Former officer says metro city manager creating toxic environment, driving workers to quit

CLARKSTON, Ga. — A former police officer says she quit her job because the city manager created a toxic work environment and said her safety was at risk.

The police chief for that same department filed an EEOC complaint alleging that the city manager is racist toward white people.

The city manager denies the allegations.

“It’s not safe to work here and it’s toxic, it’s hostile,” said Alberta Powdrill, who was an officer with the Clarkston Police Department for nearly five years.

She recently put in her resignation.

“Tell me why you quit,” Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes asked Powdrill.

“This place is unmanageable. The city hall over there controls everything our chief does. Our chief can’t do anything to basically do her job. She’s not allowed to make any command decisions. She’s not allowed to make any personnel decisions. When you have a manager who can’t manage, I can’t work for that,” Powdrill said.

She told Fernandes that Clarkston City Manager Shawanna Qawiy is the problem and caused the hostile work environment that made her quit.

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“The turning point really was when we had a meeting. We had a mandatory meeting where the city manager demanded we come and talk to her, ask questions. We presented her with info, sent questions and she basically told us in the meeting, you know, it’s all about leadership. The leadership is the problem here and didn’t answer a single one of our questions that we directly asked, was hostile with several officers of not color, and it was just … it was at that meeting I determined I didn’t want to be here anymore,” Powdrill said.

Clarkston Police Chief Christine Hudson said the same thing in an EEOC complaint after the city manager suspended her for five days without pay in April for alleged insubordination.

The city manager’s response to the complaint was to reinstate the pay but stood firm on the five-day suspension.

In the complaint, Hudson said the city manager told at least one former employee, “You can’t trust white people,” and said the city manager has repeatedly tried to “impede my ability to perform my job based on my white race.”

Fernandes has been trying to do a sit-down interview with Qawiy for two weeks. On Tuesday, Fernandes showed up at her office and sat in the lobby for four hours waiting to talk to her. Gawiy never came out.

She did text Fernandes a statement, saying, in part:

“I make personnel decisions based exclusively on employee performance and conduct without regard to race. Her reinstated pay during her suspension was to focus on performing the business of the city.”

“I feel like she doesn’t want to have what she says put in stone in case anything is found out later. It’s easier just to avoid it and whatever comes out comes out. But if she talks on camera, or speaks out she can’t change the words she said at that point,” Powdrill said.

A total of four officers have recently quit the police department, making it difficult for officers to keep citizens safe in Clarkston.

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