Commendations left out of files

Why does the City Manager decide to leave a written commendation out of the personnel file? This was found during a public information request. It is normal procedure to include these in the personnel files for all employees.

It makes you wonder if the absence of this commendation is an act of deliberate obfuscation or an attempt to minimize the true character of a person for nefarious means. How many more commendations didn’t make it to the file?