No early end seen to town police investigation

CAPE CARTERET — Mayor Dave Fowler said Wednesday he doesn’t foresee a quick end to the internal investigation of the town’s police department and added that, at some point, it might transition to an external investigation.

In addition, the mayor said, there has not been any problem with covering shifts in the police department since the town put Police Chief Tony Rivera on paid administrative leave Jan. 12, pending the results of the internal investigation. The board has also called for the chief’s resignation, but as of Thursday, he had not done so.

Finally, Mayor Fowler said he’s not overly concerned that some residents have called for his own resignation in the wake of the town commission’s vote to shift to a council-manager form of government and the controversies surrounding the board of commissioners and the police department.

About 15 people showed up Saturday morning at the McDonald’s in town, discussed the issues and talked about a campaign to get the mayor to resign.

The meeting was run by town resident Terri Ashby, who at recent town board meetings has strongly opposed the charter change and the police budget cuts and policy changes.

Ms. Ashby said Thursday that she expects a petition to require a referendum for the town charter change to a manager form of government will be ready soon.

“This is a vote that was denied to the citizens by the new board,” she said.

Mayor Fowler said Wednesday that he has received strong support by phone calls and emails since Sunday, when an article that included information about the McDonald’s meeting appeared

in the newspaper.

“As a matter of fact,” the mayor said, “most people who have contacted me have encouraged us to keep on doing what we are doing, to work for the betterment of Cape Carteret.

“I hate that some people have that attitude toward me – I want to be accepted and liked by all – but we have to do what we think is right.

“I wish we could say more, but we are bound by closed session laws. I will say that there have been some serious complaints against the department. We are trying to address the less serious ones first, and to dispense with those.

“But there are some that are serious, and at some point it might be necessary to take this investigation from internal to external.”

In the meantime, the mayor said, there have been no problems getting shifts covered by police, nor any problems with officers not doing their duties, and he doesn’t expect any.

“We’ve had several police chiefs over the years in Cape Carteret, and it’s always been fine,” he said. “By and large, we’ve always had great and dedicated police officers no matter who the chief has been, and I don’t expect that to change.”

He’s not worried about the crime rate ticking up just because the chief is on administrative leave, with Lt. Buddy Mitchell in charge in the interim.

“It’s not like we have gangs here, or the Mafia, or ISIS breathing down our necks, at least as far as I know,” he said. “We’ve always had a low crime rate here. It’s because we have great citizens who respect the law, and that will continue.”

Mayor Fowler said Zach Steffey, elevated from town administrator to town manager after the board approved the charter change by a 3-2 vote during its Jan. 8 meeting, has spoken individually to police officers and assured them that their jobs are not in jeopardy.

Commissioner Charlie Evans said Jan. 12, after the chief was placed on leave, that he has “full confidence in the department and the chief’s leadership. I do not have that same confidence in the internal component of the investigation.

“If there is any substance to the suspicions that are driving this particular action, by all means, ask for an investigation by an appropriate external agency.”

Town commissioners met in closed session Jan. 8 to discuss “personnel issues,” as allowed under state statutes, and took no action after reconvening in open session during their regular monthly meeting in the town hall.

However, Chief Rivera confirmed Jan. 9 that he was “provided the opportunity to resign before any action. They gave me some time to think it over.” That request came on Jan. 9, according to the chief, who has not commented to the newspaper since that day.

The resignation request came in the wake of the town’s change during that Jan. 8 meeting to a council-manager form of government, and Mr. Steffey’s elevation to the manager post after serving as town administrator since his hiring in March. The change gave Mr. Steffey ultimate authority over personnel decisions, including hiring and firing almost all employees, including police.

It also came in the midst of mid-year budget cuts, approved in December by a split vote of the commission and proposed by Mr. Steffey, that have affected the police department, as well as other departments.

The board at that time also implemented policies that prohibit officers from driving patrol cars home and require Chief Rivera to work two patrol shifts each week, and they also downsized his office to make room for a public lobby.

All sizeable town departments are affected by the budget cuts to varying degrees, and commissioners who voted for them have said the goal was to reduce the amount taken from the general fund balance in order to make revenues and expenditures meet this fiscal year.

The police department, which this fiscal year has a budget of more than $660,000, close to 40 percent of the total $1.692 million budget for the town, is by far the largest department.

During the meeting Saturday at McDonald’s, Ms. Ashby said she was starting petitions to require the town to let citizens vote on the charter change to the manager form of government and would like to amend the charter to allow for recall of elected officials.

But, according to the UNC School of Government, that is an arduous task.

“There is no specific allowance in state legislature for recall of local officials,” according to the organization’s website.

It notes, however, that “of 552 municipalities, approximately 20 have local level recall provisions in their charters and ordinances,” granted by specific actions of the General Assembly.

Finally, the UNC School website states, there is a concept called “amotion,” which allows, after a long process, the removal of an elected official of a local government, “if a member of an elected city council, board of commissioners, or board of education is unwilling or unable properly to perform the duties of the office and, in addition, is creating substantial problems of one sort or another — interfering with meetings, threatening staff members, sexually harassing staff members, engaging in hostile and abusing debate tactics, or in other substantive ways creating conditions adverse to good governance.”

In 2013, it was used twice, according to the website, resulting in the removal of a council member in the town of Hope Mills and a New Hanover County commissioner.

As for a charter amendment’s revocation, the UNC School of Government’s website states that, “If a city uses the charter change statute to amend its charter, that action is final; there is no need for any sort of action by the General Assembly to ratify what the city has done.

“Nevertheless, it is important to remember that although the General Assembly has delegated this power of charter amendment to cities and city voters, the legislature has not relinquished its own authority to amend a city’s charter.

“Furthermore, nothing in the charter change statute bars the General Assembly from reversing an amendment made by a city council or a city’s voters; the charter remains a legislative act and as such is always amenable to legislative change.”

The town board includes holdover Minnie Truax, newcomer Steve Martin and holdovers Don Miller and Mr. Evans. The fifth member, Mike King, was appointed by a 3-2 vote to replace Jerry Ferguson, who was elected on Nov. 7 but resigned after moving out of town. Ms. Truax, Mr. Martin and Mayor Fowler – the latter breaking a 2-2 tie – voted for Mr. King.

Mr. Martin and Mr. Ferguson had campaigned strongly on cutting the town’s budget to reduce withdrawals from the fund balance, and they finished first and second in the balloting on Nov. 7, with incumbent Ms. Truax third and Commissioner George Phillips well behind in fourth, losing his bid for re-election. Doreen Saunders did not seek re-election

Mr. Phillips, also a former police chief in the county, had been a strong supporter of the police department, and the residents who have been most vocal about the budget cuts and the charter change wanted him, not Mr. King, appointed to replace Mr. Ferguson.

“Elections matter,” Mayor Fowler said of the board’s votes for the charter change and the budget cuts, and voters knew, or should have known, the strong positions espoused by Mr. Martin and Mr. Ferguson.

Mr. King is a former commissioner, planning board chairman and part-time town code enforcement officer, and at the Jan. 8 meeting read a statement in support of downsizing the police department.

The board majority, however, has said it intends the budget cuts and policy changes to eliminate waste and save town staff jobs, not eliminate them.

Ms. Truax, Mr. King and Mr. Martin voted for the charter change, Mr. Miller and Mr. Evans against. Mr. Miller and Mr. Evans also have been strongly opposed to the police budget cuts and supportive of Chief Rivera, who has been with the department since 1999 and has been chief since December 2013.

He succeeded Mr. Miller as chief.

Mr. Miller, however, did vote with commissioners Ms. Truax, Mr. Martin and Mr. King to elevate Mr. Steffey from town administrator to town manager without seeking other applicants, a move suggested by Mr. Evans.

Contact Brad Rich at 252-864-1532; email Brad@thenewstimes.com; or follow on Twitter @brichccnt.