| Calendar |
< March, 2010 >
| S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| 28 |
01 |
02 |
03 |
04 |
05 |
06 |
| 07 |
08 |
09 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
| 14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
| 21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
| 28 |
29 |
30 |
31 |
01 |
02 |
03 |
|
|
|
Brant Gary speaks out about Chief's resignation
|
|
City of Montgomery Administrator, Brant Gary, gives MCN his statement regarding Police Chief Hudgens' resignation
Administrator Brant Gary's Statement
City of Montgomery Administrator, Brant Gary, released his statement to MCN regarding Police Chief Hudgens' resignation. His statement is as follows:
"The following is a statement of facts related to the resignation of the Police Chief of the City of Montgomery:
On Friday March 5, 2010, I was approached regarding a conflict between a member of the Municipal Court department and the Police Department. In the end there was a question as to who was the supervisor of this particular employee who is assigned as a bailiff and functions as a warrant officer. Based on everything that I see that was in place prior to my arrival, as well as prior budget planning, management issues, and department planning sessions, I recognize this employee to be part of the Municipal Court Department and suggested that the employee work through her supervisor in order to facilitate discussions concerning the Police Department on any issues that may come up. I suggested a meeting Monday morning to discuss the issues further.
Later on that evening, I received a call from the Police Chief. The Police Chief expressed some concerns regarding the issues taking place and said that the position needed to be put back in the Police Department. He cited concerns with liability, the carrying of this employee’s commission, and legal reasons for this. I informed him that I have worked in cities and knew of cities where the arrangement was as it is here and we would discuss it Monday morning in more detail.
On Monday morning, I met with the Police Chief and the Municipal Court Administrator. I did reiterate it was my belief this position was under the Municipal Court department. I went on to say that we could discuss any issues and we could look at the situation, but in the meantime this is how I interpreted the current situation. The Police Chief also presented a document that he said was a copy of a law requiring that a commissioned officer to be supervised only by another commissioned officer. The Police Chief said that if I was not willing to immediately put the position back under the Police Department, he would resign and promptly walked out of the meeting.
Later on that afternoon, I called another meeting with the Court Administrator and the Police Chief. I did also present to the Chief a response from TML that said what he had presented to me earlier was not a law, but rather a bill that did not pass. I also shared that TML, based on an attorney general’s opinion and many cities operation concerning this function, felt that we could continue operating in this manner if we so desired. I then proposed that a solution to the issue was for the Municipal Court and Police Department work on a joint study/report to examine and list the needs of the Court department related to this function, the concerns/needs of the Police Department related to that function, the development of a list of duties and procedures to effectively carry out the functions of the position, and any legal/liability issues related to the position. I stated that during or after this analysis, if there were any legal issues or a general consensus the position should move, I would support that. I also stated if in the end we had to make a decision, it would be based on that report.
I then told the Chief this is the way that I prefer for decisions to be made and I would not make a decision based on a threat of someone resigning. I asked the Court Administrator if she would go through this process and she said she would. I then asked the Police Chief if he would go through this process, he asked if this meant I was not changing anything as of right now. I confirmed that was the case. He then said he could not live with that and said he would resign. I reiterated I have to make decisions like this based on facts and not threats or ultimatums and that if he chose to resign, I would accept his resignation. The Police Chief then proceeded to leave the meeting and returned with his resignation that was effective on March 23rd. While I am open to discussions regarding the resignation decision, the decision-making process regarding this overall issue would have to be followed."
Brant Gary
City Administrator
The views expressed in this article do not reflex Montgomery County News.
|
|
|
Print
eMail