Richardson has been on paid administrative leave since November pending an investigation by the Cobb Sheriff's Office regarding the sale of a police vehicle to the city of Braswell in March 2007. Though it could not be confirmed by press time, the termination was apparently in light of that investigation.
Richardson is appealing the decision to an appeals board made up of the mayor and City Council members, Eckert said. Therefore, he said city leaders would not comment further on the situation. Eckert said the date of the appeals hearing has not yet been set.
A late call and e-mail to the Sheriff's Office spokeswoman seeking findings of the investigation went unreturned as of press time. Late calls to Mayor Pat Vaughn were also not returned.
However, Vaughn earlier told the Journal that the sale of the vehicle pertains to city policy and the investigation "does not mean to imply that any crime has been committed."
Vaughn said policy requires any city surplus property to be declared surplus by the mayor and council and is to be sold at an auction. The investigation regards whether the vehicle went to auction, she said.
Vaughn said a certified check in the amount of $1,500 was received by Powder Springs from the city of Braswell, in Paulding County, as a result of the sale of the police vehicle.
The investigation was initiated after Vaughn was subpoenaed and testified in a federal court case regarding matters in Braswell. During the proceedings of that case, attended by Eckert, the mayor said discrepancies arose regarding the "disposal" of Powder Springs property. The investigation was then ordered, she said.
Richardson has served as police chief since his appointment in 1994.
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The sale of the vehicle to Braswell was done to assist a small city who could not afford new vehicles for their police officers. There was nothing intentionally done wrong by those involved including the Mayor, but she was aware of the sale of the vehicle. Other city finance personnel were involved with the sale. Time will tell the rest of the story.
I an sorry if I offended you. That was not the purpose of my comment.
You are correct, you really "don't know". Did the chief from the cty that bought the car visit the mayor and tell her what a great chief the city had, or did he come to report a crime? I don't know, I wasn't there, were you? I might be confused,but is that the same chief that I read about that won a million dollar lawsuit against Braswell and a former Powder Springs police officer? Is all of this just about Braswell or were there other laws broken? Have you read the Sheriff's report? Where did you get thei idea that someone was blaming the Sheriff's Dept.? Did the investigative report find fault with mayor, if so why was the chief fired? How about let's see what comes out before casting stones
I know the mayor is the leader; however,I am sure the council members hade a little something to do with the improvements? I also know that some of the claims to fame by the mayor were things started by two previous mayors. I'm not knocking her, just giving credit where credit is due.
I don't think you are really in the know,because if you were you would have not said what you said. Did you know the mayor signed a "Blank" title for that vehicle? Did you know that the Chief of the city that bought the vehicle met with the Mayor? I don't think you know as much as you think. I'm not saying this to bash the Mayor, I want the public to know that you dont know as much as you think.
If the MDJ (through no fault by them) were given the investigation as they requested, I am sure the article would have given a lot more details.
Don't blame the Sheriff's Department, they have rules and procedures they have to follow. We all need to give this time and the whole story will come out, and knowing what I know, the Citizens of Powder Springs will be on the loosing end in many ways.
"There is not any way the mayor or city council knew what the police chief was up to until the investigation information came out."
Fair enough. Care to quantify this statement or do we have to just have to take you're word for it?
I wonder who will replace the Chief. The City won’t be able to pay enough money to attract an experienced applicant. If they promote from within, the current Major is the only person qualified. He is a good guy, but can he stand the pressure from the Mayor?
There are five Lieutenants, none of which are qualified to be chief, and if their backgrounds are checked thoroughly, only two of them qualify to be Major if the current Major is promoted to Chief. The two Lieutenants who qualify both of their last names begin with the letter, “B”.
I hope the MDJ will get the investigation from the Sheriff’s Department so the public can see what really happened.
With all due respect, the city has not gone down hill. Many good things have taken place under her watch. New library, senior center updates, Lewis Road complete, Powder Springs Day was revived, Atlanta Street improvement and 2009 Flood response was sufficient. While I'm not comfortable with her handling of previously personnel issues, she has a good heart and her intention's city are noble.
Everyone needs to realize that the relationship between the Chief and Mayor went south a verys long time ago so there is no love lost between the two. With the recent events, she saw an opportunity to can him and did so.
The next step is for her to resign or at least be cesured by city council since she was acting city manager at the time of the sale.
And MDJ, when are you going start doing some investigative reporting on the city? The story may not win you any Pulizter's but you'll be doing the community a favor by exposing the poor management taking place here.
Fanned and Faved!
How can you state that the lawsuit in Braswell had nothing to do with the city when it was about the sale of a Powder Springs vehicle? I don’t understand how people can make such brazen statements not knowing any of the facts and not reading and comprehending the article. The best thing for everyone to do is to attend the appeal hearing and get all the facts before showing your ignorance.