Cloverdale council backs city manager in police probe

Cloverdale City Council members say they know little about why City Manager Paul Cayler placed Police Chief Mark Tuma on administrative leave but support Cayler’s decision to launch an investigation, which has shaken the small town and usual collegiality among department heads.

Council members this week defended the need to hire an outside investigator to look into the unspecified allegations involving the 59-year-old police chief and his department, that led to his being put on paid leave after nine years as Cloverdale’s top cop.

“I don’t even know the fine details of the complaint. That’s not my purview,” Mayor Bob Cox said Friday. “The city attorney said it’s some sort of performance thing … with a particular officer, or officers. How he (Tuma) is related, I don’t know.”

Council members and Cayler said because it involves personnel matters, they are constrained in what they can divulge, because the law is strict about protecting employee privacy.

“This is what I can say: There is currently a pending investigation into charges of alleged misconduct,” Cayler said this week. “I can’t comment further. I’d like to share more details, but with a pending personnel matter, I’m prohibited by state law from discussing it.”

Cayler’s decision to place the chief on paid leave created a backlash that erupted into full view at a City Council meeting last month, with critics calling for the city manager’s ouster and a complaint aired by Police Sgt. Keith King that Cayler created a stressful and hostile workplace environment.

But council members generally support the city manager, saying he is obligated to look into complaints involving the police department, particularly at a time of heightened public demand around the country for more police accountability in the face of controversial officer-involved shootings.

“When an accusation is made against the police department - whether it’s valid or invalid - an investigation has to be done,” said City Councilman Gus Wolter. “All we are doing is following the letter of the law.”

Wolter said the investigation is “not about the chief. It’s about the department.”

“I know no one has accused a particular officer of anything. It’s just a department investigation, is all I’m allowed to say and pretty much all I know, “ Wolter said.

The struggle at the top echelons of city government pits Tuma, a former Chicago street cop with a policing style Wolter describes as “likeable … nothing heavy handed, kind of like Mayberry,” versus “an excellent” city manager who is “very engaged in our community, an individual who follows up with what he says.”

How the investigation is affecting police morale remains an open question.

Sgt. King, a 31-year veteran of the Cloverdale Police Department who retired earlier this month, described a short-handed department in turmoil.

“It’s putting a divide right down the middle of the department where no one trusts anyone,” he said.

Officer Damian Eglesfield, president of the Cloverdale Police Officers Association, disagreed, saying “I don’t think the majority of the membership views it that way.”

But he acknowledged that “obviously we are human. It is kind of a stressful time.”

“Although this is going on now, ultimately we are not going to lose sight of our primary goal - to protect and serve the community,” Eglesfield said.

City leaders said the department’s ability to handle calls and respond to the public has not been hampered.

“We have a very professional police department. The men and woman are taking care of business, providing service,” said Councilman Joe Palla, a former Cloverdale police chief himself who was recently appointed interim police chief at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Cloverdale, whose population is around 8,600, has 10 sworn officers, five dispatchers and a technical services manager. The department is authorized for 13 sworn officers, however, and is recruiting to fill vacancies following the retirement of two sergeants and the departure of an officer who took a job in Novato.

In Tuma’s absence, retired Healdsburg Police Chief Susan Jones was hired to act as interim chief in Cloverdale. She is being paid $60.10 an hour, which is equivalent to the $125,000 salary Tuma earns.

Chief Tuma, who is traveling in Scotland this week, said previously that he was ordered by the city manager not to talk about the investigation involving him.

“I can’t comment on the allegations other than to say to my knowledge it doesn’t involve anything criminal, or anything outside of the inner workings and policies of the police department, “ Tuma stated in an e-mail Friday.

The chief’s wife, former Planning Commissioner Susan Bennett, said previously she had seen the allegations. She declined to elaborate, other than to say “when you look at it, it’s just a farce.”

Council members got initial word of the investigation in a closed-session briefing last month with the city attorney, but apparently were given scant details.

The briefing took place under an agenda listing of “potential litigation” against the city, a catch-all that can encompass a wide range of topics for closed-door council discussions, including personnel matters.

Council members interviewed this week gave slightly differing versions of what they were told about the imminent investigation.

City Councilwoman Mary Ann Brigham said City Attorney Jose Sanchez told them the city would be hiring an outside investigator for the inquiry into the police department, as well as the city manager.

“That’s all we know,” she said. “It may end up being a tempest in a teapot, or there may be some truth to it. Who knows until the investigation is done.”

Councilman Joe Palla said a complaint made to the city manager set off the police department investigation.

“He received allegations of inappropriate conduct and inappropriate things going on. I don’t know what those things are,” Palla said.

Councilwoman Carol Russell was even more vague.

“I’m aware of the investigation and aware that it’s in process,” she said. “The exact details, we don’t get a lot of information because we are not entitled to know at this point.”

On Friday, City Attorney Sanchez said Cayler consulted with him before hiring former Pinole Police Chief Paul Clancy, who heads his own investigative services firm, to conduct the investigation into the police department.

An apparent separate investigation involving Sgt. King was opened up after the sergeant filed a formal complaint against the city manager for what he described as workplace harassment and possible violation of the state’s Anti Bullying Act.

King and Bennett raised questions about Cayler’s departure from his previous job as city manager in Willits and suggested he was let go in the Mendocino County town because he had driven out longtime city employees, similar to what he trying to do in Cloverdale with the police chief.

Cloverdale City Council members said they looked into the circumstances of Cayler’s departure from Willits before he was hired two years ago and concluded his contract was not renewed because there was a new City Council in place and they wanted to go with someone else.

The Willits City Council at the time issued a statement saying Cayler can be proud of his accomplishments there.

“We did our due diligence in prescreenings of Paul Cayler,” Palla said.

King said he recently was interviewed for more than two hours by a labor law specialist hired by the city to look into the complaint he filed against the city manager.

It stems from an incident Feb. 27 when King returned to work after the deaths of his mother and uncle, which occurred within a short time of each other. On his first day back, King said, the city manager called him to his office to tell him he was the subject of an internal investigation.

“As I sat down, he pushed a letter across the desk at me and said ‘sorry to hear about your Mom,’?” King said.

King said it was a “cold-blooded” gesture that “emotionally hit me really hard.”

The sergeant said he was accused of falsifying documents that went into the field training manuals.

“I was at a loss as to what they thought I was falsifying,” he said. “What I was accused of was super minor.”

But to avoid any more stress, he said he decided to retire immediately.

He said he didn’t retire due to the investigation, “but because of how I was being treated.”

King said he believes Cayler came after him to try to show the police chief wasn’t doing his job.

When King aired his story at the City Council last month, Cayler apologized to him saying “if you felt disrespected the day you came into my office, I apologize.”

City Attorney Sanchez said Friday he is hoping the investigation will conclude in a few more weeks. He said he will review the findings with the city manager, who has the authority to fire the chief and ultimately make a decision on whether there will be any disciplinary measures imposed.

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemo?crat.com. On Twitter?@clarkmas.