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Spring Lake town manager steps down in wake of police dept. problems
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Published: June 23, 2009
SPRING LAKE
Embattled Town Manager Larry Faison stepped down Monday night after the Board of Aldermen voted to ask for his resignation.
The Fayetteville Observer reported that the vote capped off a meeting in which aldermen said they may challenge restrictions placed on the Police Department.
Alderman James O'Garra, who made the motion to ask for Faison's resignation, said the decision was made because of the way Faison handled problems with the Police Department. The motion came after a closed-door meeting.
O'Garra, Richard Higgins and Nellie McCoy voted to ask Faison to resign. Board members Fredricka Sutherland and Napoleon Hogans did not attend the meeting.
"I feel we've done what the citizens and town wanted to see done," O'Garra said.
He said he didn't feel as though Faison supported Mayor Ethel Clark throughout the ordeal and that he allowed the Police Department to police itself.
"I just felt that he had to go," O'Garra said.
Clark declined to comment.
Spring Lake has been without a functioning Police Department since early May, when Chief District Judge Elizabeth Keever effectively stripped the department of its remaining powers at the request of District Attorney Ed Grannis by instructing magistrates to not issue warrants.
Similar actions in 2007 removed the department's ability to investigate felonies.
The department is the subject of a probe by the State Bureau of Investigation that has resulted in the resignation of former Chief A.C. Brown and the arrest of two supervising officers on charges that include embezzlement, kidnapping and obstruction of justice.
Faison started work as town manager in Spring Lake in October 2007, two months after the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office took over felony investigations for the town.
He had previously served as town manager for Swansboro and Kilmarnock, Va. and was assistant city manager in Jacksonville.
Also during the meeting, Interim Police Chief Gregg Jarvies' reiterated his plan for the department's reconstitution.
The plan calls for firing all 11 remaining officers and paying the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office to police the town. It would have the department back up and running -- albeit on a smaller scale -- within 18 months.
Jarvies called the plan unfortunate, but said his options are limited.
"I want to make it clear ." he said. "This is not a plan that when I came here I had any intention of doing."
The board took no action on the proposal, but some aldermen expressed interest in forgoing the plan and challenging the actions of Grannis and Keever. They balked at paying the county for policing.
O'Garra said he didn't understand why the town should have to pay for deputies to patrol within their own county.
"I don't see anything that's forcing us to give them any money," he said.
O'Garra said he worries that the town could lose its Police Department forever if it is shuttered.
He also pointed to the widespread corruption in the Robeson County Sheriff's Office and allegations of double-dipping among Cumberland County Sheriff's deputies. He said neither of those departments was stripped of its powers.
O'Garra and McCoy asked Town Attorney John Jackson if it would be possible to go above Grannis and Keever, possibly by seeking a court injunction.
Jackson said that there was no precedent to override the moves and that he has been exploring the town's legal options.
O'Garra questioned the motives of some county officials.
"That district attorney has got his own plan for us," O'Garra said. "I'm happy to be Spring Lake, and I'm not ready to be north Fayetteville."
Aldermen wishing to challenge the restrictions appear to have the support of Billy King, who represents the town on the county Board of Commissioners.
King said the actions of Grannis and Keever were "over the top."
"They've gone entirely too far," King said. "Two police officers that are arrested does not constitute the need to destroy the entire department."
Jarvies said current department staffing is only at 50 percent. He said the town would be unable to provide policing 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of what county officials say.
He also said that having officers policing when residents know they have no power could be risky.
O'Garra said he thinks he has enough support on the board to block Jarvies' proposal and challenge county officials.
Hogan, speaking by speaker phone during part of the meeting, said he was leaning toward not supporting Jarvies' plan and instead seeking relief from the legal system.
Board members have called a special meeting for 2 p.m. Monday to vote on Jarvies' plan.
The meeting was needed for the town to adopt its budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Near the end of the meeting, a few residents criticized board members.
Jackie Jackson, who founded Citizens on the Move in response to the police scandal, said town leaders dropped the ball by not taking action when problems first became public in 2007.
Speaking over applause, Jackson said someone needs to be held accountable -- not the remaining police force.
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