None of the “350 emails” from Melanie Nichols’ federal account were addressed to City Administrator Eric Olson. Why did this even get on Eric Olson’s radar? There was no email to Olson from Nichols in the collection of emails talking about the height of the radio tower as attorney Fred Levin claimed on NewsRadio 1620.
In fact, there is only one email exchange regarding the radio tower, requesting a copy of the permit from Inspection Services Administrator Bill Weeks.
The city employees who corresponded with Nichols clearly didn’t feel threatened or intimidated. They did not believe that she was speaking for the U.S. Navy. The emails were routine, pleasant and rather mundane. She wasn’t complaining about anything.
So Olson never got an email from Nichols’ federal account. The few employees who received emails weren’t upset. Why did Eric Olson have the IT department tally all her emails?
Councilman Charles Bare brought up a very interesting point. The email issue-if there was one-should have fallen under Constituent Services, a department under then-COO Tamara Fountain. Why was Olson involved? Constituent Services could have called Nichols and discussed the issue. Why did Olson bypass the city processes?
And the big questions: did Mayor Ashton Hayward approve of Olson’s phone call? Was Olson acting under orders from the mayor?
The mayor has remained silent, offering few facts on the incident.