West Fork police, officials regroup after series of resignations

WEST FORK -- This small town's police department has had a rough few years.

A police chief and two officers resigned, and budget cuts trimmed the number of officers from six to five since 2010, according to records provided by the city treasurer.

At A Glance

West Fork Employee Loss

• Jeremy Selvey, Police: position cut December 2009

• Stephen Sprick, Parks: resigned July 2010

• Clay Hungate, Police: resigned August 2010

• Emily Holloway*, City Clerk: resigned February 2011

• Mike Nelson, Police chief: retired December 2012

• David Jones, Street/Utilities: resigned August 2013

• Frances Hime*, Mayor: resigned November 2013

• Allenia Brannan, Police (Clerical): resigned December 2013

• Sarah Setzer*, City Clerk: resigned December 2012; City Council: resigned – January 2014

• Clayton Stonesifer, Street/Utilites: resigned March 2014

• Vicky Mesplay, Librarian: resigned April 2014

• David Roebke, Parks Director: terminated April 2014

• John Collins, Police chief: resigned August 2014

• Joan Bachman, Librarian: retired November 2014

• Ken Ingalls, Police: resigned December 2014

*Elected Official

Source: West Fork Treasurer

The latest resignation came in December, soon after the city hired Bryan Watts of Lakewood, Colo. to be police chief starting this month. Officer Ken Ingalls ended about 14 years with the department in favor of a position of the same rank with Greenland Police a few miles north.

"I find it very difficult having to deal with the additional stresses within the workplace of alleged city corruption, wastewater treatment plant inequities, political struggles, favoritism and constructive discharge, all of which have plagued our city," Ingalls wrote in his resignation letter, referring to an inquiry into public corruption and problems at the water treatment plant.

A Washington County deputy prosecutor said last year he turned over corruption allegations to the FBI, which has refused to confirm or deny its investigation. The state fined West Fork tens of thousands of dollars in recent years for the water plant's pollution of the West Fork of the White River.

"Constructive discharge" is a legal term for when an employee quits to get away from an intolerable workplace.

"The combination was taking its toll on me physically and mentally," Ingalls, who lives in West Fork, said earlier this month. "There's folks that, in my opinion, feel like they control the whole town."

Former Police Chief John Collins resigned last August. He has since won a City Council seat. Officer Clay Hungate resigned in 2010, while Officer Jeremy Selvey was let go because of budget cuts in 2009, Treasurer Kristie Drymon said.

"I'm sure that it's been a hardship for them," Sheriff Tim Helder, a long-time West Fork resident, said of the department. But public safety hasn't suffered because of the turnover, he said. "I'm not aware of any major problems along those lines."

West Fork was able to fill the gaps with help from Greenland Police, Mayor Charlie Rossetti said, while Sgt. John Nelson temporarily took on the chief's duties. Watts said he hired James Scanlon, a former a Fayetteville police officer, to take Ingalls' place starting this week.

Rossetti hired Watts at an annual salary of about $55,000, roughly $10,000 more than Collins was paid.

The Lakewood Police Department has a national reputation for professionalism and leadership, according to the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The department claims more than 60 chiefs and sheriffs in the country have worked there.

Watts said he has family in Northwest Arkansas, and he and his wife were eager to set up in a town of 2,500 after living in a Denver suburb. He hopes to bring some Lakewood practices, such as comprehensive record-keeping of tickets, arrests and all other police matters, to his department.

"We still have a ways to go," he said. "It is going to take some work, but I'm excited about taking this department forward."

'IT'S VERY SURREAL'

Resignations at the Police Department fit into a broader pattern of public official and employee loss in West Fork. Ingalls wasn't alone in wanting to get out, according to several resignation letters.

Take the account from David Roebke, director of the Parks Department for about four years. The Parks Commission fired him last year.

"(I) was purposely set up to fail and pushed out the door ... due to a personal dislike and vendetta by a few commission members," Roebke wrote in an appeal of his firing to the City Council, which sided with the commission. "I have been harassed, bullied, humiliated, slandered and had my character and honesty destroyed."

More than a dozen people resigned, retired or were fired from city positions since 2010, including three elected officials. Mayor Frances Hime resigned in 2013 after disagreements with the City Council. Rossetti, then an alderman, took her place. City Clerk Emily Holloway resigned in 2011. Her successor, Sarah Setzer, resigned from that post, then won and resigned from a City Council seat. Setzer died last year at 66.

For comparison, the town has 28 part- and full-time employees, including elected officials, Drymon said.

"It's very surreal," Leslie Scates, a town planning commissioner, said.

Setzer, Collins, Scates, Ingalls and others pointed to incompetence or hostility in City Hall. Few were willing to be more specific and name the sources of the trouble. Scates said Mike Nelson, an alderman who retired as police chief in 2012, and several other City Council members strongly disliked Hime, but declined to say more.

Nelson and other aldermen didn't return several phone calls this month requesting comment.

"Everybody that has resigned -- Frances Hime, John Collins, Cassie Boyd, Ken Ingalls -- those were all extremely good people that West Fork needs," said Misty Caudle, who won her council race last November against Joe Toher. "In my opinion, they got bullied to the point that they quit. They got bullied and aggravated and constantly harassed.

"Maybe they (the harassers) didn't like the people's choice, they wanted someone else in those positions," Caudle added. When asked who "they" were, Caudle demurred. "I can't say that. They're still around."

'IN GOOD SHAPE'

On the other hand, some city employees resigned with nothing but kind words for the city, according to several interviews and resignation letters.

"What a joy it's been to work with all of the wonderful employees in the city," wrote Vicky Mesplay when she left her librarian job last year. "I will miss you all so much." Mesplay didn't return a phone call requesting comment last week.

Hungate, the police officer who resigned in 2010, said he'd only intended to stay a certain amount of time.

"My time as a West Fork police officer was great, and I served the community with the utmost concern for the public's safety and security," he wrote in a Facebook message. "The people I worked with and for were personable and went along great with the job.

"I am aware of the recent resignations at the city of West Fork, and they are of no concern to me personally," Hungate added. Selvey, the officer who left in 2009, declined to comment.

Mayor Rossetti said he didn't understand why many have resigned or know of any harassment in the government. He partly blamed "negativity" from a small group of people for pushing some to resign.

"We have a handful of people in West Fork who, for several years, have found everything wrong with West Fork," he said. He pointed to the new police chief, progress on hooking up the water and sewer system to Fayetteville's and a healthy park system as examples of positive city news that gets neglected. "Maybe what you ought to be writing about is all of that, because City Hall is in good shape."

Helder agreed, saying the instability of the past few years is an anomaly in several decades of steady government.

"You can always look in the paper and see a small town that has some problems. Well, West Fork finally found themselves in that position," he said. "We've got stability in the city government now. With Mayor Rossetti we've got the stability and leadership that we've been looking for."

Such optimism is shared by both sides.

"People are wanting some change," said Collins, the former police chief, pointing to the City Council's three new members, including himself. "I can't wait to see how the FBI investigation goes."

Dan Holtmeyer can be reached at dholtmeyer@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWADanH.

NW News on 01/25/2015

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