He had called the Fayetteville office of the state environmental agency and spoke with a knowledgeable environmental specialist in the Division of Water Resources. The agency staffer was friendly and helpful. He would email the inspection reports that Tom would study to get back up-to-speed on the various facilities in Fayetteville, including the water treatment and wastewater treatment plants. His plan was to become more involved in the local community, both Cumberland County and the City of Fayetteville. Consistent with his background and experience, his initial focus would be the drinking water plants, as well as the various wastewater plants discharging to the river water used as the source of drinking water coming out of faucets in homes, schools, and businesses.
- - -
"You are just a citizen down in Fayetteville. The agency staff are too busy to talk with you. They only talk with the companies and the consultants," she scolded him with a tone of authority.
This was stunning. That is not true, he responded to the person on the phone. The agency staff take calls from everyone and try to assist them. They try to answer their questions, no matter who is calling, he explained.
"You were working in the Fayetteville office a long time ago," she responded with a tone of certainty. (Apparently, someone had told her that 15 years ago this particular citizen down in Fayetteville had worked in the agency's Fayetteville office.)
Yes, but I was working in the Raleigh regional office just last year. I've worked in five different offices - the Archdale building, the Parker-Lincoln building, the Winston-Salem regional office, the Fayetteville office, and the Raleigh regional office. In every single agency office we have tried to provide information and answer questions from anyone and everyone that called us, the citizen down in Fayetteville explained.
Suddenly, her tone changed and she became friendly. To her credit, she had made a quick and commendable pivot. At that moment, it seemed quite possible that some upper-level, agency boss in Raleigh headquarters may have directed her to make this false and inappropriate response. She was listed on the website as Director of Public Relations and a member of the agency's "leadership team" but apparently unaware of basic agency operations. How could she be so unaware? Was this another agency attempt to intimidate him? Was she instructed to say this to the Fayetteville citizen who 15 years ago had been the agency's DuPont inspector? This was completely unexpected and surprising. Who would have instructed her to say something of this nature? Was it the agency's general counsel? Was it one of the directors?
Well, it was certainly another good dose of humility for the citizen down in Fayetteville.
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