Matlow, Porter point to 'cover-up' on officer drug test; Mayor defends City Hall handling

Tallahassee City Commissioners Jeremy Matlow and Jack Porter tried to turn up the heat on city management over a police officer who was kept on the force after testing positive for drugs amid concerns from the city attorney and others about proposed new contracts with the police union.

Matlow and Porter joined with concerned citizens and political allies on Monday for a news conference to criticize the hasty upcoming vote on the contract, the city’s handling of the officer and the abrupt firing of Ellen Blair, the city’s long-serving Human Resources director who had raised red flags about the police officer.

“When we look at this entire issue, what we see from city government, city management and communications, has frankly been a cover-up of illegal drug use at the Tallahassee Police Department," Matlow said. “Now they’re engaged in disinformation so the police department can continue to use drugs without any consequences if they see fit. That’s wrong.”

The news conference, held outside the Time Saver on Brevard Street, prompted Mayor John Dailey to hold a media availability later that day outside TPD headquarters. Dailey said he supports TPD Chief Lawrence Revell’s decision to retain the officer, City Manager Reese Goad’s decision to fire Blair and new contracts with the Police Benevolent Association.

Subscriber exlusive:TPD chief opts not to fire officer who tested positive for drugs over City Hall advice

Aftermath Part 1:TPD officer's positive drug test becomes a breaking point for already torn city commission

Aftermath Part 2:City HR director who raised alarms about TPD drug test fired; claims city 'retaliation'

The PBA contracts, which come up Wednesday for City Commission approval, include raises for officers, investigators, sergeants and lieutenants and higher pay for starting officers.

“This is actually a historic opportunity of the PBA and the city coming together so quickly in agreement on the salaries of not only new hires but our current police force,” Dailey said. “I’m really excited where we are, and I expect it to be ratified.”

Current collective bargaining agreements expire on Sept. 30. Negotiations with the PBA resulted in new three-year agreements that includes raises for all bargaining unit members, according to city agenda materials.

The city estimated the three-year “base cost” for the wage component of the agreement at $6.13 million dollars. The estimated cost for the pension agreements, in fiscal year 2024 alone, is $239,000. Starting salaries for police officers and investigators would increase from just under $50,000 to over $60,000.

The proposed contracts were discussed Feb. 22 during a closed, executive session of the City Commission that included the top four appointed officials and the city’s negotiator. Dailey described it as a “great conversation” that ended with unanimous direction from commissioners.

However, City Attorney Cassandra Jackson and Treasurer/Clerk Jim Cooke raised concerns about the contracts in recent emails. Jackson, in a Monday email to management and commissioners, said neither she nor her staff got copies of proposed amendments in the PBA contract before tentative agreement was reached. She said that historically, her office “has been kept in the loop” by HR on collective bargaining agreements.

“My office provides legal guidance to city staff in drafting CBA provisions, adherence to the statutory collective bargaining process and other city legal requirements that interface with the collective bargaining process,” Jackson wrote. “Finally, should there be an impasse, my office serves as legal counsel for the governing body. It is most difficult to provide this service if there is not a free flow of information between our offices.”

Cooke, in an email Thursday to city management and commissioners, wrote that he will ask actuaries in his office to calculate the fiscal impact of pension changes but won’t have that information ready by the time of the vote.

“Increasing pay scales significantly will increase benefit costs because officers will retire at higher compensation levels than anticipated,” Cooke wrote. “That will require increased funding, but we don’t know how much.”

Dailey supports city manager's firing of HR director, though he says timing 'wasn't the best'

The police officer’s case came to light earlier this month in reporting by the Tallahassee Democrat, which detailed how he avoided automatic termination after testing positive last summer for amphetamines. All other city employees who either tested positive or refused a test over a two-year period before that were fired.

Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell opted to retain the officer based on his explanation — that he took a family’s member’s Adderall — and the advice of a review doctor, who said the officer’s story could account for the test results.

Any controversy over the police officer only increased after the surprising firing of Blair, which happened March 10, less than 48 hours after city commissioners and staff discussed the officer’s situation at length during a commission meeting.

Blair, who served as the city’s HR director for nearly a decade, was among staff who raised alarm bells last year about the officer. In emails with city brass, Blair wrote that the officer’s positive test was a “big deal” that could put fellow employees “in harm’s way.” She also worried it could bind the city under collective bargaining in how it handles similar drug-test cases in the future.

After her termination, Blair issued a statement saying her termination was “in retaliation for certain reports made to city officials.” City Manager Reese Goad and city communications staff have been publicly silent on why she was fired. But Dailey said Wednesday it was not because of a single issue.

“The timing probably wasn’t the best, but I don’t think it was because of one particular incident,” Dailey said. “I believe that this has been a longstanding issue that needed to be addressed and he decided to address it.”

Goad declined to say why he fired her when asked by a reporter Monday or to respond directly to criticism by Matlow and Porter. He said after careful consideration by his team, “the very best decision possible is made.”

Commissioner Porter: 'An incredible miscarriage of management'

The new PBA contracts include the same language from previous ones that Chief Revell relied upon when he decided not to fire the officer who tested positive. Both city policy and union contracts call for termination when an officer tests positive for an illegal substance. However, the the contracts include a provision allowing discipline short of termination when an officer illegally uses a legal substance.

Matlow, during the news conference, called that provision “something that the whole community knows is wrong” and blamed Goad for keeping it in place. He said he intends to vote against the contract.

“We cannot support moving forward with an agreement with the union when we don’t know the actual cost from our treasurer/clerk, and it hasn’t gone under city attorney review, and frankly keeps this clause in it,” Matlow said. “Any bargaining agreement with the union that continues to allow drug use, I’m not going to vote for it.”

Dailey defended the provision, saying the same language is in the Leon County Sheriff’s Office contract and that “it is not unusual” for police chiefs and sheriffs to have hiring and firing discretion. He noted that a panel of Florida Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission took up the officer’s case and found no probable cause for a violation.

“They actually agreed with the chief’s decision as well,” Dailey said. “So I stand with the police chief in this particular situation.”

During the Time Saver news conference, Porter, former Mayor Dot Inman-Johnson, her husband, Pastor Lee Johnson, and others criticized the city’s handling of the police officer.

“It’s concerning that we’re talking about an officer who tested positive for amphetamines who was not fired and an HR director who raised concerns about this who was fired,” Porter said. “I think that’s an incredible miscarriage of management at the city.”

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com and follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Commissioners allege City Hall 'cover-up'; mayor defends Tallahassee PD