As submitted for publication to the Courier-Tribune on June 28, 2012
Story that was actually published follows.
By Hugh Martin
CANDOR – During the regular June board of commissioners meeting June 11, Town of Candor Commissioners voted 4 – 1 to rehire three of the four police officers who were fired on December 12, 2011. They were to start back to work July 1. At that time current Chief of Police Johnny Fulp would assume an administrative duty to help with the transition to newly rehired Chief Randy White.
Instead, during a special called meeting Thursday afternoon, with just barely enough commissioners present to make it stick, Fulp was told that his request to continue as full-time Chief of Police until July 9 had been rejected and that he would leave the department at the end of the day with four weeks of severance pay. He will not continue in the administrative role as originally planned.
The other officers to be rehired are Sgt. James Pierce and Patrolman Jeremy Blake.
Commissioners Layton Booker, Tim Smith and Phillip Hearne were the only elected officials present for the meeting, which had been called by Booker and Hearne on Monday. Booker acted as Mayor Pro-Tem in the absence of Mayor Richard Britt, who had an illness in the family. Commissioner Tim Privett was absent due to surgery and Commissioner Rob Martin was said to be absent due to conflicts with his work schedule.
Following an executive session to discuss the matter, Hearne made the motion to release Fulp and appoint Candor Officer Jody Majors as interim Chief until White is sworn in as Chief. Smith and Booker supported the motion.
The actions will leave Candor with one full-time officer in Majors and two part-time officers until the three rehired officers return to the force.
The holdup on the return of the officers is due to paperwork that has not returned to the town from the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety in Raleigh, which must certify that the officers meet the requirements to be sworn as police officers in North Carolina.
Fulp said that the usual wait time for the paperwork was around two weeks. When asked how long it had been since the paperwork had been submitted Hearne replied, “This week.” No reason was given for the delay since June 11 in submitting the paperwork.
Fulp said because of the Independence Day holiday next week the wait could be even longer. Smith stated that, as towns in North Carolina are all getting their budgets in order for the next fiscal year, many are hiring new officers, which could also cause a delay.
Candor citizen Sue Myers, who has been an activist for the fired officers, expressed her concern about the lack of police protection. “I sit on my front porch every night from before dark until sometimes midnight or later,” she told the commissioners. “Some nights I never see a police car pass my house.” Myers lives on Main Street, not far from the Police Department.
She also expressed concern about the upcoming North Carolina Peach Festival, 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.
The commissioners said that the reason for the changes was the opinion by Maxton McDowell, an Asheboro accountant who audits the town’s books, that all funds to be paid out in relation to the police firings should be covered in the current year’s budget. The town had planned to cover an estimated $45,000.00 unemployment cost for the fired officers in the 2012-2013 budget year.
The change in the budget made it necessary to release Fulp early and include the unemployment costs in the current year budget.
“This will wipe the slate clean for next year,” Hearne said.
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