As published in the Courier-Tribune on June 30, 2012
By Hugh Martin
CANDOR — The Candor police department will be short-staffed until the paperwork to recertify three officers fired last December arrives from the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety in Raleigh. Town officials had hoped the officers would rejoin the force on July 1.
Budget considerations — and a glitch in the paperwork — has delayed the re-employment and has also left Johnny Fulp, the man who has been serving as police chief for the past few months, unemployed.
Fulp, a former Montgomery County deputy, was hired as chief after the officers were fired on Dec. 12, 2011. He has worked with the two remaining full-time officers and two who worked part-time.
During the regular board of commissioners meeting on June 11, commissioners Phillip Hearne, Layton Booker and Tim Smith voted to reinstate the officers who were fired in December. Commissioner Rob Martin opposed. Sgt. James Pierce, patrolman Jeremy Blake and former chief Randall White agreed to return to their former positions in Candor.
Grantland Jackson was also fired in the December 2011 action initiated by former commissioner Wayne Holyfield, who has since resigned from the board. Jackson is now employed by the Hamlet Police Department and declined the offer to return to Candor.
The plan was for Fulp to assume an administrative duty to help with the transition.
At a special called meeting on Thursday afternoon, with just barely enough commissioners present to make it stick, Fulp was told that his request to continue full-time as chief until July 9 had been rejected and that his service with the department would end at the end of the day. He was given four weeks of severance pay.
Commissioner Hearne said Friday that a major reason for the change in plans was the opinion of the town auditor, Maxton McDowell, who recommended that all monies to be paid in relation to the police firings should be covered in the current year’s budget. The town had anticipated $45,000 in unemployment costs for the fired officers in the 2012-2013 budget year, but on McDowell’s advice, will take that money from the current budget.
The change in the budget made it necessary to release Fulp early, Hearne said. He said that Fulp was aware of the situation in Candor when he was hired and knew that his employment could be temporary.
“This will wipe the (financial) slate clean for next year,” Hearne said.
Commissioners Hearne, Booker, and Smith were the only elected officials present for Thursday’s called meeting. Booker, who is mayor pro tem, presided in the absence of Mayor Richard Britt, who had an illness in the family. Commissioner Tim Privett was absent due to surgery and Commissioner Martin due to a conflict with his work schedule.
Following an executive session to discuss the matter, Hearne made the motion to release Fulp and to appoint Candor Officer Jody Majors as interim chief until White is sworn in. Smith and Booker supported the motion.
Majors will be the only full-time officer. He and two part-time officers will cover the town until the three rehired officers return to the force. Hearne said Montgomery County Sheriff Dempsey Owens said deputies would be allowed to respond to calls if requested by Majors.
Recertifications for officers are usually issued by the state within two weeks, but Fulp told the commissioners Thursday that paperwork had not been sent to Raleigh until this week. One reason was that Pierce and Blake had to requalify with their weapons and had to wait for a scheduled time to do so.
Fulp noted that next week’s Independence Day holiday could make the typical turnaround time even longer. Smith added that as towns in North Carolina are getting their budgets in order for the next fiscal year many are hiring new officers, which could cause a backlog — and further delay.
Candor resident Sue Myers, who has been an activist for the fired officers, expressed concern about the lack of police protection. She lives on Main Street, not far from the police department.
“I sit on my front porch every night from before dark until sometimes midnight or later,” she said. “Some nights I never see a police car pass my house.”
She said she is worried about the upcoming North Carolina Peach Festival on July 21 in Candor, which brings thousands of people into the small town for the day.
“Chief Majors will have the department fully staffed for the Peach Festival,” Hearne said.
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