“I just don’t know,” said Terry Ward, when asked how his family would survive if he had to go another couple of months without a job. “I really have no idea.”

This seems to be a common refrain among the nearly 70 employees, Ward among them, who were laid-off from their city jobs in November with no idea when, or if, they would get to return to work.

Ward was hired to the Parks and Recreation Department in January 2018 to cut grass and prepare baseball and football fields for the cleated feet of local athletes, to pick up trash and maintain local parks.

“I loved my job,” Ward said. “I love to cut grass. I just went to work and minded my business.”

It didn’t take long before Ward found himself embroiled in a long-term conflict that had bubbled between department leadership and outspoken city employee Carneetie Ellison, who was also laid-off in November.

Within two months of being employed, Ward alleges he was told by Parks and Recreation Director Sean VanDiver that he could no longer speak to Ellison. Ward balked at the command, stating that he and Ellison had attended Selma High School together and, as far as he could tell, she had done nothing wrong.

“It really shocked me,” Ward said. “To this day, I really don’t know why he told me that.”

Over the following months, things got worse – Ward claims multiple department heads instructed him and other employees to avoid Ellison and one, Assistant Foreman Eric Simmons, reportedly instructed the department employees to draft a letter accusing Ellison of a variety of offenses so that she could be placed on administrative leave.

“I saw the work environment start changing and then they started splitting us all up,” Ward said. “I was caught in the middle of it. I just wanted to work.”

The timorous culture within the department continued until Ward and 67 city colleagues were dismissed from their jobs in early November – nearly six months later, things have oly gotten worse for Ward.

“It was hard for Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Ward said. “New Year’s Eve, too. I really want to go back to work out there. I can still mind my own business.”

The unemployment checks that he began receiving in December have stopped coming and none of the applications he’s filled out have amounted to work – a father of four and his household’s solitary breadwinner, Ward is losing hope.

“I don’t know how I’m going to pay my bills now,” Ward said. “I don’t have any income. I’m still in the same boat.”

Ward said he began applying for jobs shortly after the lay-off, walking into businesses with an application and a copy of his resume under his arm, but has gotten little traction.

“I’m still looking,” Ward said. “I go every day putting applications in. I learned it’s not what you know, it’s who you know now.”

His request for an extension on unemployment benefits was denied and his family, which has been helping out during his bout with unemployment, is growing weary of providing assistance.

“If they’re not going to hire us back, they should at least call and let us know,” Ward said. “It’s really taking a toll on my household. To tell you the truth, there’s plenty of nights I’ve stayed up and cried.”