Greg Martin has been reinstated as McComb’s acting police chief Tuesday night, but his status in the police department apparently will depend on the decision of Mayor Zach Patterson.
The board of selectmen voted 4-1 with one abstention to reinstate Martin as police chief. Selectman Melvin Joe Johnson opposed reinstating Martin, while Selectman Robert Earl Smith abstained.
Johnson said he had opposed reinstating Martin during previous votes on June 9 and June 11, and was not going to change his vote.
Smith said he abstained because Patterson told the selectmen that Martin did not report to the mayor when he returned to work on June 11 and has not been at work since. Smith said he wanted to wait until Martin reports for work to make a decision on reinstatement.
John Ott, Martin’s attorney, said this morning that Martin would report to work today. Ott and Martin attended Tuesday’s meeting and left before the meeting adjourned.
Patterson told the selectmen before their vote that when Martin reports for duty he would determine Martin’s status “and I’ll report back to you as to what I decide I’m going to do about this matter.”
“You can vote any way you want to,” Patterson said. “But I will not allow us to violate the law or infringe upon the rights of someone else. I will not participate in that.”
When Lamb asked after the vote what law the board violated, Patterson told him, “Sir, I don’t know. Go talk to your lawyer. You’ve got some lawyer out there you check with all the time. All I’m telling you, proceed at your own caution.”
Lamb said after the meeting that he did not propose hiring Martin as full-time police chief because he wanted to follow the McComb City Charter, which says that candidates for police chief are reviewed by the city’s Civil Service Commission, which then recommends a list of qualified applicants.
Lamb also said the board has never held a hearing on the charges against Martin, which is required by the charter. Martin has been suspended twice by Patterson, but Patterson has never brought the charges against Martin to the board for a hearing.
According to the charter, when a department head is suspended, the mayor appoints someone to temporarily fill the position until after a hearing.
Lamb said Patterson has told the selectmen at several board meetings that he was considering charges against Martin but has never brought anything to the board for a hearing.
“The only charge I’ve ever heard is insubordination,” Lamb said. “When the mayor doesn’t follow the charter, it’s my duty to make sure that it’s followed.”
He said the reason he brought up the issue was to clarify who was in charge at the police department.
Lamb said constituents told him they were confused over who was running the police department.
Selectman Danny Esch said during the meeting that in the 18 years he has served on the board the selectmen have hired the police chief.
“We are the governing body,” he said. “We should be able to vote on who we want as chief of police.”
The board’s vote Tuesday night follows Circuit Judge David Strong’s decision on June 16 that the Civil Service Commission had no authority over acting or interim employees.
Patterson told the selectmen that he restored Martin to duty on June 11, adding he had not seen Martin since his suspension until he saw Martin and his attorney, John Ott, walk into the board room Tuesday night.
Patterson told selectmen they agreed that the mayor was the police chief’s supervisor, adding that until Martin reports to him, Patterson considered Martin “absent without official leave.
“Until Mr. Martin reports in, there can be no discussion of this position or his duties no matter what this board votes on,” the mayor continued.
Patterson said he heard that Martin reported for work on June 11, adding that Martin did not report to the mayor, who is his designated supervisor.
Martin reported to the McComb Police Department on June 11, where acting police chief Mark Anderson reportedly refused to give him his badge, gun and keys.
Patterson said he was unaware that Martin went to the police department and asked for his badge and gun, adding that Anderson did not say anything to him about the alleged incident.
The mayor said the board’s votes on June 9 and 11 sent contradictory signals to the police department over who was in charge, adding that he left “safety instructions with the acting chief (on) what to do in case something goes wrong there, and he complied with those instructions.”
Patterson said he had Martin’s badge and gun, which Martin turned over to him when he was suspended.
He said he has not talked with Anderson about the weapon or the badge since Martin’s suspension.
“And there’s nowhere else to get that badge but to me,” the mayor said.
“(There’s) never been a demand for that badge and weapon, nor had Mr. Martin presented himself to me as the mayor,” Patterson said. “… Never has he presented himself to me as reporting for duty and requesting his badge and weapon back.”
Patterson said he supervises Martin, adding there was “never (a) demand for a weapon nor never been a demand for a badge to the proper authority, and I am the proper authority.”
