Harold Holmes was the chief of a small police force
in Tulelake, a small town near the Oregon border. His first year on the
job was fine, but with the election in November 1998, a new group took
over the city council. In just about three months, the new city council
was placing Holmes on administrative leave and moving to terminate him.
Unfortunately, for this new council, under Tulelake’s personnel
ordinance, they had to have cause to discipline even the chief.
Nonetheless, the new council moved ahead with the termination, citing
some 27 allegations of misconduct and poor performance, even though just
several months before the previous council had no problems with Holmes’
work.
The case was heard by arbitrator Catherine Harris. By
the time the hearing had concluded, only 5 of the original 27
allegations even remained to be decided, the others having been dropped
by the city during the course of the hearing. After examining the
evidence of the remaining charges, the arbitrator stated:
"The appeal is granted in its entirety. The
city has failed to establish cause for the Appellant’s [Holmes’]
termination from his position as chief of police. The evidence is
insufficient to support any of the charges."
Holmes’ attorney, LDF panel attorney, Bill
Williams, of Sacramento, stated:
"The fact that they dropped over 80 percent
of the allegations before the end of the hearing says a lot about
what was going on here. We believe that the charges were really just
a smoke screen for a political agenda emphasizing a lax enforcement
posture and the new council’s desire to directly control law
enforcement in the town. It’s the second time I’ve been involved
in a case up there where enforcement of the law seemed to be the
root of the problem. As can be seen from the arbitrator’s
decision, I just don’t think they understand what ‘cause’ for
discipline means. The problem is that even though there was no ‘cause’
for discipline, they were still able to put Chief Holmes’ law
enforcement career in jeopardy just by making the charges. I’m
very glad the arbitrator gave us such a strong and clear decision,
because that dispels any notion that the city had a legitimate basis
for discipline."
Holmes is happy the ordeal is over so that he can get
on with his career. He expressed his sincere appreciation for the strong
defense provided by Williams, stating: "Without LDF, I would have
been at their mercy."
