PINE BLUFF -- After a lengthy and tense discussion by City Council members over a proposal to elevate the senior deputy chief of police to the assistant chief slot, the legislation's sponsor, Alderman Ivan Whitfield, pulled it from consideration.
The council also agreed to delay implementing a five-year extension to the city's waste management contract with Waste Management of Arkansas until council members can hold a special meeting to have concerns addressed that raised over the past few days.
The retirement of Assistant Chief Ricky Whitmore in September created a vacancy in the assistant chief position, which Whitfield said should be filled by the senior deputy chief until a permanent replacement can be named.
He cited stability in the chain of command and the need to have someone ready to step in quickly to the chief's position should the police chief be incapacitated or the position become vacant.
Department policy dictates the senior deputy would assume the chief's duties in the event of a vacancy or incapacity.
Earlier this month, at the Public Safety Committee meeting, Whitfield declared he would move forward with the ordinance despite getting pushback from Police Chief Kelvin Sergeant, who said he didn't want such legislation to be enacted.
"I sponsored this legislation because of a concern we have all expressed for public safety," Whitfield said. "I have personally been through many lawsuits, both being sued and suing the city for things that's not right, and I'm aware that there are some things that aren't right. And I sponsored this because I want to afford Chief Sergeant the same opportunity we've afforded every other chief of police that had an assistant chief."
Whitfield said all but one chief in the past had an assistant chief and that some even had two assistant chiefs. He then asked if he could bring Sergeant forward for questioning.
"My concern is that I'm going to jam this down his throat, and that's not my intention tonight," he said. "I just want this council to assure him that he has that responsibility to protect our community and give it to him. ... I want to address something that Alderwoman [Joni] Alexander said in the newspaper that she wanted me to allow Chief Sergeant to be chief. I'll tell the whole world, I retired 2½ years ago, and I've never told Chief Sergeant anything to do in 2½ years."
Mayor Shirley Washington, who fired Sergeant at the end of August but quickly reinstated him, said she and Sergeant discussed the matter and came to an understanding.
"There's nothing that says he cannot leave that position vacant for a period of time," Washington said. "The position can be left vacant, or it can be filled at the discretion of the police chief. Until he makes that decision, I think we should allow him that."
"Well, let me tell you what happened this weekend," Whitfield said. "Because I've been in lawsuits, and I can smell one coming."
The alderman said the deputy chief over patrol, Kelven Hadley, was out over the weekend so he asked a shift lieutenant who would be on call if a decision had to be made at a higher level than lieutenant.
"He said to me I would call the chief of police," Whitfield said. "So this weekend, Chief Sergeant was the chief, the assistant chief and the deputy chief. Ladies and gentlemen, that is absolutely wrong."
Washington pointed out that there are three other deputy chiefs on the force who have the same authority.
"The lieutenant said to call the chief," Whitfield shot back.
"Now the chief should have told the lieutenant to call the assistant chief, but he can't. He doesn't have one. Now if the chief comes to that podium and says he don't want an assistant chief, you all don't have to vote on this tonight because I'll pull it."
"If Chief Sergeant came to us and asked for this, I would support him in that," Alexander said. "But he said he doesn't want it. I know that Mr. Whitfield is really passionate and wants what he believes is best for the department because he was there for so many years and served as chief, but he's not the chief anymore. I wish he would step back and let Chief Sergeant run the department the way he thinks is best."
Alexander said Sergeant told the committee he did not intend to fill the position and did not want legislation put forward to force him to.
"I don't think you are directly forcing him, but to put this as legislation for us to vote on, it is forcing him to hire an assistant chief," Alexander said. "He said in that meeting in the most politically correct way possible that he did not want you to go forward with this ordinance."
When he came to the podium, Sergeant said he does need an assistant chief but he and Washington talked about the issue and a possible candidate she had mentioned wasn't acceptable to him, thus he left the meeting believing that he could not fill the position.
An ordinance to extend the city's solid waste management contract with Waste Management of Arkansas was placed on the calendar for a special meeting after it failed to gain enough votes to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on the second reading. The current contract expires Oct. 31.
Ordinances must be read three times before a move for passage may be made, which sometimes occurs in three successive meetings, and sometimes in one meeting if enough members present agree to suspend the rules.
The measure fell short of the six votes needed to suspend the rules when Alexander, Glen Brown Jr. and Win Trafford voted no on the question of the rules suspension.
City Attorney Althea Hadden-Scott, when asked about extending the contract for a few weeks until all concerns can be addressed, told the council that if the contract expires without the new contract being ratified, the city could lose garbage service because of a state law that would require a new contract to be put out for bid, a time consuming process that would go well beyond Oct. 31.