City Council approved separation agreements for CPD Chief Shawn Baer and Deputy Chief Doug Davis at a special meeting Wednesday.
City Hall will pay Baer $70,000 and Davis $69,000 within seven days and suspend the investigation into them.
Baer was suspended March 11 while the City investigated allegations of misconduct.
Baer’s replacement, Davis was suspended with pay March 25 due to alleged employee misconduct.
The Herald obtained copies of the Separation Agreements, which are included with the online version of this story.
“The City of Circleville has voted to authorize the Mayor to execute Separation Agreements with Chief Gary Shawn Baer and Deputy Chief Douglas Davis of the Circleville Police Department,” said a statement from City Law Director Kendra Kinney and Benjamin Albrecht, an employment attorney with the firm Fishel Downey Albrecht and Rienpenhoff that was hired by City Hall to handle this matter.
“The decision to enter into Separation Agreements with Chief Baer and Deputy Chief Davis was made to avoid further disruption in the City’s Police Department and minimize future legal costs incurred by the City. The City looks forward to continuing to serve the citizens of Circleville. The City shall have no further comment.”
Council voted 6-1 to accept the resignations and separation agreement with Sheri Theis, Tom Klitza, Katie Logan Hedges, Jeff Hallinin, John Moats, and Tom Duvall voting in favor of these measures while Zack Brooks voted an emphatic “no” in opposition to these measures.
As Brooks was leaving the meeting, he said to the media, “I’m disgusted, I’m sad. I feel like there is no justice when two men can do so much wrong in our community, commit so many atrocious acts against our police officers and the city can hand over $140,000 collectively between the two of them. I just hope that something more comes from state investigations and these guys get what they deserve.”
Brooks continued, “I’m not going to vote to give these two guys $70,000 a piece — It’s disgusting. It’s disgusting.”
When Brooks was asked why this was the best decision for City Hall, he answered, “We really do need new leadership in the police department. We need to clean it up as quick as possible, but I am disgusted that we are going to give them a slap on the wrist and them get away with $70,000 a piece.”
Brooks said he doesn’t think the City should’ve settled with Baer and Davis but instead pursued accountability and transparency .
“I voted no — I don’t think we should’ve done that. I think our citizens would much rather see us investigate these matters than give them a payout and move on.”
Brooks said he hopes the state continues to pursue its investigation.
“I hope the state gets ahold of these guys and looks into all the things they’ve been accused of because there’s more than enough there to put them away.”
Brooks said the City needs “to get rid of them, move on and get the police department under control. We need to have new leadership, there’s no denying that. The best thing out of this is that we’ll start to look for new leadership and hopefully have a quick turnaround.”
Brooks said he plans to continue to digging into CPD and he has been in contact with several former employees, union representatives and people who have worked with CPD, outside departments — “Anything that I can release, I will release when I’ve gathered up all of my evidence.”
When the Herald contacted Mayor Michelle Blanton for comment, she did not respond.
Council President Barry Keller referred the Herald to the statement issued by Kinney and Albrecht.
In addition to the $70,000 Baer will receive and the $69,000 to Davis — City Hall will pay them any accrued employment benefits — vacation, personal leave.
According to City Hall, Baer’s salary was $97,581.19 as of Jan. 1.
According to the Separation Agreement, Baer was paid $46.91 an hour and he had accrued 68.82013 hours of vacation leave and 16 hours of personal leave. When calculating how much that will cost, City Hall will pay Baer around $3,978 — minus taxes, withholdings, etc.
According to the Separation Agreement, Ohio acknowledges that Baer’s retirement date through Police and Fire Pension Fund is also April 11, 2024. so he shall receive payment for 50% of his accrued, but unused Sick Leave in accordance with City Hall’s policy. That means Baer shall be paid for 436.21869 hours of Sick Leave at his current hourly rate — a total of around $20,463 minus taxes, deductions, etc.
According to City Hall, Davis’ salary was $94,363.88 as of Jan. 1.
According to the Separation Agreement, Davis was paid $45.37 per hour and he had accrued 302.795 hours of vacation time and 16 hours of personal leave.
When calculating how much that will cost, City Hall will pay Davis around $14,463 — minus taxes, withholdings, etc.
Baer, 51, had been employed by CPD since October of 1995 and he was sworn in as chief since October of 2015.
According to the Separation Agreement, the City placed Baer on administrative leave March 11 with pay in order to conduct an internal investigation into allegations of potential misconduct, including but not limited to: harassment, intimidation, retaliation, threats of discipline, misuse of position, improper expenditures, failure to adhere to deadlines, and timekeeping violations.
The Separation Agreement said the City began its internal investigation into allegations of potential misconduct by Baer, but has neither completed it nor prepared any findings regarding the allegations of potential misconduct.
City Hall and Baer met April 3 to discuss an agreeable resolution in the interest of both parties.
According to the Separation Agreement, City Hall shall cease its internal investigation into allegations of potential misconduct by Baer, it shall make no findings against him regarding any of the allegations of potential misconduct. If the Separation Agreement is revoked by Baer, the City shall reinstate its internal investigation into the allegations of potential misconduct by Baer.
The Separation Agreement said Baer shall be reinstated to his position as Chief on April 10, but shall not return to work for the City and he agrees to voluntarily retire from his employment with the City effective April 11, which shall be irrevocable.
Also, Baer shall submit a notice of voluntary retirement to be maintained in his personnel file. Baer he will not seek re-employment with the City.
Davis, 44, had been employed by CPD since December of 2013.
Davis’ separation agreement says City Hall began its internal investigation into allegations of potential misconduct, but has neither completed it nor prepared any findings regarding the allegations of potential misconduct. City Hall met with Davis on April 3 to discuss an agreeable resolution.
According to the separation agreement, City shall cease its internal investigation into the allegations of potential misconduct of potential misconduct by Davis and shall make no findings against him regarding any of the allegations of potential misconduct. In the event the Separation Agreement is revoked by Davis, the City shall reinstate its internal investigation into the allegations of potential misconduct by Davis.
Separation agreement says though Davis shall be reinstated to his position as Deputy Chief of Police on April 10, he shall not return to work for the City.
The Separation Agreement said Davis agrees to voluntarily resign from his employment with the City effective April 11, which shall be irrevocable upon the signing of this agreement and that he shall submit a notice of voluntary resignation to be maintained in his personnel file.
The City, by executing this Agreement, accepts Davis’ voluntary resignation effective the April 11; also that Davis agrees that he will not seek re-employment with the City.
Most Popular
Comments / 0