Rohnert Park to pay $75,000 to police officer city accused of misconduct in exchange for his resignation

A Rohnert Park police officer will resign for alleged misconduct and receive a $75,000 cash payment, under a settlement agreement in which he agrees not to sue the city.

City Council on Tuesday is expected to approve the agreement with the officer who has been on paid administrative leave since April 2018.

An internal affairs investigation concluded in July that Officer Joseph Huffaker, 34, “engaged in misconduct that warrants termination,” according to a report the city attorney’s office submitted to the council. In November, the city informed Huffaker it intended to fire him with cause - a punishment he challenged in refuting any misconduct, saying he would appeal, according to the report.

City Council then directed the city attorney and city manager Darrin Jenkins to reach a separation agreement that would lead to Huffaker’s resignation. The agreement, subject to council’s approval, calls for Huffaker to receive $75,000 from the city’s general fund within 30 days of him submitting his resignation. Huffaker has agreed to waive any claims against the city and an appeals process.

“It was a way to terminate him and guarantee that he never works for the city again,” Jenkins said Monday, declining to offer details about the findings of the internal investigation. “There was misconduct that we thought warranted termination.”

Reached by phone Monday, Huffaker declined to comment.

He was one of two members of the city’s public safety department placed on paid leave last April, while the city conducted an investigation into a controversial Highway 101 drug-and-cash interception program for which he was involved. The drug seizures led to two federal civil rights lawsuits against the city, and Huffaker is a co-defendant in both suits. Sgt. Brendon “Jacy” Tatum, who was the department’s top drug seizure officer and is a co-?defendant in one of the suits, was the other placed on leave, but subsequently left the agency in June.

Over the course of three years beginning in 2015, Rohnert Park officers seized more than $2.4 million in cash and assets along the Highway 101 corridor, many times near the Sonoma-Mendocino county line - more than 40 miles north of the city limits. Two motorists who each said they were pulled over and had pounds of legal marijuana wrongly taken during these traffic stops have since filed federal civil right lawsuits against the department and Huffaker is a co-defendant in both suits.

Brian Masterson, director of Rohnert Park’s dual police and fire agency since 2008, was also named in one of the lawsuits and left the department in the midst of the internal investigation, opting for an early retirement in August. An interim director was hired before the city appointed Tim Mattos in December to lead the department.

A message left for Mattos went unreturned Monday. But in a video the city produced and posted Friday on its website, he said he’s been impressed by his team three months into the job.

“The department has faced concerns and criticism over the past year regarding the actions of a limited number of officers,” Mattos said in the video. “These allegations against them should not impact, nor do they represent, the dedicated members of the Public Safety Department. I have found members of the Public Safety Department to be a cohesive group of men and women, who are dedicated to this community, who care about our residents, who are extremely professional and who exhibit the highest levels of integrity. I am honored to be your public safety chief and very proud of our team.”

Today, Huffaker remains a city employee but not on active police duty, Jenkins said. In 2017, Huffaker earned $187,105, which included $92,028 in overtime pay, according to city payroll records. He also received benefits valued at $26,547.

Salary figures for 2018 are not yet available from the city. However, the $75,000 settlement payment would represent about 90 percent of Huffaker’s total regular pay from 2017.

Mayor Gina Belforte said she still has faith in the city’s public safety department despite past challenges. She believes in Mattos and a new leadership structure that includes two deputy chief positions filled by internal promotions and the reintroduction of lieutenant positions to offer more day-to-day supervision.

“I stand behind that department,” Belforte said Monday. “In any organization, you’re going to have problems, and so it’s how does that organization deal with the problems, and we’re definitely dealing with whatever issues come up when they come up. What is most important to me is that we’re moving in the right direction, and I believe we are with public safety.”