CROSSVILLE FLASHBACK: Recapping one year since interim police chief Rod Shoap's resignation

It's been one year since interim police chief Rod Shoap resigned after saying he was tired of waiting on the city to hire him as the full time chief. The original story of Shoap's resignation at the link just below remains the most read story ever posted on the Jim Young Reporter news blog

Rod Shoap Resigns. 

Former interim Crossville Police

Chief Rod Shoap

Following Shoap's resignation, Major Mark Rosser was sworn in as interim chief. After serving in that position for 6 months, the city hired back previously retired police chief David Beaty. As of June 30, exactly one year after Shoap's resignation, Rosser retired from the city and taken a position with Fairfield Glade Security.

Mark Rosser sworn in by Mayor James Mayberry

Rosser sworn in as interim chief. 

The day following Shoap's resignation, both then councilman Jesse Kerley and interim city manager Steve Hill reacted to the resignation and comments made by Mr. Shoap. Mr. Kerley stated that he wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Shoap got the city sued. Ironically, Mr. Shoap ended up suing the city and Mr. Kerley in federal court for age discrimination, libel and slander. The case remains under litigation.

Hill and Kerley comment on Shoap resignation.

Former city councilman

Jesse Kerley

Former interim city manager

Steve Hill

Kerley phone call following Shoap resignation. 

Shoap posted an open letter about his resignation on his Facebook page including a reference to texts from Councilman Jesse Kerley.  

Shoap Facebook Statement on his resignation

On July 3rd, Former city manager David Rutherford speculated that a big part of the reason he was fired was because he proposed to hire Shoap to the police chief position full time. Rutherford said his decision to try and hire Shoap as full police chief led Kerley to demand the city manager's resignation.

Rutherford speculates on why he was fired suddenly

Former city manager David Rutherford

Then in August 2016, interim city manager Steve Hill was asked in followup about the investigation that he and councilman Jesse Kerley claimed was started against Rod Shoap concerning treatment of a female police officer. Hill stated at that time that there was no investigation that he knew of and called it simply “talk.”

Steve Hill responds to question on alleged

Shoap investigation

Interim city manager Steve Hill responds to questions about "Shoap investigation." . 

Ultimately, Rod Shoap filed a law suit against the city and councilman Kerley claiming age discrimination along with slander and libel as a result of the actions and comments.  The lawsuit remains unresolved.

Shoap sues city and Kerley.

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New Crossville city manager expected to start March 6, already working on city budget.

Crossville's new manager Greg Wood is expected to officially start March 6 but has already received information on the city's upcoming budget preparation and is reviewing the data so he'll be up to date when he starts.

After ten months since the last professional city manager David Rutherford was removed from the position, Crossville has seen two two interim city managers and several employee morale issues.

The council has been searching for a manager for nearly 6 months and received some 40 applications. The council narrowed the list down to 6 and during the interview process three of those candidates dropped out of the running before the city selected Wood of Baker Florida for the position.

Council initially made the offer to Wood in a special called meeting February 7 and approved the draft of an employment contract during the regular council meeting February 14. The motion to approve the contract was unanimous with four votes in favor. Councilman J. H. Graham was absent as he continues to recover from recent surgery.

Council approves new city manager contract

In addition to the two year contract at a salary of $80,211 with a possible 10 percent raise in 6 months, the agreement includes a 6 month severance deal if Wood is not fired for cause. The effective date of the employment is March 6th and Wood will receive up to a $2500 moving allowance. Wood also receives health, disability and life insurance, a vehicle to drive and a $50 a month cell phone allowance.

During the interview, Greg Wood was asked for a series of words to describe himself and he responded that he was “genuine, a simple man, compassionate, logical, not taking himself too seriously and a team player.”

When asked about his impressions of Crossville, Mr. Wood said that “Crossville was a great place to live.” He said he had looked around and found out some things adding, “None of it scared me off.”

Greg Wood currently lives in Baker Florida. He holds a masters of public administration from the University of West Florida. From 2013 to 2016 Mr. Wood served as the county administrator of Harris County Georgia. From 2010 to 2012 he served as the county manager for Jasper County Georgia and from 2007 to 2009 as the county administrator of Holmes Co. Florida and similar experience back to 1984 along with a time in the military.

Wood did receive one of the highest ratings from the UT Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) consultants who ranked the initial list of candidates last November based on their experience.

The search for a city manager got underway in August last year with an initial deadline set for applications at the end of September and that deadline was extended twice because of a November election and new council members taking seats in December.   

Mr. Wood's resume is below:

Crossville Resident makes case to council to at least consider hiring David Rutherford back as city manager

With the top six city manager candidate pool down to only 3 left, a letter to council members from Crossville resident Liz Denton has come to light encouraging them to hire David Rutherford back.

Crossville has been without a professional city manager for 9 months since Rutherford was forced out in April 2016. 

Former Crossville city manager David Rutherford

Liz Denton is a Crossville resident who has been involved in the Horizon Initiative but her letter dated January 24 and addressed to all 5 members of the council states she is writing as a concerned and engaged citizen as well as a professional with 30 years experience in the area of organizational psychology 

Denton states, "In two years' worth of my observing both work sessions and Council meetings, it is clear that the different roles of Council (Board of Directors) and City Manager (CEO/President) are not always respected or followed. I question if this occurs because of a lack of clarity or understanding about the differing roles, or, perhaps more problematically, because of a lack of acceptance of this division of roles. Either way, this issue may be part of our city's history of a ridiculous amount of turnover of city managers."

She continues offering the following recommendation, "Since we're at the very beginning of a new year and a new Council and will soon have a new City Manager, professionally I would recommend the Council have a full analysis, discussion and agreement on the specific roles and responsibilities of the Council and the City Manager. There seems to be underlying misunderstanding and disagreement on these issues that by their very existence will create dysfunction and chaos and mistrust on the part of Council members and definitely mistrust on the part of citizens (and, ultimately, it will continue the dysfunctional pattern of city manager turnover)."

Denton said she felt that the manager candidates currently under consideration did not have the experience or qualifications of previous manager David Rutherford who also applied for the position.  She recommended that the council consider Rutherford for the position.  

Denton listed a number of reasons for her recommendation that council consider Rutherford:

• There was standing-room-only attendance during the first special-called suspension meeting and full attendance during the second special-called suspension meeting. This full turnout of concerned citizens occurred despite these two meetings being called with extremely short notice and during the middle of the day, a hardship for those with daytime jobs. And, obvious to anyone listening or paying attention, the overwhelming majority of angry and upset citizens who attended (or were unable to attend but talked extensively about it afterwards) wanted him to stay on board as our City Manager.
• He had an excellent working relationship with the majority of city employees, from department heads to office staff. At political risk to themselves, a significant number of city employees signed a petition to keep him as City Manager.
• His two years experience as our City Manager and familiarity with our entire governance and management system would mean that no time would be wasted with a brand-new person coming on board and having to learn everything and everyone. 
• The majority of citizens I've heard from, including in emails related to a survey I conducted last summer, believed there were no substantive reasons for his termination and who have expressed a wish that he was again our City Manager. You may not realize the anger that his termination generated among the citizenry at large, and I've heard comments related to that ever since and as recent as last week.

Denton talked about the history and her concern about "shady and sweetheart deals in Crossville's past and summed up her letter with the following statement, "Our community needs to heal. We need to collectively develop trust, optimism, citizen engagement and support of our elected officials, and more respect for citizens on the part of Council members. I strongly believe a re-hiring of David Rutherford would help heal the relationship of our Council and our citizenry and would show such good faith on the part of this new Council that the majority of citizens would rally round and support the Council. We could all move forward working together to solve our problems and realize more of the potential of our very wonderful community."

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!

New applicants for Crossville city manager include 2 who previously held the position

4 new City Manager applicants, including two former Crossville city managers have added their names to the applicant pool, now with a total of 38 names for consideration.

Former city manger applicants include the most recent regular city manager David Rutherford as well as former city manager Dan Collins who served as Crossville city manager between October 1993 and January 1997. In addition, two Crossville candidates

David Rutherford of McMinnville Tennessee who served as the last regular Crossville city manager but was dismissed by the previous make up of the city council. Rutherford's cover letter says, “Now that the dynamic of the city council has changed since the election, I would like to be considered for city manager.” Rutherford served as Crossville city manager from September 2013 to April 2016. Prior to that Rutherford served as city administrator at McMinnville from April 2007 to August 2013. He has numerous additional years of experience.

Robert “Dan” Collins another former Crossville city manager currently lives in Troutville Virginia where he serves as a resident engineer for Virginia Department of Transportation for Roanoke, Salem and Vinton, VA. Collins has a Master's degree in applied organization management. He served as city manager at Martinsville VA from July 2004 to April 2007, a city with a population of 16,000 and a budget of $94 million. Collins has also served as city manager at Moberly MO, Smyrna and Elizabethton TN and Buena Vista VA.

Tommy Biddix of Black Mountain NC was an intelligence Analyst for the US Army from 2006 to 2012 and has an Masters of Public Administration from Western Carolina University. More recent experience Biddix served as Assistant purchasing supervisor at Warren Wilson College, administrative planner for Brook KY and equipment coordinator/purchasing for Asheville/Buncombe Technical College.

Michael Hudson of Whitwell TN is currently an intelligence analyst for the FBI in Nashville. Hudson has a BS in political Science/public administration from UT Chattanooga. Hudson served as County Executive for Sequatchie County from 2007 to 2011 and as a county commissioner there from 2006-07. Other experience includes work for the IRS, Homeland Security-TSA and Cigna.

In addition, applicant and former interim police chief Rod Shoap has withdrawn his name for consideration as has Bill Atkinson of Crossville.

It is unclear if new candidates will be submitted to MTAS before a decision on interviews is made.

Previous applicants include:

Calvin Anderson of Coconut Florida currenlty serves a VP and chief audit executive of internal audit business consulting. He's held that position since 2014. Prior to that he served as director and chief internal auditor of the Ghazi District Council in Botswana South Africa. He holds an MPA and a BS in Accounting from Long Island University.

Terence Arrington of Greenville SC whose last job is county administrator for Darlignton Co. South Carolina. Arrignton served in that position from 1-2015 through 8-2016. Arrington has a Masters of Public Administration and is working toward and MBA. He has government experience since 2011 including deputy city administrator of Salisbury MD from 1-2014 to 1-2015.

James E. Ayers II of Asheville NC currently serves as the general services director of Asheville, a position he has held since October 2014. Prior Ayers served as assistant town manager and director of engineering and public works of Bluffton SC from 2008 to 2014. He holds a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University and a BS in Engineering from Vanderbilt.

Wayne R. Bodie of Orlando Florida currently serves as a captain in the Orange Co. fire and rescue department. He has worked for the department since 2005. Bodie holds an MBA and also works as a fire instructor. He has previous experience in financial services.

Robert G. Bray, Jr. of Pinellas Park Florida is seeking the position after retiring as the Community Planning Director for Pinellas Park Florida between 1995 and 2016.  Prior to that Bray had additional planning experience from 1985-95.  He also has a Masters of Public Adminsitration.  

Carl Brown of Tampa Florida is currently the senior financial analyst for the City of Tampa Florida and has held that position since June 2015. He oversees the fire department and police department budgets. From July 2014 to June 2015 he was a budget and management analyst for the Department of Homeland Security at Santa Fe New Mexico. Mr. Brown has a Masters of Public Administration in city management, economic development and urban planning from East Tennessee State University. He was an actor in Los Angles for 11 years.

David R. Burkett of Apple Valley CA currently serves as the project construction manager of Hesperia CA, a position he's held since 2005.  Previously he served as a project engineer for Yucca Valley CA and he has a BS in Business and Public Administration from University of Phoenix.

Micah Chappell of Moscow Idaho serves as building official for the city of Moscow ID. From 2007 to 20013 he served as supervising building inspector and Sr. plans examiner at Big Bear Lake California. Chappell holds a BS in Administration and Management from Columbia Southern University.  

Mike Chesney of Knoxville holds an MBA and is currently the administrator of the First Baptist Church of Morristown. The church has 70 employees and $3.1 million budget. From 2013 to 2015, Chesney served as the interim city manager of Millington Tennessee. Prior experience included many years of telecommunications and cable management.

Cary Colaianni of Eagle Idaho holds a masters in public administration as well as a Doctor of Jurisprudence (Law degree). Mr. Colaianni has 20 years of experience in municipal government including from 2004 to 2014 as the city attorney and law department director for Bosie Idaho. The department had 51 employees. From 1991 to 2004, he served as the Ada County prosecuting attorney in Bosie Idaho.

Steve Foote of Dunwoody Georgia serves that community as the Director of Economic and Community Development. He has served in that capacity as the employee of a contractor starting in 2014 and now as a direct employee of the city. Previously Foote served as director of planning for Mt. Juliet Tennessee from 2009 to 2014. Foote's education includes a BS in Geography and Biology and graduate work toward an Masters in Geography.

Bobby Goney of Crossville is a registered nurse that has worked in intensive care for the last several years, curently in Sparta and prior for Cumberland Medical Center. He holds an MBA in healthcare administration. In addition, Goney has previous experience in banking and accounting.

Jason Hall of Lyons Georgia where he has served as the current city manager since april of 2013. His previous experience includes serving as city administrator of Varnell Georgia between 2011 and 2013 and a codes enforcement officer for Ringgold Georgia from 2004 to 2011. Hall has an associates degree in education and additional course work in business management

Steven Hicks of Orlando Florida who previously worked as chief compliance officer for MasterCorp, Inc. 

Steve Hill, currently serving in the position of interim city manager after taking early retirement as the city's parks and recreation director in 2015. Hill has a BS in Business Administration from Tennessee Tech.

Frank Horvath of Crossville whose resume lists his current position as business and project manager of Crossville Smiles since January 2013. Mr. Horvath holds an MBA from University of Indianapolis and previously worked as project manager for SciSaves, LLC

James Hubbard of Bedford Texas currently serves and the assistant to the city manager at Colleyville Texas. Hubbard has held that position since January 2016 and prior to that served as the city's parks manager and a management analyst. He holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Lane Hayden Jones of Bonham Texas served as the deputy chief of staff-CEO of business operations for the Marine Corps community services for Camp Pendleton California. He currently works as a business analyst for the firm of Mason, Norris & Associates.

Daron E. Jordan of Madisonville Kentucky serves as that city's community development director, a position he has held since 2005. He holds a masters degree in organizational management, is a certified economic developer and also operates a consulting firm that specializes in grant writing and administration.

Bert Kenyon of Crossville currently operates Bert Kenyon & Associates, a consulting firm. Kenyon's previous employment includes Sr. VP of Yard World from 2008 to 2013 in Springville Utah. Kenyon has many years of sales and marketing experience and college classes in engineering and business.

Holly Lockhart of Holly Springs NC currently works as an inside sales representative for Boon Adams where she has worked since 2014.  She has experience in sales, consulting and insurance. She holds a Masters in Public Administration and her cover letter says she would consider negotiating a lower salary because she does not have the years experience requested.  

Catrina Maxwell of Milwaukee Wisconsin currently serves as the deputy clerk of the court for Milwaukee county. Ms. Maxwell holds a Master's degree in public service with a specialization in criminal justice administration.

Allen May of Urbanville IA last held the position of city administrator of Coal Valley Illinois. He started serving in that position in 2014. Prior to that position, May has zoning and planning experience back to 1974.

Jennifer James-Mesloh of Marquette MI holds a PhD in public affairs and a Masters in Public Administration.  Since 2013 she has served as assistant professor and program coordinator of the MPA program at Northern Michigan University.  In addition, she has worked for Advanced Research, Inc, a consulting business since 2003 as a consultant to public and non-profit agencies.

Louis A. Ogaard of West Valley City Utah holds a PhD in Botany and has 20 years experience with the state of North Dokota where he manage and environmental restoration program. His latest position was providing environmental support at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.

Michael P. Putt, Sr. of Memphis seeks the city manager position.  He has worked for the Memphis fire department since 1984 having retired earlier this year as director of fire services, a position he held since 2014.  He served as deputy director of fire services from 2008 to 2014.

Adam R. Rabe of Marengo Iowa. Mr. Rabe has served as director of the Iowa Co. Iowa EMS since 2008. Part of his tenure was as a hospital employee then the EMS service became part of the county operation. In addition, Rabe served 8 years on the Marengo city council, currently serves on the local 911 board and holds a BS in public administration.

Sammy J. Ragsdale of Dodge City, Kansas is the assistant county administrator of Ford County Kansas and from September 2015 to March 2016 he was the chief financial officer of the High Country Council of Governments at Boone County North Carolina. Previous positions incude a city management consultant in Burlington Colorado, City manager of Clifton Texas and a US Navy veteran. He has a BS degree and graduate work towards an MBA.

Christian Saxe currently holds the position of assistant public works director at Spring Hill Tennessee, a position he's held since October of 2015. From 2008 to 2015 Saxe was deputy director of public works for the city of Orange California. He holds a bachelors degree in public administration.

Harry Staven of Richland WA most recently worked as the finance director of Bandon OR and before that as city administrator/planner of Hoona AK.  He worked in municipal management since 1989 at various levels.  He served 6 years on the board of the Richland WA housing authority.  He holds a Masters of Public Administration.

Dennis Sparks of Hopewell Virginia has experience as various city/village managers from 1999 to 2005 in several different states. Sparks is currently a management and aviation consultant as well as a pilot and flight instruction. Sparks has an MBA.

Tina Tuggle of Kingston Tennessee is currently a municipal finance trainer and previously served as the city manager of Oliver Springs Tennessee from June 2012 to November 2014. She also served as Oliver Springs' city recorder from 2010 to 2012. She holds an associate degree in legal science. 

Ryan Schmidt of Nashport Ohio is currently manager of Stone division and landscape design. From 2010 to 2016 her served as general manager of the Vista golf course at Nashport OH. He has a BS in Horticulture and agriculture from Ohio State University.

Greg Wood of Baker Florida has a masters of public administration from the University of Florida. From 2013 to 2016 Mr. Wood has served as the county administrator of Harris County Georgia. From 2010 to 2012 he served as the county manager for Jasper County Georgia and from 2007 to 2009 as the county administrator of Holmes Co. Florida and similar experience back to 1984.

Previous applicant Jordan Shaw of Franklin TN requested that his name be removed from consideration for the position. 

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.