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Searles situation comes down to 'bear essentials' |
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Thursday, 01 May 2008 |
By Lara Kirkner
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
A confidential document may hold the key to unlocking a "he said/he said" melodrama that has plagued the community of Mammoth Lakes for more than a year. However, with the Town legally not required to share the contents of the report, things are at a standstill and the community may have to accept the only part of the report that was revealed: the outcome stating that Chief of Police Randy Schienle had done nothing wrong in the termination of Steve Searles.
This verdict was surprising to many in the community who had heard all along from their favorite bear man Searles that the Chief had wrongfully ousted him from the department. Instead of finding out the facts, a majority of the community, including the media, raged against the Town and the Chief, claiming they must be hiding something behind those confidential documents.
While it is still unclear who is “right” in this situation, a conclusion was made and at this point it is the only fact that can be nailed down. Legally, the Town not releasing the entire document publicly is not out of the ordinary.
“It is not an unreasonable position for the Town to take in the context of a potential suit [litigation from Searles],” according to local attorney Mark Carney, who is in no way involved in the situation and only based his comments on information the Mammoth Times provided him.
Searles has stated that he has never been interested in litigation and that lawyers were only brought in to serve as point people for discussion purposes.
“Since the Town paid for the investigation they don't have to release it, even if everyone whose name was in the document waived their rights of confidentiality,” Carney said.
The situation has begun to tear the community apart and has focused less and less on the component that should be at the heart and soul of all this controversy: Wildlife has taken a back seat to a changing of the guards and hurt egos.
When it began
When former Police Chief Mike Donnelly was forced to retire in 2006 due to health problems, he appointed his successor Randy Schienle. The job was not fliered, a typical practice throughout the state in police departments, according to Schienle.
Donnelly and Schienle are two different men and as such, run their departments in two different fashions.
While under Donnelly's reign, former Wildlife Specialist Steve Searles enjoyed an open door policy to the Police Chief's office, handshake agreements and the decorations of a trained police officer, including a badge and a uniform.
“Donnelly gave me that badge and it meant the world to me; it was the high school diploma I never had,” Searles said. “It was my understanding that Donnelly gave me that badge and he was the only one who could take it away.”
Enter the present chief, Randy Schienle. When he took office, Schienle felt the need to tighten up his department and require more accountability from his officers.
Both men agree that they had not worked with each other much while the old chief was still around.
“After Mike left, I called Steve into my office to find out what exactly it was that he did,” Schienle said. “I was very supportive of his efforts and wanted to legitimize his position and get him more money.”
Schienle claims he wanted to raise Searles from a “skilled employee” to a “professional rank” employee, although Searles' position was only part-time. Both he and Schienle agreed that because the community was doing such a good job at cleaning up after themselves, there really wasn't enough work for Searles to be full-time.
Searles admits he had a problem with the way things were changing in the police department after Schienle became Chief.
“I could sense the jig was up [the way things had been run by Donnelly before], so I started asking for the same things all the other guys had,” Searles stated. “I felt the respect I had received had been severed and I wanted to be treated fairly, so I started to nail things down.”
Schienle says he was not trying to disrespect Searles, but points out that Searles was a part-time employee and had never been trained as a police officer, so he could not be given the same privileges as the full-time officers.
During this time Searles came up with his neighborhood watch program, and his “Mammoth, Not MamMeth” stickers in order to try and allow more work opportunities for himself that could create a full-time position.
“When I was told I wasn't qualified to work on the meth problem in our community I took offense to that,” Searles said. He felt that his involvement in the community gave him the experience he needed to help get rid of the problem. Searles added that the trained professionals he was told were handling the problem have still not eradicated it.
“The meth world is a dangerous one and we don't put civilians in there,” Schienle said.
At this time the Chief and Searles were working on contract negotiations. At the end of more than 50 hours of work and seven contracts, zero progress seemed to have been made.
“I have his signature on one of them, but that one had a word change after it was reviewed by Finance Director Brad Koehn,” Schienle said. “The contract said Steve would be paid monthly, but it should have said bimonthly. After we changed the word we went back to have Steve sign the new copy and he refused.” Searles had also refused to sign the other six.
According to Schienle, all the things Searles said he wanted they tried to give him. Mammoth Lakes Police Department even put a few thousand dollars into equipping a truck for Searles.
“He said it was an insult when we tried to give it to him,” Schienle said.
What it may have come down to was the inability to give Searles medical benefits because he was a part-time employee, and no contract could change that.
“Steve himself told me that there was not enough work for a full-time position,” Schienle said. “That was when he brought up wanting to work the meth scene in order to create a full-time position for himself.”
Schienle said he fully supported Searles' campaign to stop meth with his community efforts such as the stickers he created, but he couldn't pay him for it.
While medical benefits were not available, Searles would have been covered by the Town's workers compensation program, according to Schienle. That program would protect Searles from any injuries sustained in the line of duty. According to the Town, the final contract offer also included a stipend to cover personal health insurance.
Searles received a letter of termination, which he interprets as being fired. The Chief sees it as a mutual agreement that there was no longer work for Searles to do at Mammoth Lakes Police Department.
After receiving his letter, Searles had to turn in the badge that meant so much to him.
“All officers who leave the department are expected to turn in their badge,” Schienle said. “Officers who retire are allowed to purchase their badge, and they do so in order to be able to carry a concealed weapon or to represent that they worked at Mammoth Lakes Police Department. Steve never officially worked here, he was never sworn in, so he does not have the ability to purchase his badge.”
When Searles filed a complaint against Schienle for wrongful action, the investigative report began. Among Searles’ allegations was the shredding of his personnel file. The Town's Human Resources Director Michael Grossblatt said, however, “Please know that Mr. Searles’ personnel file, which goes back to when he was first hired by former Police Chief Mike Donnelly, is in my office file cabinet, along with the personnel files of every other past and current part-time employee the Town has ever hired. As with any former employee, he is legally entitled to review it if he so chooses.”
According to the Town, all parties, including Searles, verbally agreed to accept and stand by the final decision made by the impartial third party investigator.
When the investigation began, Schienle says he posted a memo in the offices of the Mammoth Lakes Police Department to let the employees know that an investigation was under way and that some of the officers may be interviewed.
“The memo stated that if you have any information relating to Searles to please share it with me so that I could tell the investigator,” Schienle said.
Searles said this was a retaliatory action against him by the Chief, but the Chief claimed he posts similar memos whenever investigations take place so that his officers know they're coming.
When all is said and done, Chief Schienle feels he tried to back Steve Searles in his efforts as much as possible. The changes he was trying to make were to get Searles more money and more recognition for what he was doing.
“I have an agenda bill that was suppose to go to [Town] Council that would have praised Steve for everything he has done and explained why we should keep him in his position,” he said.
Schienle admits that he has called Searles a liar because of all the accusations he has been making. At this point he wouldn't be in favor of bringing Searles back to work at MLPD, but said that if he were told to by his boss, Town Manager Rob Clark, he would.
“I'm a soldier and I would follow orders and make it work,” he said.
Searles, too, has claimed he could put his issues aside and go back to work under Schienle's authority.
Where to go from here
Whatever happens, the formation and success of the community's Wildlife Committee will depend on someone, whether it be Searles or someone else, being able to work in conjunction with the Town and the Police Department.
“You are going down the wrong road if you don't work with the cops,” Searles, who has set up bear committees in other cities, said. “Mammoth was unique before because we had an insider at the Police Department.”
The Town said it was misconstrued at the first Wildlife Committee meeting that the Town was pulling out of helping the community with their committee, and indeed are willing to take part in the efforts.
According to a press release from the Town, “The intent was for the community-based group to focus on public education and outreach, while cooperating with Town staff on the other components to ensure a successful program that keeps our wildlife wild. We do not intend the community group to become trained in shooting rubber bullets or any other deterrent or hazing tactics. The Police Department will be responsible for enforcement, deterrent tactics and responding to human-wildlife incidents.”
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Last Updated ( Friday, 09 May 2008 )
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