A new and improved Geary City Council met Tuesday night in regular session.
The council has had to revamp itself after the resignation of the mayor and the intended resignation of two council members. Those resignations, though, were not in keeping with statute and thus void. After the departure of the mayor, the council members rescinded their emailed resignations.
At the forefront of the city’s issues was the Oct. 31 resignation of the police department en masse. J.J. Stitt had been asked to come in as a trainer for the department and when the chief and five officers resigned, citing lack of support from city government, he was appointed interim chief.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the council entered into executive session and after a protracted discussion emerged to name Stitt as chief of police.
His salary was set at $62,400 annually, based, said council member Sandra Cleveland, on his experience and qualifications. The job is for one year and includes the caveat of ample notification – at least 30 days – of intended separation from either party.
It seemed the lengthy discussion was in large part to find room in the city budget for the hire.
“We hope this is the basis for a future chief,” said acting mayor Rocky Coleman. “We included numbers for an assistant chief and four additional officers at a minimum starting rate of $18.50 an hour. We can get good officers with only $5,000 in budget amendments. We desperately need our police department and the idea that we (the council) don’t appreciate our officers is a false narrative,” he added.
There were some audience comments and the council seemed willing, if not eager, to hear them.
Tatum Wigington Harrell spoke to rumors that a former candidate for mayor had been granted access to the police evidence room and that items were missing. Stitt swiftly quashed that by explaining that the first day on the job the evidence room – without having been opened had been fitted with a two-key system similar to a bank deposit box. Stitt had one key, but the other is with a person in Weatherford, presumably a police officer. Stitt has not, he said, been in the evidence room and neither had anyone else. No one would be allowed in until he and the other keyholder could do a thorough inventory of the room, safeguarding the chain of custody of the evidence.
In other business, the council set longevity pay for employees, while excluding Stitt and the two newly hired police officers. The chief had no issue with that, as none of the three have been on the job even 90 days.
Council also set two special meetings so that current employees could come in and discuss issues, problems and air grievances in front of the entire council. Those are Dec. 3 and 5.
“I feel like some things are festering and we need to get them out in the open,” Coleman said, referencing past issues employees had brought to the mayor, only to be told the council would not address the problem, when the issue had never been brought to the attention of the rest of the council.