, WOULD come back into the position - but ONLY if Alison was her supervisor. Alison has explained this to Kerri, but Kerri ignores this suggestion in the position description. Further, Kerri has ignored Alison's plea for help (because of her family health situation) in getting the market duties caught up for 2022. 
  
• And now Kerri wants to speed along a position advertisement in the next few days - to advertise a position that objectively could be impossible to fill with a qualified applicant - unless that person was Emily. But, as currently listed, Kerri is to be the supervisor - a no-go for Emily to apply.

So what am I asking of you? I'm not sure? Wisdom, perhaps, in figuring out to navigate this developing situation? You should know that Emily has registered official complaints with county HR about how she has been treated by Kerri. Also, the Larimer office is undergoing a SECOND (in 3 years!) office climate review. That should say something about what has been happening in the Larimer office since Kerri became director.

The point of this is not necessarily to "bash" Kerri - but to point out that there are management problems in that office that are negatively affecting productivity, emotional well-being of staff, and staff retention. As for the market, her deliberate, intentional mismanagement of the market manager position (essentially forcing and amazing and talented employee to leave!) will jeopardize the success of this very important community asset - the Larimer County Farmers' Market. I know how much you love this market, its community impacts, and its programs. And the economic impact it plays in the lives of the vendors and the Fort Collins community is significant. 

I'm hoping that you can provide some wisdom to help us understand what to do to prevent mismanagement by one individual from undoing years of amazing, outstanding work by people like Alison, Emily, and the Master Gardeners who have giving 1000s of hours of volunteer service to create a market as successful as this one has become for the Fort Collins community and Larimer County.

Thank you, John, for reading this!

Tony

Tony Koski
Professor and Extension Turf Specialist

Colorado State University
Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
1173 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO  80523-1173

Mobile/text  970.222.1450
Office  970.491.7070

FAX  970.491.7745

tony....@colostate.edu

Twitter   @CSUturf 
csuhort.blogspot.com