Comment is Censured and Censored by the Manzanar Committee*

On August 4^th 2013 I posted a short comment to a the following Manzanar Committee blog:

http://blog.manzanarcommittee.org/2013/08/03/so-far-so-good-for-national-park-service-staff-at-tule-lake/

As the Committee posting was an enthusiastic "three-cheers" for the NPS, I could not resist offering advice to the Committee about being too over-enthusiastic about the NPS, especially in light of the numerous cases of abuse of human and employee rights that I have documented over the last 10 years.  My comment may have been posted briefly, but was quickly removed—no surprise there.  What was surprising, however, was the manner in which my comment was dismissed (copied from the Manzanar Committee bog site listed above on September 5^th 2013): 

Chad Montreaux says:

August 4, 2013 at 9:28 PM

From the moderator: This comment has been deleted.

The author has made some very serious allegations against National Park Service staff at Manzanar National Historic Site, Tule Lake, and at other NPS locations/offices, but has ignored requests to provide verifiable evidence to support his claims.

Without verifiable evidence, the allegations are baseless hearsay, and highly inflammatory. Because of that, they are not appropriate for publication on our blog.

The Manzanar Committee took no position on the claims made by the author.

The main problem is that I was never contacted by the “moderator” for the information that she claims I refused to supply.  I certainly could not “ignore requests" I did not receive.  Of course, I had to post a response to the Manzanar Committee comment.  I did that on September 5^th 2013.  Because I suspect this response will also be censured and censored, I will post that response below for your edification:

Dear Moderator:

Thank you for reading and publishing my comment, however brief that consideration may have been.  My intention in not providing “verifiable evidence” for the allegations in my comment was to protect my sources, many of whom are rightfully terrified by the tyrannical power NPS management wields over their lives.  (This is not unlike the tyrannical power the WRA and US government held over people of Japanese ancestry during WWII.)

The intent in my comment was to be “inflammatory” in the best sense of the word: provocative, incendiary, rousing, fomenting, seditious, subversive, and mutinous.  When a dogmatic, unjust paradigm dominates a culture it is the duty of every thinking citizen to become an unyielding source of “inflammatory” criticism of that injustice.  If I am not mistaken, you own organization was created by a group of such “inflammatory” speakers and thinkers who challenged the paradigms of the day with provocative, incendiary, and subversive concepts such as: the forced removal and false incarceration of Japanese Americans was unconstitutional, unjustified, and  policies which were derived from racist origins.  This was clearly an “inflammatory” statement for the majority of Americans throughout a significant portion of the 20^th century.   Unfortunately, an embarrassing percentage of Americans continue to hold  to this racist paradigm well into the 21^st century.   I am a great advocate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who also made “inflammatory” statements, such as the words I try to live by, written from the Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”   For me, there is nothing more uniquely American than our right as citizens to push forward “inflammatory” ideas to challenge injustice and abuse of power.

I was also a bit confused by your statement that my “allegations are baseless hearsay.”  What confuses me is that the foundation of this statement lies on the suggestion that I “ ignored requests to provide verifiable evidence to support [my] claims.”  You see, I find this statement from your moderator “hearsay,” because I never received any request to provide verifiable evidence to support my claims.  This type of circular reasoning discredits me for something I did not do.  Does not this type of practice sound suspiciously similar to Earl Warren’s preemptive actions against all people of Japanese ancestry in California based on the absurd reasoning that lack of any evidence of sabotage and espionage by the Japanese Americans was proof that they were planning to implement such actions in the immediate future?  I am doubled confused, because I thought we, as a nation, had evolved beyond these types of circular, groundless convictions.  

I would also caution you and your organization against making arguments to dismiss “hearsay” evidence.  All of the evidence that the people of Japanese ancestry experienced emotional and psychological injury and distress as a result of the removal and internment experience is, in fact, “hearsay.”  There are neither verifiable evidence for nor physical scars of such injuries.  It is indeed unfortunate that we live in a society where victims of abuse and hostility are additionally fraught with the burden of “proof” of their injuries while the perpetrators of such injustice can hide their actions behind such legalities as claims of “hearsay.”  This type of injustice is epidemic within the National Park Service (NPS) wherein all conflicts between Management and employees are resolved based on veracity quotients fabricated by multiplying the GS level of the person positing her version of the incident. (Please see the reference to that claim provided below.)

If your lack of requesting the verifiable information upon which I based my comment to your blog was an oversight,  please allow me to provide you with the some of that requested information now:

1) If you would like to know more about NPS anti-union activities, particularly at Manzanar, please contact:

Laborers Local 220 representative Douglass Kessler:   estellack@aol.com

2) For the evidence of the general malaise within the NPS caused by dysfunctional and abusive managers, please look to Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey http://www.fedview.opm.gov  (since 2004, the NPS has hovered in the bottom-most rankings for Employee Satisfaction results).  The National Parks Traveler http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2011/11/national-park-service-falls-best-places-work-rankings9091 does a fair job of outlining the generalities of the NPS data.  To fully comprehend how damning the survey results are to the policies and actions of the predatory NPS management, however, I will refer you to the data website for the survey, which will require from you a certain familiarity with spreadsheet files to obtain the NPS results http://www.fedview.opm.gov/2012FILES/FEVS2012_PRDF_CSV.zip

I would also be pleased to refer you to the NPS commissioned report: “National Park Service Employees Opinions About Factors Contributing To Workplace Satisfaction Research Findings conducted on behalf of the Center for Park Management by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc. December 22, 2008,”  but alas, I cannot find it on line.  I have seen this report and how damning it is to NPS management.  I would suspect that the report has been buried.  Please take time to seek this report out; if I find it I will send you a link and/or post a PDF on my blog site.  

3) For additional information about the dysfunction and criminal misuse of power by NPS managers, all the way to the top of the agency, I would like to refer you to Paul Berkowitz and his break-thru book, The Case of the Indian Trader.  I would also suggest that you contact him directly, as I have, for a deeper understanding as to how all of the accountability programs within the NPS have been co-opted by management to protect hostile, abusive, and criminal managers from staff  “allegations [that] are baseless hearsay, and highly inflammatory.“  (I love your rhetoric here—I have been shown numerous copies of “confidential” NPS findings for grievance against management, which were dismissed using the exact same verbiage.  Your “moderator” does not work for the NPS; does she?)   I would also refer you to Paul Berkowitz and his book for more information on the “inflammatory” statement I make above about the manipulation of information by NPS managers to protect dysfunctional management. 

I can provide many more verifications for my claims.  In the interest of brevity, however, I will end here and make that additional information available to you and your readers on my blog. 

Sincerely,

Chad Montreaux

Newell, CA

*On September 6, 2013, I noticed that the Manzanar Committee had posted the comment I sent to their blog on September 5th.  I clearly underestimated the integrity of the Manzanar Committee and would like to formally apologize to that fine organization for my mistaken assessment.  I do, however, disagree with the moderator's comment to my current post.  I furthermore would state, for the record, that NPS management policies that are hostile to social justice and the rights issues of their employees (at Manzanar NHS, of all places!) are "excessively-germane" to any discussion of the success or failure of NPS involvement as stewards at Sites of Conscience.  Because the Manzanar Committee provides such effective advocacy for human rights, equality, and social justice, I will remove myself from this discussion at this time.  I sincerely wish the Manzanar Committee the greatest success in their mission.     

America's Worst Idea

America's Worst Idea 

Dear Reader:

This is a rather old-school blog.  You will not find anything flashy or eye-catching here. My attempt with this blog is to shed light on the issues of social and human justice that we all struggle with.  I worked for the National Parks Service (NPS) for ten years and was completely invested in concept of the National Parks as "America's Best Idea," a concept so effectively promulgated by Ken Burn's beautiful documentary.   After 9 years of faithful and outstanding service, I found myslef at odds with my vindictive and abusive supervisor.  Naively believing that the NPS was indeed the honorable, moral, and sincere organization the Ken Burn's described, I attempted to first address the issues with supervisor to the superintendent of my park.  When that failed, I brought my concerns to the attention of the regional NPS office.

Long story short-- I was forced out of the NPS by the combined might of my supervisor, superintendent, and the regional NPS office.  NPS management is one of the most corrupt systems in the US federal government.  I sincerely believe that the concept of National Parks is truly "America's Best Idea."  Placing such national treasures in the hands of a predatory and abusive bureaucracy like NPS management is a really, really bad idea.  Placing the an agency like the NPS in the position of stewards over sites of conscience and social justice is morally wrong and counter-productive.  NPS management lacks the honor, dignity, and integrity to represent the highest ideals of American democracy.  Placing critical historic sites of injustices in the hands of the NPS is in itself an injustice and is "America's Worst Idea."  

Maybe we cannot change all the injustice in the world.   I believe that we can begin a new age of accountability and transparency if we have the courage to bring light to the injustices that bureaucracies try to hide with levels of secrecy and "confidentiality." But we need to start somewhere.  I say, let's start with the NPS.  Let us speak about what has been forbidden.  Would not it be something if we could transform this high-profile agency into a standard for honor and integrity?

Chad Montreaux
Newell, CA

A Cult of Abuse and Victimization Part 3 of 4

A Cult of Abuse and Victimization;

            The Dysfunctional Inner Circle of the National Park Service (NPS)

Part 3 of 4- The NPS Rhetoric of Seduction

Every year, hundreds of idealistic people are seduced into working for the NPS as a federal employee, a volunteer, or as an interns because of the high-minded values of the NPS mission and by a personal commitment for a working relationship that includes public service. After joining the NPS workforce, these people are continually bombarded with infinite variations of these seductive values cascading down through emails from the President’s office, the Secretary of the Interior’s office, and the NPS Director’s office.  Each one of the messages are designed to reiterate the NPS commitment to merit, equally opportunity, mission, and public service.  A large number of these emails inform NPS employees that they are the single most important resource the NPS has for fulfilling its mission.  These same messages also state the importance of NPS employees in participating in the management of the NPS and promise employees that their perspectives and comments are an integral part of NPS managerial decision-making.  In addition to the top-down emails, NPS employee must take numerous, on-line trainings on the ethical standards expected for NPS employees and on the right and duty of NPS employees to bring issues and problems to the attention of NPS managers.  Processes for NPS accountability are touted as being available through such programs as Equal Employment Opportunity, the Whistler-blower Program, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and the NPS Human Resources Division. If an NPS employee is fortunate enough to obtain a career track position, all of these values and advocacy tools will be reiterated in NPS Fundamentals Training and additional training workshops such as Operational Leadership. These are indeed, high-minded ideals and values.  They would not be seductive, however, if they were true. 

These high-minded ideals and values are categorically not true.  The reality of the values and ethics described above is that none of them are actually available to victims of predatory manager and supervisor.  The systems described above are a one-way street the serves only NPS management. Paul Berkowitz, in his book The Case of the Indian Trader, paints a picture of how the upper management of the NPS is completely insulated from being held accountable to the mission of the NPS, ethics, or the other high-minded ideals outlined above:

In his February 2007 testimony before the House Natural Resources Committee, Inspector General Devaney once again addressed the magnitude of ethics and integrity deficiencies permeating DOI agencies like the NPS. Devaney cited “a culture that lacks accountability,” observing that supervisors generally received lighter punishments than lower-ranking employees and that senior executive service members were “remarkably immune to any adverse action greater than a reprimand.”

Within the NPS it is well known that any employee who files a grievance against a manager or supervisor will eventually be terminated or forced to leave the NPS. The same goes for whistle-blowing.  The NPS has its own Whistler-blower Program, Merit Systems Protection Board (MPSB), Human Resources Division, and even its own Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) program.  These programs are typically housed in the same buildings as the regional NPS management offices.  All of these programs work only to maintain the rigid authoritarian stratification of the NPS and nearly always find in favor of NPS management, not NPS employees.  Many of the officers of these programs designed for NPS accountability are former NPS managers themselves who still have connections and friendships with NPS managers and supervisors.  These accountability program officers often find themselves in the ludicrous position of investigating accusations of hostility, abuse, and ethics violations by their friends and former coworkers.  The results of these investigations are rarely unbiased and the victims of the abuse and hostility from these NPS predators are further victimized by the favorable findings for the predator by the accountability program officers.  These accountability programs serve as advocacy for NPS management, not NPS employees. The same Human Resource officer who advises an employee about filing a grievance against his supervisor will, in all likelihood, be counseling that supervisor on how to defend herself from the very same grievance. It is an incestuous circle that only tends to feed predation and victimization.  MSPB investigations into favoritism and unprofessional behavior by managers and supervisors; Human Resource grievance investigations; and even Equal Employment Opportunity actions are often decided by accountability officers on the basis of secret and (most often) fabricated “insider” records that managers and supervisors illegally keep and share on their employees. 

When one NPS informant requested to see the documents (a right guaranteed by the grievance process) that were used to make the decision on a grievance he filed with a NPS Human Resource officer against a hostile and abusive manager, he was told by the Human Relations officer that no documentation had been used in making the decision.  This same Human Resources officer informed the employee that all of the accusations and complaints against his supervisor had been categorically dismissed and that she had been completely exonerated.  This institutional exoneration provided the predatory supervisory with a “green light” to resume her abuse and victimization with tacit impunity. Another NPS informant described how the MSPB, without consulting with him, subsumed and dismissed an EEO claim he had made against a NPS manager when the MPSB made a decision on another, unrelated matter.  NPS management is also vehemently anti-union and will spend untold tax-payers’ dollars in obstructionist actions to prevent NPS employees from exercising their rights to organize into unions and create a system of advocacy for their rights as employees and citizens. 

The above represents but a fraction of the methodology and deceptions NPS management uses to assure that the high-minded ideals, ethics, and values that were used to entice employees into a relationship with the NPS are not actually available to the employees after NPS managers have subsumed control of employee’s lives.  Clearly, this seduction satisfies the conditions of deception and lies that forms the first requisite step in creating a path to predation, victimization, and abuse. 

Chad Montreaux

Newell, CA

A Cult of Abuse and Victimization Part 2 of 4

A Cult of Abuse and Victimization;

            The Dysfunctional Inner Circle of the National Park Service (NPS)

Part 2 of 4- A Collective Call for Help

In every Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey <http://www.fedview.opm.gov/> since 2004, the NPS has hovered in the bottom-most rankings for Employee Satisfaction results. The year 2012 was no exception with the overall ranking of the NPS work force dropping to 163rd for all federal agencies.  The NPS would rate dead last in the ranking if the overall numbers for NPS survey results were not bolstered by employees’ very high response to questions about their personal dedication and commitment to the mission and their beliefs that the work they are doing is worthwhile and important.

A careful reading of these employee viewpoint survey results will illustrate that the source of the overall low rankings for the NPS include very low responses to question related to: 1) the effectiveness of NPS merit system, 2) trust and confidence in manager and supervisors, and 3) opportunities for employees to effectively participate in fulfilling the mission of the agency.  All of these issues can be summed-up as the abuse of power by predatory NPS managers and supervisors.  The above website does not allow you parse the NPS results from the rest of the Department of the Interior (DOI).  The National Parks Traveler <http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2011/11/national-park-service-falls-best-places-work-rankings9091> does a fair job of outlining the generalities of the NPS data, considering this organization is responsible for promoting use of the National Parks.  To fully comprehend how damning the survey results are to the policies and actions of the predatory NPS management, I will refer your to the data website for the survey, which will require from you a certain familiarity with spreadsheet files to obtain the NPS results <http://www.fedview.opm.gov/2012FILES/FEVS2012_PRDF_CSV.zip>. It is not surprising that citizen access to the NPS survey results is difficult and convoluted.  Remember, a key step toward victimization requires the predator to isolate and control the victim.  An important component of this isolation and control for the NPS as a predatory organization is the control of information.  The Federal Employee Viewpoint Surveys clearly show that NPS employees are experiencing undue stress, anxiety, and impaired job satisfaction as a result of actions (or inactions) by manager and supervisors.  It is not surprising that the  results are of theses surveys are purposely obfuscated by the NPS and the DOI because ready access to these survey reports may create sympathy for the victims of NPS predatory and abusive managers.   Remember, from the first part of this series, that two of the requisite conditions for victimization, predation, and abuse involve isolating and controlling the victim.  Controlling information is an effective method of isolating a victim.  If a victim cries out for help and only the abuser hears the cries, does the victim still need intervention?

This culture of institutionalized abuse and predation within the NPS is implemented and perpetrated by the same three stages that Leslie Morgan Steiner describes for victimization in the cases of domestic violence in her book Crazy Love: 1) seduction, 2) isolation, and 3) dominance and control. In the NPS, these steps are particularly egregious because the cult of personality within the NPS effectively creates and sustains this victimization by providing the venue, opportunities, and institutional precedents for abusers within the NPS to prey upon their victims.  

Chad Montreaux

Newell, CA

A Cult of Abuse and Victimization Part 1 of 4

A Cult of Abuse and Victimization;

            The Dysfunctional Inner Circle of the National Park Service (NPS)

Part 1 of 4- Predation, Abuse, and Victimization

Leslie Morgan Steiner, in her book Crazy Love, describes the three steps of victimization in cases of domestic violence: 1) seduction, 2) isolation, and 3) dominance and control.  Also inherent in these cases of domestic violence is manipulation by the predator of the victim’s emotional involvement and commitment to the relationship with the predator. 

In the first step, seduction, the predator seduces the victim by extolling the virtues and importance of the victim in the nascent relationship developing between the victim and the abuser.  Regardless of whether or not this seduction is calculated or is unintentional on the part of the predator, the result is the same-- to disarm the victim with falsified, tacit promises of empowerment and safety for the victim in the developing relationship.  The seduction targets the victim’s trust and willingness to commit to a relationship for the values expressed during the seduction.  What makes this seduction is that the expressed values are deceptions and lies.  

The second step of victimization requires the predator to isolate the victim from family, friends, and any kind of support systems. During this stage, the predator chooses a situation that places himself in situation of complete control and dominance over the victim.

The final step of victimization occurs after the predator has effectively isolated the victim.   Once isolation has been achieved, the predator is free to control and dominate every aspect of a victim’s life.  At this point, the relationship transforms from the seduction-promised values of equality and interdependence to absolute dominance and control of the victim by the predator.  This is typically the setting where domestic violence and abuse occurs.  By this point the victim has been completely disarmed by the lies and deceit of the seduction and rendered emotionally and psychologically powerless by being removed and isolated from any form of advocacy, intervention, or support. 

I am not and would not posit that National Park Service (NPS) management is guilty of inflicting physical violence on NPS staff.  In fact, the NPS has very strong policies to protect all employees from victimization by physical violence.  On the matter of abuse, however, I am of the mind of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who stated: “[i]njustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  If I may paraphrase, I would say:   “justification of abuse at any level is a justification of abuse at every level.”  As horrific as physical abuse is, I would posit that emotional and psychological abuse can be just as damaging to its victims.  The steps for emotional and psychological victimization are identical with the steps that lead to physical violence victimization.  The dividing line between physical abuse and psychological and emotional abuse is purely arbitrary and capricious.  The result of this division is that emotional and psychological abuse is 1000 times more prevalent in our society than physical abuse, and emotional and psychological abuse is at least 1000 time more acceptable in our society than physical abuse.  Within many United States government agencies emotional and psychological abuse is not only acceptable it has become institutionalized.  Nowhere is this problem of predatory and abusive behavior more egregious than in the National Park Service. 

Chad Montreaux

Newell, CA