Candor rehires fired officers ♥

As published in the Courier-Tribune June 13, 2012

By Hugh Martin

CANDOR — In a move to save the town’s budget and to make right what a vocal group of Candor residents insisted was wrong, the Town of Candor Board of Commissioners voted to rehire three of the four police officers that had been fired six months ago.

On a 4-1 vote Monday night, Commissioners Phillip Hearne, Tim Privett, Tim Smith and Layton Booker agreed to reinstate Randy White as Chief of Police, James Pierce as sergeant and Jeremy Blake as patrolman, the ranks they held when they were fired. The fourth fired officer, Grantland Jackson, is now employed as an officer in Hamlet.

By rehiring the officers, the town will save upwards of $70,000 in unemployment benefits that would have to be paid to the officers. In return, the officers were asked to drop a wrongful discharge lawsuit against the town.

Town Clerk Tammy Kellis said Tuesday that the Bureau of Training and Standards will verify the law enforcement certifications of White, Pierce and Blake and they will take the required pre-employment drug tests before returning to work. Kellis said the officers agreed to return because Candor residents wanted them on the police force and the commissioners who wanted to keep them on the force now had the power to reinstate them.

Johnny Fulp, who was hired as police chief in January, will no longer hold that position as of Aug. 1, when White will reassume the post. Commissioners voted Monday night to terminate Fulp’s employment. He will remain in an administrative role until the end of July. Fulp, who has had health issues since taking the job in Candor, said that he plans to leave law enforcement.

The saga began Dec. 12, 2011, when Wayne Holyfield and Rob Martin were sworn as commissioners, replacing Tim Smith and Leslie Thomas. It had been rumored that the new commissioners had plans to fire the officers, supposedly because of bad feelings between the police department and Teresa Lamonds, who had filed suit against the department over an incident that occurred in 2009. Lamonds has denied any involvement in the situation.

Lamonds and her husband, John, are on record as the only financial supporters of Martin’s and Holyfield’s political campaigns.

Minutes after being sworn, Holyfield called for a closed session, in which the firing of the officers was discussed. Back in open session, Holyfield, who was a N.C. State Highway patrolman at the time, made a motion to fire the four officers, effective immediately, and moved that Erik Jackson, who had been fired from the NCHP, be hired immediately.

Holyfield’s motion was supported by Martin and Commissioner Tim Privett, although the hiring of Jackson was not upheld because of procedural issues.

Since that time, a vocal group of residents have attended all of the board meetings, demanding that the officers be rehired and that Mayor Richard Britt, Holyfield, Privett and Martin resign. All had refused to resign until last month, when Holyfield was fired from the highway patrol; he resigned from the town board the same day. Tim Smith was appointed to take his seat at the May meeting.

Holyfield was charged by the SBI in March for illegally accessing a government computer, which is a felony. He has yet to go to trial on that charge. He has appealed his firing and a hearing is pending on the matter.

In an unrelated case, Jackson was charged with voter fraud, which allegedly occurred during the Candor municipal election. Jackson was charged because he listed Holyfield’s address as his own and voted in that election. According to the elections investigation, Jackson was living in Lexington at the time.

The one “no” vote to rehire the officers came from Martin, who supported the original firing. When asked why he was against the action he replied, “I just am.”

No further reason was given. No reason has been given for the original firings.

Commissioner Hearne stated, “There have been a lot of citizens wanting answers. We’ve listened to the citizens of Candor.”

Former officers Pierce and Blake were present at the meeting. Pierce commented to a TV news reporter that “This is the end of a six-month story of scandal and ridicule that’s been heaped upon the town of Candor. Certainly, for the sake of the officers, I’m glad the town board took the position they did. We’re glad to be coming back to work. We want to look after our town.”

The audience cheered and applauded when the meeting was adjourned.