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Former officer files for warrants against F’ville officials

By BEN NELMS
bnelms@TheCitizenNews.com

Harold Simmons will have his day in court after all.

The former Fayetteville police major filed applications Monday in Fayette County Magistrate Court for criminal arrest warrants against Mayor Kenneth Steele, all current City Council members and City Manager Joe Morton charging them with misfeasance and malfeasance in office.

Responding to Simmons’ warrant applications, Magistrate Judge Joe Tinsley set Aug. 17 as the pre-issuance hearing date.

Simmons had told the council during its Thursday night public meeting that he intended to seek the misdemeanor warrants against the top governing officials in Fayetteville.

Simmons was fired from his city job as a school resource officer in April, leading to his filing federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints alleging a hostile work environment.

Since the complaints were made public, Chief Johnny Roberts has retired and his second-in-command, Major Steve Ledbetter, has quit.

The mayor and council have steadfastly refused to comment on the police department controversy.

Malfeasance is defined by the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary as actual wrongdoing or misconduct by a public official, while misfeasance is the performance of a lawful action in an illegal or improper manner.

Speaking after the warrant applications were filed, Magistrate Tinsley explained the process that will be followed.

“The law says that anyone who files a criminal application seeking the warrant of another person, if a crime is alleged shall, meaning they must, have a hearing on the issue,” Tinsley said. “As a result of his application alleging a crime, I followed the law and I set a hearing for Aug. 17 at 9 a.m. Procedurally, the burden is on the applicant to establish that probable cause exists and that an offense has occurred.”

Tinsley said if the applicant does not meet the burden, no warrant will be issued and the matter as relates to the Magistrate Court would be concluded.

If any warrant were to be issued, then the persons named on the warrants would be arrested and taken into custody, go through a booking process, and at the conclusion of the booking process, can make bond, he said. The next court of competent jurisdiction will then notify them of their appearance.

“But in this particular offense that’s alleged, under the code citation that was cited in the applicant’s affidavit, although it’s a misdemeanor, the law says the matter must go before a grand jury,” said Tinsley. “And if the grand jury returns a true bill of indictment it then goes before a court of competent jurisdiction which in this case would be the Superior Court.”

In his July 21 remarks to the mayor and council, Simmons said he would be filing warrant applications at Fayette County Magistrate Court for the arrest of Mayor Kenneth Steele, each council member and City Manager Joe Morton for misfeasance and malfeasance.

The charges, Simmons said, stemmed from the improper performance of duties required of them in the city charter relating to the supervision of former Police Chief Johnny Roberts and City Manager Joe Morton.

“Said misfeasance resulted in damages to the general welfare of the citizens of Fayetteville and specifically to individuals employed or formerly employed by the city,” Simmons said in a prepared statement.

The charge of malfeasance, Simmons said, stemmed from their, “culpable neglect in the performance of their duties in relation to their supervision of Chief Johnny Roberts and City Manager Joe Morton. Said malfeasance directly affecting the welfare of the citizens of Fayetteville and specifically damaging employees and former employees of the City of Fayetteville Police Department.”

Specific to Morton, the warrant applications read essentially the same, referencing specifically Morton’s supervision of Roberts.

In the letter, obtained by The Citizen, Simmons said some city employees were compelled to support him silently rather than openly because they feared for their jobs.

With the upcoming Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigation resulting from his claim of discrimination related to his termination, Simmons he hoped city employees would feel safe in telling the truth.

“It is time to stop the era of ‘good old boy’ politics. Even though Johnny Roberts is no longer chief, the atmosphere of fear being created by the mayor, council and, in particular, the city manager, still exists. I feel Johnny Roberts was not alone in creating this hostile work environment,” Simmons maintained. “I’m asking the citizens of Fayetteville to vote against each of you at the time of your re-election if you so choose to run again. I believe each member of the council and the mayor has shown incompetence and dereliction of duties in the handling of the circumstances regarding my unjustified firing. I simply wished to get my job back but you are doing everything in your mismanagement of power to see that that will not happen. For this and many other reasons I wish to see your removal from office.”

During his remarks, Simmons asked for a show of hands of those on the council that voted against his getting his job back with Fayetteville Police Department. Steele responded, saying Simmons did not have the right to do that, adding that he thanked Simmons for sharing his thoughts on the matter.

After the meeting, Simmons referenced the city’s recent enactment of Martin Luther King Day as a stand-alone holiday for city employees.

“Maybe it took two EEOC complaints to finally get the City Council to make Martin Luther King Day a permanent holiday instead of a floating holiday,” Simmons said.

Simmons conflict with the city began when he filed two complaints with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in April alleging racial discrimination against Fayetteville Police Department.

The complaints followed Simmons’ termination from the department April 14 after he failed to comply with instructions to apologize to two fellow officers for taping them without their knowledge.

A hearing by an independent hearing officer determined there was no racial discrimination in the policies and procedures and, subsequently, upheld the orders to issue the apology. Simmons’ refusal resulted in his firing.

Since his termination in April, numerous former Fayetteville officers have come forward to support Simmons’ claims of a hostile work environment and a culture of fear and reprisal that existed inside the police department.

A significant number of current officers contacted The Citizen in May after being told by superiors that Morton said their attendance at the May 19 council meeting “would not be productive.”

At that meeting, Steele said he had no knowledge of the comment. Immediately after Steele’s statement, Morton said he had made the comment but had done so as a good-faith effort to let officers know that the city was responding to the issues surrounding Chief Roberts and Maj. Ledbetter.

Speaking anonymously prior to the meeting, several officers said they believed Morton’s comment was a form of intimidation aimed at preventing a show of support for Simmons and a number of former officers that had attended the previous council meeting.

Several former officers attending the meetings said Morton’s comment was an example of the atmosphere of intimidation present in the police department.

Roberts and Ledbetter unexpectedly ended their long-time tenure with the city on May 19. Ledbetter resigned and Roberts retired. Simmons has a pending EEOC lawsuit with the city.