The city of Lahti prepared ethical guidelines for trustees, but when the going gets tough, they are of no help. A significant trusted person reaches out to others regardless of instructions.
One person’s behavior has been a long-kept secret in Lahti.
Ratia admits that she is a difficult person, but sees nothing wrong with her actions.
Until now, the use of Ratia has been discussed in secret in the city organization. The leading trustees have been silent for two reasons. First of all, matters related to occupational health and safety are confidential, secondly, nobody wants to get into the teeth of Ratia, who worked as a lawyer – at least not during the elections.
The memo obtained by Yle reveals that Ratia’s behavior has already been addressed a year and a half ago. That’s when he got away with an apology.
Occupational health and safety announcement in December
For several years, Jorma Ratia’s eyes have been the City of Lahti’s own subsidiaries KOKO Lahti and Lahti Events and their management. Ratia serves as the chairman of the city’s group and premises division, which is responsible for the ownership control of city companies. The chairman is paid a salary of 30,000 euros per year.
According to Yle’s information, Jorma Ratia has been reported to KOKO Lahti’s government for inappropriate behavior in December 2022. Yle does not have more detailed information about the content of the report, as occupational safety matters are confidential. The chairman of the city council has also pointed out to Ratia that she is publicly voicing her own opinions as the chairman of the group and premises division.
Jorma Ratia denies that he acted inappropriately. Ratia says that she has not received detailed explanations for the alleged behavior, and she does not know where and when she behaved wrongly. Ratia only says that she demanded strict investigations into the use of taxpayers’ money and compliance with the rules of the game.
Through a request for information, Yle has obtained a memorandum dated September 14, 2021, which describes the conflict between Jorma Ratia and the CEO of Lahti event companies, Emilia Mäki. The memo opens up the way Ratia works.
The clash between Ratia and Mäki
For several years, Jorma Ratia has doubted Lahti Events’ ability to manage major international events.
The memo shows that at the beginning of the meeting it was unclear in which role Jorma Ratia wanted to discuss. Ratia herself announced that the discussion is informal and confidential and that she does not represent the group and premises division in the meeting. However, since Ratia had convened the meeting as the chairman of the group and premises division, KOKO Lahti considered that the meeting went according to the invitation.
Ratia wanted detailed information about KOKO Lahti’s finances and demanded that the company report separately to her. It was explained to him that the reporting is in accordance with the Accounting Act and the group guidelines.
Ratia was explained in detail about the company’s financial affairs and event management practices, but according to the memo, Ratia interrupted the speaker several times and stated that she already knew these things.
When the conversation moved to Kymi Ring’s affairs, CEO Mäki did not consider it his business to answer questions about the other company. Ratia shared her own opinion that in her opinion the CEO and the board have not investigated Kymi Ring’s financial situation. He also accused the CEO of violating the group guidelines.
Kymi Ring is a motor sports center in Iiti, where the MotoGP World Championship races were supposed to be held in the summer, but they were cancelled.
In Ratia’s opinion, Lahti Events was originally founded for the World Ski Championships and after that the operations had gone completely downhill.
*\”The company will never make a profit. The company’s management and personnel are running out of know-how in major event productions.\”*
After Ratia’s statement, Mäki asked KOKO Lahti’s personnel to leave the place. With Ratia and Mäe, Ignatius, head of group management, remained in the premises.
Mäki said that he does not appreciate Ratia’s behavior and does not accept barking at the company’s personnel. According to Mäki, Ratia has no idea of \u200b\u200bthe competence or professionalism of the company’s management. Ignatius also pointed out that Ratia’s behavior is not reasonable and Ratia cannot behave like that in her position and bark at the staff. Ratia disagreed and scolded the CEO.
After the conflict, the previously present personnel returned to the premises. Ratia apologized to them for her words. The meeting ended with Mäki suggesting Ratia visit Kymi Ring. Mäki also asked that MotoGP be talked about positively in public. It would help the success of the event and partner negotiations. The court considered the request reasonable.
Mäki resigned
The CEO’s duties include receiving criticism, but inappropriate behavior does not have to be tolerated. The city of Lahti has drawn up ethical guidelines that define the limits of inappropriate behavior. Improper behavior includes at least making offensive comments, yelling, swearing and barking, unwarranted criticism and making false accusations.
When the chairman of the city council had received the memo about the incident, he discussed the matter with Ratia. Ratia apologized to Mäe, and the case has now been completed in the city organization.
After this, Ratia has continued to look for problems with Lahti Events’ operations.
Events ran into difficulties when the Kymi Ring track company did not get the MotoGP races in spring 2022. The Group and Facilities Division decided in July that Lahti Events’ operations as such would cease. Responsibilities would be transferred to the parent company KOKO Lahti, which the city also promised to support, so that it could cope with its task.
The division also ordered an additional audit from Lahti Events. The audit did not reveal any ambiguities, but Jorma Ratia told Etelä-Suomen Sanoma that he called the auditor and barked up the report.
At Christmas, Ratia gave an interview to Etelä-Suomen Sanomai, in which she also questioned the existence of KOKO Lahti.
According to Yle’s information, a few days after the magazine story, Ratia was notified of improper behavior by the occupational health and safety department. On the same day, KOKO Lahti announced that Emilia Mäe had resigned from her duties as CEO and would take over the management of the Helsinki Music Hall in the spring.
However, according to Mäki, the behavior of the chairman of the group and premises division did not affect his change of job.
– These things have nothing to do with each other. I have had a great time in my job as CEO of KOKO Lahti. I decided to change jobs when an exceptionally interesting new task came my way, says Mäki.
\”Zero tolerance doesn’t work\”
Ratia has been allowed to continue her duties.
Last Monday, a council question about Ratia’s operation was submitted to the Lahti council. The council question has been signed by 22 councilors from six different groups. The councilors hope for a clear policy on how the city will in the future deal with inappropriate behavior and derogatory speech by trustees, both in public and in closed meetings.
Regarding the council issue, there seems to be frustration that the group and premises division has not publicly taken a position on the actions of its chairman.
*\”By calling into question the existence of KOKO Lahti, Jorma Ratia disparages the competence of the company’s CEO, management team and board of directors. But the worst thing is that, with his statements, he belittles the skills and commitment of the company’s personnel to their work.\”*
*\”Furthermore, I hope that we dare to find out if and how much offensive or degrading verbal bullying is hidden from the public at different levels of the group?\”*
Unwavering support from your own group
At the moment, there is no information on how the occupational health and safety notification has been processed and what will follow from it. Ratia herself is also of the opinion that the matter is lingering and has not been dealt with objectively until the end.
– The oral argument has been presented without identification, says Ratia.
Now KOKO Lahti is looking for a CEO, and councilors from Lahti are thinking in their councils about how Lahti’s \”straight talk\” could be curbed so that there would be a true zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior.
*Corrected on February 1, 2023 at 18:47 Number of signatories to the council question. The first paragraph incorrectly read 20 councilors. The correct number is 22.*
*You can discuss the topic until 23:00 on Thursday 2 February 2023.*