Sheffield Mayor Ian Sanford waits his turn to testify in the termination hearing of Police Chief, Grey Ray.
SHEFFIELD – Sheffield Mayor Ian Sanford, has had lots of good days during in his career at City Hall. Back in the late ’90’s he was thrust into office when his friend and mentor, Mayor Laughlin Ashe, died too young. Sanford presided over a city that was suffering a fate similar to so many other towns whose economic base was decimated when technological attachments elsewhere rendered the old cities irrelevant. It has been a good run. He has seen his beloved Sheffield undergo a remarkable transformation. The City’s Downtown looks better than it has in decades and entertainment-oriented bars and restaurants are bringing new life into Sheffield. Sanford is beloved by many in the city.
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However, Thursday, January 31, 2013 will be memorialized as one of his less pleasant days. That was when the Civil Service Board called a hearing to consider the firing by Sanford of Police Chief Greg Ray. The Chief is in the hot-seat facing charges of failing to properly execute the responsibilities of his job. Some of the accusations involve insubordination and also the failure to properly perform his duties.
Sheffield Police Chief Greg Ray faces Civil Service Board at his termination hearing.
Ray, a veteran of the Force for nearly 22-years, was given by Sanford the opportunity last October 26 to resign with a small separation package, or face a termination hearing by the Civil Service Board, which has jurisdiction over this particular case. The Chief chose the latter option and hired former police officer-turned lawyer, Tony Hughes of Florence. Florence Attorney, James Irby is also working on Ray’s behalf.
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Sheffield City Attorney Ben Gardiner shows Mayor Ian Sanford a document submitted to the Civil Service Board.
Sheffield City’s attorney, Ben Gardner, had the first opportunity to examine Sanford before the Board. Gardner, went over each of the 7 specific charges against Ray and had Sanford detail his reasoning for each one. It was what one would say was a fairly straight-forward question and answer session.
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Lawyer Tony Hughes shows Mayor Ian Sanford the list of charges against Chief Greg Ray.
That, however, was not the case when Hughes began his cross examination. He pointedly cross examined Sanford on every aspect of the official document. In all, Sanford was on the stand for over 3 hours, most of that time being cross-examined by Hughes. During the cross-examination, Sanford agreed with Hughes that one count of the Civil Service Board complaint, that Ray was insubordinate by not attending a mandatory citizen-meeting in District 4, should be removed. The reason given was that the attendance in Council Member Mary Stevens’ district was voluntary, and that Chief Ray was not, in fact, insubordinate.
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The Sheffield City Courtroom had a rather large audience watching the proceedings against Chief Greg Ray.
In further questioning, Hughes asked Sanford if he ever warned Chief Ray that failure to correct certain problems within his Department could lead to his firing. Sanford testified that he never covered that point with the Chief.
Members of the City Council observe the proceedings.
Sanford testified that the entire City Council was in favor of his taking this action against Ray.
Tony Hughes, and James Irby sit with their client, Greg Ray.
Testimony continues on Friday with Greg Ray scheduled to take the stand in his own behalf.
1 comment
While a Florence police officer, Tony Hughes faced at least three charges himself (at three different times). The third was a felony, of which he was for whatever reason not found found guilty. He did resign, only to become an attorney. One would think former chief Ray could have chosen a better representative.