IMPERIAL CHIEF WINS JOB BACK
Long-time Imperial Police
Chief Avis Moore was reinstated as police chief after a long
investigation and recommendation that she be fired by the city manager.
Ironically the city manager who made the recommendation lost his job as
a result.
On February 14, 1996,
newly hired City Manager Baldev Josan placed Moore and three other
police officers on administrative leave with pay while he conducted an
investigation into misconduct allegations. Josan hired outside attorneys
to conduct the investigation that lasted nearly five months.
After the investigation
was concluded the city manager recommended termination for Moore.
The recommendation must be confirmed by the City Council.
Moore was represented by
LDF Panel Attorney Everett Bobbitt of San Diego. Hundreds of pages of
"Skelly" documents were provided to Moore by the city manager.
Not only did the
documents fail to support any of the sustained allegations, virtually
every procedural right normally provided to police officers was ignored.
Faced with what was expected to be a long legal battle with the City of
Imperial, Moore prepared to meet with the City Council expecting the
worst.
Moore insisted on the
right to a public hearing because she knew that the charges would not
withstand public scrutiny. The City Council also reviewed for the first
time all of the investigative documents amassed to support the city
manager's recommendation.
When the public notice of
a special City Council meeting was posted it was apparent that the tide
had changed in Moore's favor. Not only was the recommendation of the
city manager on the agenda, a recommendation to terminate the city
manager was scheduled as the only other agenda item.
The council meeting had
to be moved from City Hall to the VFW hall to accommodate the overflow
crowd that turned out to support Moore. On June 12 the council met to
determine the fate of Moore. In rather short order the recommendation
for discipline was voted down unanimously by the council.
The council then retired
into executive session for 20 minutes. When they returned, City Manager
Josan immediately resigned his position.
It is rare indeed when
the result of a recommendation for termination results in the person
making the recommendation losing their job. Chief Moore is back to work.
She did not ever expect
to need PORAC LDF legal representation. She has expressed her gratitude
for the instant help provided to her by PORAC LDF staff and the
attorneys from the LDF provider.
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