Jim Young Reporter Most read stories from 2016

The following are links to the 5 most read stories since I started the blog in April.  These 5 stories alone were viewed well over 26,000 times.

1) Rod Shoap resigns Politics to blame?

2) City Security Video captures councilmen's altercation.

3)  Long Planned Indoor Water Rec Center Referendum Expected on November Ballot (It did not make it on the ballot)

4) Former city manager Rutherford says decision to hire Shoap as chief led to his dismissal.

5) Man thrilled with 3D printed prosthetic finger made by recent SHMS grad

Thanks for reading in 2016!

September Council meeting--Souza agenda items take aim at interim manager Steve Hill and his connection to Councilman Kerley

The September Crossville city council meeting seems to have a theme for the last several items on the agenda, the position of Crossville city manager.

The September 8 council's schedule includes the following meetings:

• Audit Committee 5:15
• Beer Board 5:45, 
• Solicitation Board 5:55 
• Council meeting 6:00 PM

Those items, put on the agenda by councilman Pete Souza as his council term nears its end, take aim at interim city manager Steve Hill, his administrative ability, his actions and his relationship with the councilman who has become Souza's antagonist, Jesse Kerley. Kerley and Souza have been locked in a battle of words, signs and allegations of physical altercations for the last several months ultimately leading to assault charges placed against Mr. Kerley.

The items placed on the agenda by Mr. Souza include discussion of standards of selection of the new city manager and possible legislative actions, discussion of rumors affecting morale of city employees, discussion and action on the performance of the interim city manager, and discussion and action on the use of the city managers vehicle. More on these matters below.

Other matters on the councils agenda include more typical business items including budget amendments, temporary road closings along with several purchases and contract approvals.

One item that seems sure to spark discussion is the sponsorship of the Tennessee Women's Open golf tournament and the Tennessee Men's Senior golf tournament that are both up for renewal. The cost to sponsor each tournament is $25,000 per year and the Tennessee Golf Association and the Tennessee Section of the PGA are requesting a 3 year contract for the sponsorships.

Council will also consider a 3 year contract with retail consultant r360, the firm selected in action at last months council meeting to guide the city in attracting large retail chains and additional resturants. The contract negotiated with the firm is for $35,000 for the first year and $28,000 each for the second and third years. Each additional year of the contract is approved year to year.

Council will also consider a press release policy following a discussion at last months council meeting. A final version of the policy was not finished at the time of the agenda's release but is expected to be available with a recommendation by manager Hill at the meeting.

Councilman Souza's item on standards of selection a new city manager expresses concern about the possibility of appointing a city manager prior to the seating of the newly elected council members so they can have a hand in making the decision. Souza also expressed concern that many of the applicants do not have previous city manager experience. (Link to applicant story) Souza sums up his concerns saying, “I would encourage the council to consider to defer the selection process until after the general election and look for a manager with both executive and municipal experience."  Link to current city manager applicants.

Mr. Souza's item on rumors and morale of city employees states “the city has gone into a period where rumors run wild resulting in negative effects on the morale of employees and thus the effectiveness of their performance to the community.” Souza cites the firing of the city manager David Rutherford, the resignation of police chief Shoap and the false allegations given to the press that Shoap was under investigation, and several other items he said all lead to the rumor mill running wide open.

While he says he does not believe the rumors he said they included that former Mayor J. H. Graham would take the position of city manager and that a back door agreement to put Steve Hill back in charge of parks and recreation replacing Tami French, a new appointee would replace chief Mark Rosser and Sally Oglesby would be replace by the assistant city clerk. Wrote Souza in conclusion, “I believe it is incumbent for this council to dispel these rumors at this meeting and so that the employees can go forward without fear of losing their jobs.”  Link to text by Souza on rumors he says are circulating at ctiy hall.

The most brutal agenda item offers a report that targets the performance of interim city manager Steve Hill, and it is not a good report. Souza wrote just over 4 pages starting off with his first action on his first day as interim manager to order the parks and recreation director to swap vehicles with him so he could drive a crew cab pick up truck he drove when he was parks director before taking early retirement. The current parks director has been driving the Impala that was originally purchased for the use of the city manager. And in the final city manager agenda item Souza is proposing the swap be reversed back. The complete text of Souza's statement on the performance by Steve Hill as city manager is available at this link.

Souza points out that the three previous city managers enforced the policy that the employees playing golf take personal leave to do so. Hill is reported to have said that if an employee works 40 hours a week then they don't have to take time off, but according to Souza this change was not disseminated to city staff. In addition, Souza states that it has been custom for the manager to advise the mayor and council members when he was unavailable for work but Hill has not done so in correspondence documenting his time off. Souza says Hill calls the assistant city clerk but should notify the council, city clerk and the finance department.

Souza outlines an email Hill received that came from councilman Kerley to marketing director Billy Loggins that ordered Loggins to tell Hill to call Butch Smith and tell him that Souza was looking into the property that Smith wanted and “was going to cause the deal to fall through.” Souza says this email that is public record shows that “councilman Kerley is telling the staff and manager what to do.”

“Mr. Hill's role in the resignation of Police Chief Shoap reflected the will of councilman Kerley as opposed to the needs of the city of Crossville,” according to Souza. He outlines several incidents including that Hill ordered the IT department to open early to allow Hill, council Kerley, and Kerley's father Jerry to review the video of the June 2 incident between Mr. Souza and the Kerleys.  This was done before chief Shoap arrived there and the group was deciding which part of the video to release and formulating a story that fit the video. Souza accused them of having “interfered with the investigation.”

Souza also references an exclusive story that states the accusations by Mr. Kerley of an investigation into alleged actions of chief Shoap at the time he resigned were false as stated by Mr. Hill.  The original story is available here.

It is not specified what action Mr. Souza wants taken under the agenda item.

Kerley's claim of an harassment investigation into action by former Police Chief Shoap called "talk" by interim city manager Hill

When Crossville police chief Rod Shoap left his position 6 weeks ago, city councilman Jesse Kerley made some accusations and claims at the time that appear to have been intimidation attempts.

Kerley said in an interview on July 1 concerning a story on Shoap's resignation that “Everything that Chief Shoap told you was a bunch of trash. Chief Shoap was not hired (as the regular police chief) for a reason. If he wants to spout off his mouth like he did, that's just wrong what he's done. He'll be lucky if doesn't cause the city to be sued.”

According to Kerley at the time, he claimed that Shoap resigned when people found out about his action against one of his officers and that following Shoap's conversation with the officer, their significant other had called Shoap up and chewed him out.

Kerley also alleged in his phone conversation that Shoap had told the officer to get rid of their significant other because of the same sex nature of the relationship.

Even though Kerley referred to the two as “gay,” Shoap said he didn't know if that was the case or not at the time. According to Shoap, the two owned property together.  Shoap said the action he took was based on a report from a security officer from a college in Georgia after to a paper written by the “significant other” included threats to harm themselves with the police officers weapon.  The incident lead to a request from the Georgia college for a welfare check at Crossville though the person was actually in Georgia at the time.  The reference to firearms in a college paper caught the attention of the college security. 

It was determined that the other person had a criminal history and Shoap explained it was a violation of the police policy for an officer to consort with a person who has a criminal past and that was the reason for the discussion of the separation by the two.

Kerley had also claimed that Shoap had no reason to run a criminal history on the other person and shouldn't have done so. Shoap explained that the Georgia college security had run the background check and not the Crossville police department.

Recently interim city manager Steve Hill was asked about the status of the reported investigation into the claim involving Chief Shoap and the police officer and Hill said that as far as he knew, there was never an investigation. Hill described it this way, “it was talk. There is nothing to it that I know of.”

In addition, if there had been any type of harassment complaint as Mr. Kerley claimed, there is a very specific city harassment policy and short timeline for an investigation to take place and that time line has since expired.  

Former Crossville police Chief Rod Shoap

City councilman Jesse Kerley

Related story: Interim Manager Steve Hill and councilman Jesse Kerley respond to Shoap resignation controversy from July 1, 2016

Former Crossville city manager David Rutherford says his decision to hire Shoap as regular police chief led Kerley to demand his resignation.

Was the firing of former city manager David Rutherford actually because he proposed hiring Rodney Shoap as the full time regular police chief?

According to Mr. Rutherford, he believes that an email he sent out on March 29 lead to councilman Jesse Kerley demanding Rutherford's resignation around 36 hours later. That could explain the change in four weeks from Kerley voting against suspending Rutherford at a special meeting February 26, 2016 and saying the city manager needed to be given “clear direction” because that the council had failed to do that. Then on March 31, 2016, Mr. Kerley demanded the resignation of Mr. Rutherford in an email.

Kerley's email to Rutherford on March 31 began, “In sight of recent events, I have lost all faith in your honesty and ability to lead the City of Crossville.”

During the special called meeting held to suspend Rutherford on April 4, Kerley voted against the resolution because it granted Rutherford the 6 months of severance salary in his employment contract and Kerley wanted Rutherford out with nothing.

Former Crossville city manager David Rutherford:

“In my opinion, Jesse Kerley is completely out of control. He doesn't need to be a council member for the city of Crossville because he's not representing the individual citizen's of Crossville and you can quote me on that.”

In a phone interview Friday evening July 1, Rutherford explained about the hiring Shoap based on the conversations with outgoing chief David Beaty and outgoing assistant chief Darrell Sherrill saying that there was no one in the department at the time that was ready to take over. Rutherford said that by bringing in someone from outside, it was a way to “bring in new eyes, someone who can assess the situation and see what you've got and help make some decisions to move forward.”

Rutherford said that after a few months, the criticism of bringing in an outsider as chief died down because things were going so well and people were saying, “This is the best police chief we've ever had.” Shoap came to Rutherford after a few months asking if it was possible for him to apply for the full time regular chief's position. Rutherford said he told him that he could and that after the 18 month period, the city would put a regular chief in place.

In early March 2016, Rutherford said he put out an announcement that he would take applications internally from the Crossville police department for the chief's position. This was Rutherford's decision as the city manager. The decision to hire is not one that the council makes. The applications turned in came from Chief Shoap and Major Mark Rosser. Rutherford said that at the point of the deadline, Rosser asked that his application be withdrawn as he did not want to compete against Shoap, who he supported. Rutherford said that he met with Rosser at the time and told him that he felt Rosser needed a couple more years mentoring under Shoap. Rutherford added that he told Rosser he had seen a lot of improvement in him during the time he had worked with Shoap.

Rutherford said he got a call in March from councilman Kerley asking why retired assistant chief Darrell Sherrill couldn't apply as an internal candidate for the police chief's job since he was still on the city's health insurance and being paid for the buyout. Rutherford said he answered that Sherrill was retired and didn't work for the city. Rutherford said he told Kerley that he would ask the city attorney Will Ridley for a ruling on the question and attorney Ridley said he couldn't find anywhere that a similar situation had happened and ruled that Sherrill didn't qualify as an internal candidate.

Rutherford said that at the end of March he sent out an email saying that he was ready to hire Shoap and that the question of Sherrill's applying were in the hand's of the attorney. He requested the council to give him some direction on the matter.

Rutherford wrote in the email (the full text of this email is below), “I need direction from the Council as to what they would like for me to do on this matter. I have a candidate who meets all the qualifications and has 18 months experience with the city. I can do a national search for police chief as I did earlier. I think we have made significant improvements in our police department and its efficiency. The feedback that I receive from the community is all positive.”

Rutherford said in a phone interview Friday, “The next thing I know is I get a request for my resignation. That's how it all falls out. Jesse wants to be in control. He doesn't like Shoap because Shoap didn't do a couple of things that Jesse wanted him to do.”

Rutherford continued, “In my opinion, Jesse Kerley is completely out of control. He doesn't need to be a council member for the city of Crossville because he's not representing the individual citizen's of Crossville and you can quote me on that.”

Rutherford said he had a good run in Crossville and he felt like he put some things in place that hopefully will be beneficial to the community if they stay on the track. “In my line of work, what happened to me happens all the time. It's either one of two things that happen, Jim. Either you're doing a good job and someone hires you away or your doing a good job and you piss somebody off, but either way, you're gone.”

I feel really sorry for the community because there is so much potential for Crossville and Cumberland County, but they can't seem to get focused on the positive things, cause they want to stay focused on what's the next headline.”

An attempt was made to reach councilman Kerley for comment on this story and he replied to a text saying, “Why should I call you after you have printed all this trash? Shoap has used you like Souza has used the media.”

Below is the complete text of the email David Rutherford sent to the city council members about the hiring of a full time police chief March 29 2016 at 3:07 PM:

I have been questioned about the recent posting of the police chief's position.  As you may recall, when David Beaty chose to take the early retirement incentive I explained to some of you who asked me what my intentions were for filling the vacant position.  I made a statement to you and the police staff that I felt the City needed to have "new eyes" at the police department since there had been the same chief in office for 20 years. I spoke to Assistant Chief Darrell Sherrill about him taking the position of Chief.  He questioned my statement of "new eyes" and I shared with him the possibility of bringing in a consultant to assist him with a department review if he wanted the job. He and the consultant could determine what needed to be changed. His position was that he wanted to go ahead and retire "out of respect for Chief Beaty".

At the time I did not feel there was anyone in the department that was ready to step into the chief's position.  This thought was confirmed by both Beaty and Sherrill when I met with them to discuss whether there were any candidates ready to be promoted.  With this situation, I constructed a plan for an interim chief to come in and assess the department, review staff, and their training, and determine if anyone was ready, or could become ready, with additional training and mentoring.   I proceeded to advertise for an interim chief that would serve for 18 months.   At the conclusion of 18 months, a new internal advertisement would go out for a permanent chief.  We are approaching that deadline, July 31, 2016.

An internal posting for police chief was posted within the department in early March 2016 . At the time of posting, Chief Shoap distributed a letter to the department, and possible candidates, encouraging them to apply for the position if they wished. Chief Shoap and Major Rosser were the only candidates to submit resumes.  Major Rosser met with me before the deadline and stated that he was applying just in case others from the department apply.  Rosser stated that if he and Shoap were the only resumes, he wanted his taken out of consideration.  On Monday morning, Major Rosser sent an email to the attention of HR requesting his resume be withdrawn from consideration.

The question has been raised concerning retiree Darrell Sherrill and his ability to apply for an internal posting for the chief's position.  This question has gone to the city attorney for an opinion.

I need direction from the Council as to what they would like for me to do on this matter.  I have a candidate who meets all the qualifications and has 18 months experience with the city.  I can do a national search for police chief as I did earlier.   I think we have made significant improvements in our police department and its efficiency.  The feedback that I receive from the community is all positive.  

Please respond to me only when replying to this email. Do not hit "reply all" .  You can discuss issues with me and not violate open meetings or I can place this item on the agenda for April's meeting.   Please advise. 

Statement from Rod Shoap on reasons for his resignation as Crossvile police chief

I resigned from my position of Crossville Police Chief for the following reasons.

I have worked here for 17 months and the council's bickering and fighting has not slowed for a moment. Two people in particular just can't stop!

Personal agenda and poor judgement have no place on our council. All should be working closely together, building consensus to improve the quality of life for residents, taxpayers and visitors.

If these two worked as hard for
our betterment as they do going at each other's throats, we would all be a year ahead of schedule and have even lower taxes.

One person may have a slightly skewed thought of what should be but the other wants to control the world and fist fight every person that has a different thought than he does.

My advise to you: STOP, STOP, STOP fighting!

Be a good steward with whatever time you have left in office and then try to find a place in life where you can be happy and an unselfish contributor!

Government is set up in a way that no one person should have total control over anything. So, please stop violating the charter with private meetings, texts and phone calls to each other for votes.

Stop calling department heads and giving them your marching orders. It's not your police department, it belongs to citizens. Your responsibility is for policy making, not carrying out your personal agendas for power and control.

If you don't like what a department head does, work with the city
Manager to build rapport and reach agreeable solutions for service effectiveness and efficiencies. Stop going to the police chief ordering him/her to follow your agenda for personal gain.

I'm not the only person sick and tired of this. The entire city, county, country is tired of it. Put citizens first for a change. Be a good steward!

And last, the city manager is an okay
person who likes to laugh, play golf and enjoy friends. But, he can't constantly call one council person asking for permission, direction or advise. He has to be able to make a decision, himself. For Heaven's Sake, get someone who knows what they are doing... Please!

PS: to one councilman who enjoys fighting, stop messaging me with ugly rants. I resigned. You should be happy now, you won!

Interim Manager Steve Hill and councilman Jesse Kerley respond to Shoap resignation controversy

Interim city manager Steve Hill talked Friday about the latest controversy in Crossville's operations and said a bit about what he felt led to the resignation of Crossville Police Chief Rod Shoap.

According to Hill and documents he provided, the interim chief position that Shoap held was only to be an 18 month position, a term that would have been up at the end of July. Hill said he had hoped to keep Shoap in the interim position until after the election to try and take some of the politics out of the situation, though he admitted it would be impossible to take all the politics out of the situation.

Hill said that while he had discussed Mr. Shoap's position with some of the council members, they all expressed opinions on the position but none ordered him to either fire or hire Mr. Shoap for the position full time. Previously Hill said he had discussed with Shoap staying in the position until after the election was over and Shoap said to him he didn't want to wait and he asked Hill to “either hire me or fire me.”

Hill said he wasn't certain but thought that Mr. Shoap had a conversation with one of the council members and then indicated he was open to staying through the election.

Hill said he felt that a recent meeting he had with Mark Rosser may have precipitated the resignation. According to Hill, the meeting, requested by Mr. Rosser was held at his office and Hill said he felt Mr. Shoap found out about the meeting and thought he was interviewing Rosser for the full time position. Hill said that was not the case but added, “Shoap had a knee jerk reaction and decided to turn in his resignation before he was fired.” Hill said this was just his personal opinion on what had happened.

When asked about the meeting, Rod Shoap said the meeting had nothing to do with his decision and he had complete trust in Mark Rosser. “I'd trust him with my life,” added Shoap.

Hill mentioned a recording of former city manager David Rutherford speaking to the police department about Shoap's hiring and saying that Rutherford Shoap would be interim and would not be eligible for the full time position. Hill said he hadn't heard the recording but Hill was present at a staff meeting with Rutherford before Hill left the parks department that Rutherford said who ever served as interim would not be the full time chief and that the position was to train a member of the department to take over when Shoap left.

Shoap started January 28, 2015 in the position and when announced it was listed as a temporary position. At the time, some 10 applications had been received and three of those interviewed. Names of the applicants were not released at the time.

While Hill said that when he checked with city attorney Will Ridley, Ridley said that 18 month period was not binding, Hill felt the city needed to follow the arrangements as it might affect future such agreements.

The reports that Jesse Kerley told him to fire Mr. Shoap are not true according to Hill who added that Kerley told him it was his decision. “I know exactly how he and Mr. Souza feel about Shoap,” said Hill and he added that Wyatt, Harris and Mayberry have not discussed the position with him.

According to Hill, the problem Kerley had with Shoap was not that he wanted people arrested but that Shoap had not done a report on the two incidents involving Pete Souza. Hill said he couldn't argue with Shoap's contention that make a report would just put it out in the media, but added, “Jesse asked him for a police report.”

Hill said that while Rutherford was still manager, they had put out a call for applications for a full time position and Shoap's was the only application that was received and not withdrawn. A second application was put in from the department but was taken back when he and Shoap were the only two applicants. Hill said he wasn't sure how Rutherford planned to get around the original hiring as a temporary position, but Shoap was the only applicant at the end of the process.

Hill was asked about the failure of the city to pay for police chief's meeting that Mr Shoap talked about in a previous story. Hill said he found out about the situation from Mr. Shoap. When he checked on it he said the check was not sent by the finance department as that would have been right at the end of the 18 months and they felt if Shoap wasn't staying the city shouldn't pay for the trip. He added that if Shoap was staying they could always still send in the check.

“It wasn't me that put a hold on it, finance caught it,” explained Hill. He added that Shoap and Mark Rosser were signed up to go. As it stands now, Rosser will attend the meeting.

When asked about Hill's contention, Shoap said that was not the same information his questions about the situation turned up. He was told that the canceling of the trip came from Hill.

There are also some concerns over an incident that so far has not resulted in any action or complaint against the city. Both Councilman Kerley and Steve Hill talked about an alleged incident involving a Crossville police officer, their sexual orientation and an significant other. The story being shared is that Shoap spoke to the officer and said they needed to get rid of their significant other then was contact by the significant other. Hill said that there was another employee that verified such an incident had taken place. At this point no names of those involved have been discussed at all.

When Shoap was asked about the situation he said that the matter was related to a report that had come to the department from a professor at a Georgia college related to a paper written by the officer's roommate that mentioned using the Crossville resident's firearm to self inflict harm on the writer of the paper. According to Shoap the situation was a problem because the officer's roommate was a convicted felon and that was a policy violation. Shoap said he had no idea about the employee's orientation and he didn't care, but he said that the fact that Mr. Kerley was putting out the information in the public would be a much bigger problem.

Shoap said his concern about his officer was so that there wouldn't be a problem with any potential domestic violence that might happen where officer could lose their right to have a weapon and would then be unable to do their job as an officer. He added that he has dealt with those kinds of things for 30 years and is certified in training those kinds of situations for officers. Shoap said he recently run such training for the sheriff's department.

“Everything chief Shoap told you is a bunch of trash,” said Jesse Kerley, “he'll be lucky if he doesn't cause the city to be sued.” Kerley said. He continued, “I never asked that man to arrest anybody. I did ask him to check Blankenship's insurance card because he doesn't have insurance on his car. I asked him to file a police report on Pete Souza vigorously elbowing me in the back after the February meeting which he never filed. That's why Chief Shoap don't like me, he's protecting Pete and nobody sees it.”

Shoap explained that he had in fact checked on the registration and insurance of Mr. Blankenship's vehicle and everything was in order. Shoap added that the evening of the June meeting, he had passed that information on to Mr. Hill and asked him to pass it along to Mr. Kerley.

After discussing a situation that involved an attempt to set up a meeting between councilman Kerley, chief Shoap and school director Donald Andrews, a meeting that never took place as Mr. Andrews declined to set up the meeting, Kerley said that he did not tell employees to do stuff, but he had asked the city manager what I can and can't do because, “if you step outside of that charter you have personal liability and they can sue me for doing that and I know that.”

Kerley described Shoap as “a better politician then anyone sitting on that city council."

Kerley added, "You tell the public that I've never had my butt crawled so hard over an issue except when David Rutherford hired Chief Shoap when there was capable officers in that department that could have been hired.”  

Major Mark Rosser sworn in as Interim Police Chief--Exclusive photos.

Crossville Mayor James Mayberry, right, administers the oath of office to Mark Rosser, swearing him in as the new interim police chief following the resignation yesterday of Rod Shoap.

Mark Rosser said that the day to day operation of the Crossville police department would not change in the short term.  He added that the department was still on track to become an accreditied department later this year.  He said that most of the department's work was done but it would be about another two months befor the state to audit their records.

Interim Police Chief Mark Rosser signs his oath after being sworn in 

by Crossville Mayor James Mayberry.  

Crossville Police Chief Rod Shoap resigns--Politics appear to be to blame.

Shop the VORP Thrift Store

Rod Shoap addressed the Crossville city council about upgrading the emergency radio system at a recent council work session.  He resigned June 30, 2016

In a move that surprised many, Crossville police chief Rod Shoap tendered his resignation Thursday afternoon. The highly respected chief had given a new face to the Crossville police department and brought a variety of new ideas that strongly affected the local crime rate in a positive way.

Thursday evening Mr. Shoap said “I was tired of waiting for them.” Shoap said that 2 months after he was hired as interim, city manager David Rutherford had decided he wanted to hire him as the full time chief and had even put him in the retirement program.

According to Shoap, since Rutherford was fired, he'd tried working with the interim city manager Steve Hill on the matter but he kept getting put off. Shoap said initially Steve Hill told him it would be a month. That turned into two months, then waiting for the recall to be decided, then it became two and a half months and he was told it would be after the election.

Shoap said his question was, “Why?”

“(Steve Hill) admitted to me that the only issue is with Kerley, and no one else,” said Shoap, referring to councilman Jesse Kerley. Shoap said that Hill told him “Kerley has a problem with a couple of things you've done.” Shoap explained that those two things were that he wouldn't arrest a couple people that Kerley wanted arrested. Shoap added, “I just can't deal with that.”

Shoap continued, “Then (Hill) told me that they were going to meet this weekend to discuss it. I told him that he couldn't do that, “You can't have a meeting with those council people to discuss this unless you do an open records meeting.”

“I've been in law enforcement for 35 year years and I have never once heard anyone say that we had too many cops.” In so many words, that is what councilman Kerley said at the last budget work session proposing instead to take the funds out of the budget for an additional detective for the police department and use the money to build sidewalks.

“We're no longer the most dangerous city in the state, but were not that far from it,” siad Shoap A detective would be targeting criminals, not just patrolling. Shoap explained that the evening after he resigned he had people he didn't even know writing him and telling him how frustrated they were over this situation.

Shoap continued that he had found out another thing that Steve Hill had done. Shoap said he had planned on attending the state wide police chief's meeting. He said that the vendor's all come and that the department had saved $50,000 to $70,000 by attending last year. He got an email from the group recently saying that he was registered but they hadn't gotten the check for the fee. Shoap looked into it and found out that the city manager had canceled the trip without even telling him.

“I'll miss the guys, I love working there, but I'm tired of (the politics),” said Shoap. He added that he especially liked working with the younger guys and training the next generation of law enforcement. “I've worked as hard as I can work and the department has worked as hard as they can work.

He said in the last 2 months while he was waiting he had been contacted by 5 departments looking to hire him but he didn't even apply for those jobs. He said two of them were Murfreesboro and Lebanon.

He said he didn't have any specific future plans and that he and his wife bought a house and would like to stay here.

Long time Crossville police officer Mark Rosser has been named interim police chief for the time being. 

Council holds budget work session--final approval on agenda Monday at noon.

The Crossville city council spent an hour Friday June 24 reviewing the 2016-17 fiscal year budget in preparation of approving the final reading Monday June 27 at noon.

The budget stands at $1.2 million in the red with final adjustments made by finance director Fred Houston.  Those adjustments include projects carrying over from one year to the next. Link to PDF file of the full 2016-17 budget document.

The budget includes funds for the city to join the county's radio system and a new detective position for the police department.  Councilman Jesse Kerley questioned the need for the new detective position at a cost of $50,000 to $70,000 a year.  He felt the funds would be better used for new sidewalks.

Police chief Rod Shoap told the council he offered the additional positions as one of several options to improve service to city residents.  Shoap said that the council makes the decision and with out the new position his department would do at least as well as last year and possibly better.

"It's my job to give you the best information and you make the best decision," Shoap told the council.

Crossville Mayor James Mayberry, right, makes a point on the discussion of the 2016-17 budget while council members Pamala Harris, second from right and Pete Souza third from right listen. 

The city's water and sewer budget includes a 2 percent increase in water rates and 5 percent increase in sewer rates.  Those increases have been directed by the state comptroller's office after reviewing the budget numbers for the department. 

Council discussed the changes in funding from the E-911 and additional money is budgeted for the operation as the E-911 board has lost some funding and will not be paying one third of the operational costs as in previous years.  The state law only requires that the E-911 use its funds to maintain the equipment.

At the very end of the meeting, councilman Pete Souza suggested that the council be polled to determine if any changes should be made to the budget that had been discussed of the budget as presented put on the agenda for third and final reading at the special called meeting on Monday June 27 at noon.  

Mayor James Mayberry said he wanted the budget as presented and Mr. Souza agreed.  Council member Pamala Harris said she felt the detective could be left in the budget but wait a few months before the position is filled until things can be ironed out.

Crossville looks at joining the county radio system for emergency services

The Crossville city council is considering a large expenditure recommended by the Crossville police and fire chiefs and would put all emergency radio traffic on the county's current digital system.

During a work session June 16, Crossville police chief Rod Shoap explained to the council that he has serous concerns about the current VHF radio system the city is now using and encouraged the city to partner with the county on their new system. According to Shoap, the new county digital radio system is working extremely well and with the city's older system there are times and places that his officers can not adequately communicate to the emergency communications dispatchers, creating what could create a dangerous situation.

Crossville police chief Rod Shoap explains the need for new radios to the city council

Chief Shoap said that even he has be caught in a situation where he could not raise the dispatch on his radio while he was making a stop and had another officer not happened along there was a possibility that something could have gone wrong.

Part of Shoap's presentation included a recording of an example of the problems his officers have been having with there communication.  The video below shows the problems Crossville police officers face with the current system.

Poor radio communication example

In addition, the way the current radios work, the police officers can't talk directly to sheriff's deputies as the tow systems are incompatible with each other. Said Shoap, “The sheriff's office is my best business partner. If I can't talk to him then I'm in trouble. This change will solve all those problems”

County Mayor Kenneth Carey and Emergency Management director Kieth Garrison attended the work session and talked about the system and saying that they welcomed the city to join the system. In addition to law enforcement and fire departments, the system will be fully expandable into the future and allow the addition of utility maintenance, road departments and school buses when the need arises for communication.

Cumberland Co. Mayor Kenny Carey talks about the radio system benefits

Chief Shoap said that in a countywide emergency such as an ice storm, there could be as many as 250 people working in the field and on the radio system. “The radio is as important as the officer's weapon or the firefighter's turnout gear,” stressed Shoap. He added that the current system leaves a very real possibility for a responder to be hurt and the possibility for litigation as well.

Fire chief Mike Turner said, “I think it's time, last week we had a mutual aid fire and we couldn't communicate.” He added, The department is reaching a level of recognition statewide and the biggest drawback is communications. It's a hindrance.”

EMA director Garrison told the council, “For 30 years we've been looking for a good communications system and this is it.”

The total cost of the upgrade is estimated to cost $1,111,497.60 and that would include additional channel capacity for the county's system, necessary software upgrades and radios for police, fire, Catoosa, utility maintenance and Meadow Park. All the current radios used by the city would have to be replaced as part of the upgrade. Some value is expected with the trade in of the current radios that will offset up to about $100,000 of the cost.

According to Shoap, if the funding is approved by July 1 he expects the system would be up and running by October 1 this year.

The council must decide if they want to move forward with the project and the expense and if so, do they want to take money from the rainy day fund balance or as was recommended by city finance director Fred Houston use a short term capital improvement note to be paid back over three years.

The council discussed briefly in the work session that there was support for the three year note and Houston will put that in the 2016-17 budget.