News
Sports
ENLARGE
EL DORADO COUNTY — An El Dorado County Superior Court Judge ruled this week that South Lake Tahoe Police Officer Johnny Poland should be reinstated.
Poland has been embroiled in a more than two-year fight for his job after Police Chief Terry Daniels fired him in June 2007 for his alleged cover-up of a 2006 incident where a student brought a BB gun to South Tahoe High School.
The incident reached the courts last month after a January vote by the South Lake Tahoe City Council to appeal a December 2008 decision by a three-member hearing board. The board found Poland's handling of the incident at the high school justified a six-week suspension and a stipulation he not be assigned a position that would increase his pay for 18 months.
Even in light of Poland's past disciplinary record, the hearing board found the officer's actions at the high school did not justify dismissal.
On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Steven Bailey agreed.
In a 10-page decision Bailey said that Poland's actions at the high school showed a lack of good judgment, but did not entail the dishonesty that would compel him to overturn the hearing board's decision.
“The decision by the hearing board meticulously documents the findings and the reasoning for the imposition of punishment,” Bailey said in the decision. “While the court might, under different circumstances, impose a different penalty, it is not up to the court to second guess the specific reasoning for the penalty imposed by the hearing board.”
Poland received the news of Bailey's decision during a phone call with his attorney Steven Welty on Wednesday.
“I couldn't speak. I started shaking and crying out of happiness,” Poland said about his reaction.
From Poland's understanding, the city has 60 days to comply with the hearing board's decision or appeal Bailey's decision to the California Supreme Court.
“I don't have a lot to say at the monument considering legal proceedings are still in the works,” Poland said. “I must say it's unfortunate that this issue couldn't have been resolved 10 months ago, after both sides agreed to arbitration. Instead it's at a big loss to the taxpayers.”
Exactly how much has been spent on fighting Poland's reinstatement isn't known, but it's in the thousands of dollars, said Councilman Bill Crawford.
Despite Poland's concerns that the city could appeal Bailey's decision to the California Supreme Court, members of the city council did not signal there intention to do so on Thursday.
Councilmembers Hal Cole, Bruce Grego and Kathay Lovell — who voted in favor of appealing the hearing boards decision to El Dorado County Superior Court — said they would not seek an appeal to Bailey's decision.
“I accept the judge's ruling,” Lovell said. “I‘m sure (Poland) is happy about the decision and that he's going to be coming back to work and that's a good thing.”
Lovell said she wanted to move on with other issues facing the city.
But Crawford didn't sound quite as ready to get on with other business on Thursday.
Although Crawford said he was elated about Bailey's ruling, he said how the city handled the Poland situation is still very relevant to issues facing the city, especially the behavior of City Manager David Jinkens.
“Bottom line, the person responsible for all this is the city manager,” Crawford said. “He pushed very, very hard to get the city council to appeal the panel's decision.”
“I said to him when we heard the panel's decision ‘be graceful, gracious, put Mr. Poland back to work and don't spend a lot of money in this situation',” Crawford said. “Well, he did the contrary.”
Cole, Lovell, and Grego disputed Crawford's allegation that Jinkens prodded the city council into appealing the hearing board's decision.
“He says a lot of things lately,” Grego said. “I did not make a decision because the city manager told me to. I read everything directly.”
Mayor Birdwell did not return a message requesting comment on Thursday.
In an e-mail on Thursday, Jinkens said he believed — based on legal advice and the facts of the case — that upholding Daniel's 2007 termination of Poland was “unfortunately the only option.”
When the council considered appealing the hearing board's decision in January, “I expressed this belief to the City Council and agreed with the City Council that the only choice open was to have a court decide the matter,” Jinkens said in the e-mail.
“I have never had any personal animosity against Mr. Poland or his family. With the action of the court, I will do everything in my power to see him successfully integrated back into the department,” Jinkens added. “I expect the police department and all personnel to do the same and I have every belief that they will do so. I want him and the department to be successful.”
Police Chief Terry Daniels did not return a request for comment left with his assistant on Thursday.
Although Poland's relationship with Daniels has clearly been strained by the fight surrounding the officer's dismissal, Poland said he's elated to get back to a job he loves.
“I'm excited because that's my passion and I'm looking forward to going back and being with the guys and being involved with the whole community,” Poland said. “I get to walk in with my head held high.”
Poland has been embroiled in a more than two-year fight for his job after Police Chief Terry Daniels fired him in June 2007 for his alleged cover-up of a 2006 incident where a student brought a BB gun to South Tahoe High School.
The incident reached the courts last month after a January vote by the South Lake Tahoe City Council to appeal a December 2008 decision by a three-member hearing board. The board found Poland's handling of the incident at the high school justified a six-week suspension and a stipulation he not be assigned a position that would increase his pay for 18 months.
Even in light of Poland's past disciplinary record, the hearing board found the officer's actions at the high school did not justify dismissal.
On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Steven Bailey agreed.
In a 10-page decision Bailey said that Poland's actions at the high school showed a lack of good judgment, but did not entail the dishonesty that would compel him to overturn the hearing board's decision.
“The decision by the hearing board meticulously documents the findings and the reasoning for the imposition of punishment,” Bailey said in the decision. “While the court might, under different circumstances, impose a different penalty, it is not up to the court to second guess the specific reasoning for the penalty imposed by the hearing board.”
Poland received the news of Bailey's decision during a phone call with his attorney Steven Welty on Wednesday.
“I couldn't speak. I started shaking and crying out of happiness,” Poland said about his reaction.
From Poland's understanding, the city has 60 days to comply with the hearing board's decision or appeal Bailey's decision to the California Supreme Court.
“I don't have a lot to say at the monument considering legal proceedings are still in the works,” Poland said. “I must say it's unfortunate that this issue couldn't have been resolved 10 months ago, after both sides agreed to arbitration. Instead it's at a big loss to the taxpayers.”
Exactly how much has been spent on fighting Poland's reinstatement isn't known, but it's in the thousands of dollars, said Councilman Bill Crawford.
Despite Poland's concerns that the city could appeal Bailey's decision to the California Supreme Court, members of the city council did not signal there intention to do so on Thursday.
Councilmembers Hal Cole, Bruce Grego and Kathay Lovell — who voted in favor of appealing the hearing boards decision to El Dorado County Superior Court — said they would not seek an appeal to Bailey's decision.
“I accept the judge's ruling,” Lovell said. “I‘m sure (Poland) is happy about the decision and that he's going to be coming back to work and that's a good thing.”
Lovell said she wanted to move on with other issues facing the city.
But Crawford didn't sound quite as ready to get on with other business on Thursday.
Although Crawford said he was elated about Bailey's ruling, he said how the city handled the Poland situation is still very relevant to issues facing the city, especially the behavior of City Manager David Jinkens.
“Bottom line, the person responsible for all this is the city manager,” Crawford said. “He pushed very, very hard to get the city council to appeal the panel's decision.”
“I said to him when we heard the panel's decision ‘be graceful, gracious, put Mr. Poland back to work and don't spend a lot of money in this situation',” Crawford said. “Well, he did the contrary.”
Cole, Lovell, and Grego disputed Crawford's allegation that Jinkens prodded the city council into appealing the hearing board's decision.
“He says a lot of things lately,” Grego said. “I did not make a decision because the city manager told me to. I read everything directly.”
Mayor Birdwell did not return a message requesting comment on Thursday.
In an e-mail on Thursday, Jinkens said he believed — based on legal advice and the facts of the case — that upholding Daniel's 2007 termination of Poland was “unfortunately the only option.”
When the council considered appealing the hearing board's decision in January, “I expressed this belief to the City Council and agreed with the City Council that the only choice open was to have a court decide the matter,” Jinkens said in the e-mail.
“I have never had any personal animosity against Mr. Poland or his family. With the action of the court, I will do everything in my power to see him successfully integrated back into the department,” Jinkens added. “I expect the police department and all personnel to do the same and I have every belief that they will do so. I want him and the department to be successful.”
Police Chief Terry Daniels did not return a request for comment left with his assistant on Thursday.
Although Poland's relationship with Daniels has clearly been strained by the fight surrounding the officer's dismissal, Poland said he's elated to get back to a job he loves.
“I'm excited because that's my passion and I'm looking forward to going back and being with the guys and being involved with the whole community,” Poland said. “I get to walk in with my head held high.”
