Pubdate: Sat, 01 Apr 2006 Source: Daily Sentinel, The (Grand Junction, CO) Copyright: 2006 Cox Newspapers, Inc. Contact: http://www.gjsentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2084 Author: Mike Saccone, The Daily Sentinel Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?247 (Crime Policy - United States) COUNCILMAN CRITICAL OF CITY MANAGER Doody Rips Arnold's Tactics in Investigation of Fire Chief A day after it was publicly revealed that Grand Junction Fire Chief Rick Beaty was the subject of a federal drug investigation, a City Council member sharply criticized City Manager Kelly Arnold's leadership and handling of the city's internal review of Beaty, calling Arnold the "weakest link" in the chain of the city's top administrators. Councilman Jim Doody said Friday that during a two-hour meeting with City Attorney John Shaver and council members Wednesday morning, Arnold told council members that "Rick was the weakest link in the management team." Council members said Beaty submitted his letter of resignation after meeting with Arnold earlier that morning. "Irregardless of the allegations (against Beaty), it's my opinion Kelly may well be that link," Doody said. Informed of Doody's comments, Arnold responded, "I respect Jim's opinion. Jim is a council member. He has every opportunity for his opinion." Arnold said he doesn't recall the exact words he used but said he wouldn't deny Doody's claims about what the city manager said. He said his comments about Beaty were meant to be a broader assessment of the fire chief and what his departure meant for the city. "I think it was an overview question of: Does this hurt the Fire Department? Does this hurt the management team?" Arnold said. "Essentially, it's a loss, but Rick is replaceable. We are looking for a strong leader." The city's elected officials voiced divergent opinions Friday about how city administrators dealt with the fallout from a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation of Beaty for suspected drug use last year. Two law-enforcement sources close to the investigation told The Daily Sentinel that an undercover officer secretly recorded Beaty saying he had used drugs. But Suzanne Halonen, an agent with the DEA office in Denver, said agents were unable to put together enough evidence to prosecute Beaty. A report and a compact disc recording were forwarded to city officials for their review. Halonen said the DEA first provided information about its investigation to the city in September. City officials sought more information in January and a complete file was turned over Feb. 1, Halonen said. Council members said Arnold told them about the investigation in general terms around the beginning of the year. They said Arnold told them the DEA was conducting an investigation involving Beaty but didn't give any other details. Arnold told the Sentinel on Thursday that he learned the investigation had been completed when prosecutors called him in December. City Attorney John Shaver and a Grand Junction police captain conducted a preliminary review of the information, and Shaver made a recommendation to Arnold on Feb. 14. Shaver has declined to say what he recommended, but a source has told the Sentinel that Shaver advised Arnold to fire Beaty. Arnold said he planned to initiate a formal review of Beaty after receiving Shaver's recommendation. But before he could do that, he said, Beaty resigned. Some council members said they approved of how Arnold handled the situation, noting that Beaty wasn't charged with any crime. "We are all subject to having allegations made. I don't know what the fire chief did or didn't do. The DEA has said there is nothing he did wrong that we can prosecute, so that's kind of the end of the story for me," Councilman Gregg Palmer said. A majority of council members said they agreed with Arnold's decision not to pursue any administrative action against the fire chief. While some declined to comment about the issue or said they were unsure if action should have been taken, no council members said Beaty should have been placed on administrative leave or fired based on the information presented to the city. Councilwoman Bonnie Beckstein said she believes Arnold should have informed council members about the investigation sooner than he did. She said she also thinks Arnold should have acted more quickly with the city's internal review. Former Grand Junction Police Chief Greg Morrison said he notified Arnold in September that the DEA's investigation was finished. Arnold said he was preparing to initiate a formal review of Beaty when Beaty resigned this week. "I would have liked to have a quicker response, a quicker decision, once they had the information available to them," Beckstein said. "That maybe could have been handled a little differently. "I just think this is one of those issues where you're dealing with public safety. You really need to make sure you're on top of it." Doody said Arnold should have confronted Beaty some time after learning the DEA's investigation was completed and given him an opportunity to respond. "Why didn't this get moved on? Why are we sitting around not acting on it?" Doody asked. Councilman Jim Spehar, though, defended Arnold's handling of the investigation, saying the city manager was told to not compromise the DEA's investigation. Releasing too much information about an ongoing probe or taking action against Beaty could have hurt the investigation. "He did what I think I would have done," Spehar said. Beyond the reasons for Beaty's resignation, Doody said he's concerned that the city has lost three department heads in the last four months. Morrison left the department in December, partially because he wanted to retire and partially because he was tired of fighting opposition to his philosophy of neighborhood policing, he said. Community Development Director Bob Blanchard left last month, saying he had grown weary of a heavy workload and a negative perception of his department. Beaty denied any involvement with drugs and told the Sentinel he was simply tired of being in the public spotlight. Doody said he's concerned those department heads wanted to leave and said he believes Arnold and his leadership style factored into their decisions. "It concerns me that he's (Beaty) tired, and other managers are now tired," Doody said. "We're talking about young men who still have a lot to offer. It's leadership that's going to take you over the hill, and I just don't see that happening, where people are enthusiastic about their job and want to do their job." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake