In Rochester, N.Y., Edward Gartz, an outspoken critic of county course operations, was arrested on the 13^th hole of Durand Eastman GC and charged with trespassing and second-degree harassment. In Albuquerque, N.M., a city employee who helped to expose a scandal is now out of work.

 

Edward Gartz, 63, was arrested by police on August 31 after teeing off on the 13^th hole of Durand Eastman Golf Club in Rochester, N.Y., and was then escorted downtown and booked on charges of trespassing and second-degree harassment for refusing to leave the course, the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle reported.

The arrest came as a result of what Gartz and club workers all described as a series of confrontations between them, since the release of a state audit last month that criticized oversight of county golf courses, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.

Gartz’s persistent complaints about course conditions and his homework into the county’s contract with a private firm that manages the course moved auditors for state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to examine the matter, the Democrat & Chronicle reported

Since the audit, Gartz said he has received prank phone calls at his Greece, N.Y. home, had the windows of his daughter’s car smashed in his driveway, and been assaulted with a doughnut box by a snack bar clerk at the club, after which he secured a restraining order against the clerk.

Over the same period, club workers accused Gartz of stealing a golf cart, nearly running over a club employee with his car and taunting the snack bar staff by handing out free doughnuts.

In mid-August, the club informed Gartz by letter that he was no longer welcome at the course, where he is a longtime member.

“All I was doing was looking out for the safety of the employees and the business,” said the club’s Assistant Manager, Jennifer Turiano, who wrote the letter. “He tries to stir up trouble.”

But Gartz kept showing up, insisting he could not be banned. “This is all simply harassment, getting back at the whistleblower,” he told the Democrat & Chronicle.

A week before Gartz was arreseted, the Democrat & Chronicle reported, Rochester police had confronted him on the course during a tournament, after he ignored a request from management on the fifth hole to leave.

When the officers confronted him, Gartz said, they talked to him so long he was forced to pick up his ball and was disqualified from the tournament.

Turiano recalled the episode differently, the Democrat & Chronicle reported. She said police told Gartz to leave, and threatened to charge him with trespassing if he returned.

Then at 10:45 a.m on Sunday, August 31^st, the police did just that on the 13^th hole. Turiano summoned them after Gartz refused to leave and allegedly became threatening toward her.

Turiano’s complaint to the police stated she had asked Gartz to leave the property, that he had refused to do so, and that he then approached Turiano with a golf club ‘in a threatening manner.”

“He came back one week after being escorted off the course,” Turiano said. “Why would you do that when you know you’re not welcome? To me, that’s just saying, ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, I’m doing what I want.’ But he can’t do whatever he wants.”

Gartz was taken in custody to Monroe County Jail, but posted the $300 bail before ever being locked up. He was arraigned on September 2 in Rochester City Court, where he pleaded not guilty. His next court date is September 9.

In a telephone interview with the Democrat & Chronicle, Gartz called the accusation that he threatened Turiano “a lie” and “retaliation for his role in the state audit.”

Auditors determined the county courses had been shorted almost $240,000 in capital improvements in recent years. The county and the private firm that manages the courses, run by longtime golf professional Jack Tindale, dispute that finding.

Tindale said he was not aware Gartz had been banned from Durand Eastman and did not know the circumstances surrounding his arrest, the Democrat & Chronicle reported. Tindale did say, however, that course managers had the authority to ban disruptive players.

“If somebody is very intimidating, no matter who it is, and an assistant manager feels threatened, by all means then there could be a ban,” he said.

In Albuquerque, N.M., ABC affiliate KOAT 7 reported that an Albuquerque city employee who exposed a major golf course scandal that was costing taxpayers significant sums of money has ended up losing his job, despite being praised by the city’s mayor.

In June, KOAT 7 reported, Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry was quoted as saying “Kudos to the folks who brought [evidence of the scandal] to everyone’s attention [and] kudos to the folks who studied [and] investigated it.”
Berry’s compliments, KOAT 7 reported, were aimed directly at city employee Carlos Villanueva, who exposed the scandal.

“I had to do the right thing for the taxpayers first,” said Villanueva, who discovered that big events being held at city golf courses were not paying the city its share, as well as evidence of dubious barter agreements and concessionaires who were basically running rogue. “I couldn’t walk away from this,” Villanueva added.

To ensure against possible retaliation, Villanueva filed for whistleblower protection.

“I caution organizations from trying to take any action against any citizen or employee that brings forth information that involves waste, fraud and abuse,” said State Auditor Hector Balderas.

KOAT 7’s report, however, said that months after Villanueva had sought the whistleblower protection, his paycheck was cut—a result, he was told in a letter from the City, of being too stressed to do his job.

“I won’t be able to put a roof over my wife, my children, my grandchildren,” Villanueva told the station. “Basically, it could put me out on the street.”

He said the letter was revenge, after he exposed the scandal that stressed him out, and that his supervisors told him to lock his door at work. “I was locking myself in a 6-by-8 cubicle,” he said. “It was very stressful because it was like being locked in a cage.”

KOAT reported that neigther Berry, nor anyone else from the city, would comment, saying it’s a personnel matter.

For now, KOAT 7 reported, Villanueva is weighing his options. “I’m not really for the lawsuit part,” he said. “What I need for them to do is do the right thing. They need to put me back to work.”