By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
GRANBY, Mo. — Granby’s Board of Aldermen narrowly defeated a motion to reinstate the city’s fired police chief in open session Tuesday night.
Aldermen Bill Cooper and R.L. Arnal moved to reinstate former Chief Gail Bass, stating Bass was terminated without justification and without affording an opportunity to defend himself last month. Their motion failed after Aldermen Jeremy Hopper and Carol Sparnicht voted against it, with Mayor Paul Ferguson casting the tie-breaking vote before a crowd of a few dozen people.
City officials shortly afterward convened a closed session to discuss personnel issues, including Bass’ termination and pending appeal. The board was to meet with Bass’ attorney, Michael Smalley, of Joplin.
Ferguson has declined to comment on why Bass was ousted during the board’s June 23 meeting, saying it is a personnel issue. Bass previously told the Globe that two of three voting aldermen who attended that meeting — Hopper and Sparnicht — voted to fire him, while Arnal voted to retain him. Ferguson only votes in the event of a tie.
Before voting against Bass’ reinstatement in open session Tuesday night, Ferguson called that motion “a different situation” than the one before the board several weeks ago.
Several in the crowd questioned why Bass was terminated, particularly after he had received an unsolicited pay raise. Ferguson, a sergeant with the Police Department in neighboring Diamond, said the raise was given to the position and to keep the chief’s salary competitive with other departments.
“To me that’s a slap in the face” to have the chief’s position only pay $25,000, Ferguson said.
Sparnicht said her criticism of Bass was that there were two separate incidents in which the Granby Police Department had no officers on duty to respond to calls when there should have been an officer available. Officers from the Newton County Sheriff’s Department had to answer the calls, she said.
Ferguson said the department had a total of four full-time officers, including the chief, and one part-time officer.
Phone messages left for Bass on Monday and Tuesday were not returned.
Bass previously said he was never furnished a specific explanation for why his employment was terminated.
The only explanation offered by city officials at the time, he said, was that there had been “a lot of talk” about the department, which he said he took to mean complaints, and allegations that the department on one occasion had no one available to take a call, so the Newton County Sheriff’s Department had to respond.
To the latter charge, he said that situation is common because of Granby’s limited number of officers. He also said no one from the city ever presented him with the specific circumstances of that one call.
Meanwhile, Bass and his attorney, Smalley, say they are appealing the former chief’s termination to Granby’s police personnel board.
Smalley said the department’s rules and regulations allow for such a recourse within 10 days of an officer’s firing, and that the board can make a recommendation as to whether to reverse or affirm that decision to the mayor or City Council.
Except the chairman of that board, Barry Flint, says the panel was stripped of any official appeals power via a change in city ordinances almost a year ago.
“All we do now is look at applications for chief,” Flint said Tuesday.
Smalley said his reading of the city’s regulations is that the police personnel board can entertain appeals but only recommend a course of action to the mayor or aldermen.
Bass, 50, was hired as Granby police chief in November. He had previously served with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department until September 2003. He said he has worked in private security during the intervening years.
Looking for a chief
The city of Granby has been taking applications for a new police chief since the departure of Gail Bass. As of Monday, the city had received 14.
