Sun Takes Out Another Officer and More Lawsuits Filed

Yesterday, Mayor Cy Sun placed Detective Newton on administrative leave pending an investigation into obstruction charges. We don't have any more details yet.

Public Safety Director John Calkins and four of his officers have filed suit against Cy Sun. We are working to get a copy of the court documents to confirm if the lawsuit is against Sun personally or against the City of Pacific. The Seattle PI has details in their article here...

In his rapid deterioration of any sense of sanity, Mayor Sun has barred the city administration from any work that would assist the council in the performance of their lawful duties. No staff was allowed to attend the council meeting Monday, nor will staff provide necessary information or support as the council continues to try to save this city.

But there is hope on the horizon. The State Supreme Court is scheduled to issue their decision today that would allow the recall to finally  move forward and stop this tyrant from any further damage.

Update On Civil Service Order

In case you haven't been following saga on the recall committee Facebook page, Mayor Sun refused to obey the civil service order reinstating police Lt. Massey and Director Calkins. He even had his attorneys file a lengthy petition with the court (link here) asking the court to endorse his position on this and several other issues. The court responded with a strongly worded order requiring the mayor to immediately follow the lawful civil service order or appear in court on May 3rd to explain why (link to the court's order here).

Decimated Police Force Stripped Even More

Mayor Cy Sun's vendetta against the Pacific Police Department took another ugly turn for the worse today. Sun placed both Public Safety Director John Calkins and Police Lieutenant Edwin Massey on administrative leave, claiming harassment and intimidation.

Under Sun's leadership, police ranks have gone from a department of 11 officers (plus staff) to 7 before today's action. Crime has risen, overtime is the norm and morale low. Sun has forbidden any city employee to discuss his latest move or face termination. A copy of the mayor's memo can be seen here...

The recall continues to wait for a decision from the Washington State Supreme Court before we can proceed. Mayor Sun has delayed and stalled the recall process every way he can, all while continuing to destroy this city. He continued that pattern today, putting the citizens of Pacific at even greater risk.

Mayor Sun's Attempt To Overturn Civil Service Dismissed

Mayor Cy Sun's continued antics have been thrown out of court this time. You may recall that Sun didn't like the civil service commission's reinstatement of Public Safety Director John Calkins. Sun had promised to fire Calkins as soon as he was elected, despite the requirement that he justify any firing under civil service rules. After firing the Public Safety Director, the civil service commission reversed Sun's decision and reinstated Calkins.

Sun decided he would appeal the reinstatement to Superior Court, without council approval as required by law. Judge White threw out Sun's appeal in his ruling today. The judge left room to consider in more detail the council's motion that Mayor Sun should pay attorney fees and court costs for what they call "frivolous" legal action.

Public Safety Director John Calkins is currently out on medical leave due to stress. Pacific Police ranks are seriously depleted right now, crime is on the rise and Mayor Sun refuses to hire new officers that the council has funded. Instead, Mayor Sun spends money on frivolous lawsuits. It is well past time to vote on this recall!

Sun Appealing Calkins' Reinstatement

Mayor Cy Sun is out running on his own again, in the name of the City of Pacific this time. And its unclear who has to pay the bill. Sun and his attorneys have filed an appeal in King County Superior Court asking the court to overturn the civil service decision that reinstated Public Safety Director John Calkins. The appeal is made by "The City of Pacific, through its mayor Cy Sun." The city attorney Ken Luce is not listed on the documents. Instead, Tyler Firkins is the attorney representing the mayor (and presumably the city), even though he does not have a contract with Pacific. The city is forced to pay for an attorney to represent Director Calkins, but it is unclear if Firkins will try to collect from Pacific's dwindling coffers.

Sun contends that he was justified in firing Calkins on the first offense without any progressive discipline, despite the commission's findings to the contrary. You can read more about the firing and reinstatement by clicking on the Calkins label on the lower left. The Calkins appeal document is available here. The rest of the appeal paperwork is listed on the court's web page here.

The bills keep mounting. Sun tried on his own to get the courts to give him authority to fire city attorney Luce (which he lost). Sun forced the city council to get a court order requiring the mayor to do his job and hire qualified people to fill key administrative vacancies that had been left vacant for too long. Sun is soley responsible for millions of dollars in lawsuits filed against the city. He is the only reason the city lost insurance coverage and now is forced to pay much more for less coverage.

The financial cost only tell part of the story. There is the loss to our reputation and community peace of mind. It's time to return sanity to city hall and recall Cy Sun from office.  Please help with your donation today.

Civil Service Written Decision On Calkins

The full findings and decision by the civil service can by found via this link... Of special note, the statement at the bottom of page 10 that reads: ..."the Commission finds and concludes that the mayor's testimony in this matter is not credible or worthy of belief." More and more of Pacific's citizens are paying attention and seeing the light.

Civil Service Returns Calkins as Public Safety Director

The City of Pacific Civil Service Commission restored John Calkins to the position of Public Safety Director this evening. The move came after the Commission met in executive session for a final review of the written ruling before its release. The decision was published in a 15-page document that was made public after the session.

Calkins was hired as the Public Safety Director by Mayor Howard Erickson on September 1, 2000. Mayor Cy Sun placed Calkins on administrative leave on January 18 after hearing an allegation that Calkins had yelled at the Finance Director during a city council meeting. Calkins remained on admin leave four months until Sun fired him.

Calkins appealed his termination to the Civil Service Commission. The Commission held hearings and heard testimony about the event. Testimony concluded on August 24^th. We've been waiting since then for the Commission's decision to be announced.

The Commission concluded that Calkins was guilty of misconduct but the offense did not warrant termination. He was issued a 30-day suspension without pay. Since that penalty has already been served, it is expected that Calkins will immediately return to the job with back pay to about June 18^th.

The complete document released by the Commission will be uploaded here as soon as possible.

It's worth noting here that in yet another of Mayor Sun's blunders, he will have paid his Public Safety Director a total of nearly 8 months salary for 18 days of work.

Word is that the accountants are still tallying the cost to the city for the lawyers who represented the city and the lawyer who represented the civil service commission. No doubt, in light of this decision, the city will be paying the fees for Calkins' lawyer as well.

In another side note about this decision, on page 11, the Commission goes into 8 separate concerns regarding Mayor Sun's credibility. They seem to stop just short of calling him a liar.

The copy of the decision that will be posted soon is not yet signed. But it is the final version of the decision. It came straight from the hands of the civil service secretary. We'll replace the reference copy with the signed one as soon as it is available.

Calkins' Decision Expected Soon

The Pacific Civil Service Commission is expected to release their decision about Public Safety Director John Calkins' termination appeal sometime this week. We will post their findings here as soon as they are released. You can read the details about the hearings on this issue by clicking on the "Calkins" label below this post.

Calkins' Civil Service Hearing: Part 2

The civil service hearing was continued until Friday evening, August 24^th to hear testimony from former finance director Maria Pierce, who was unable to attend the previous meeting on Tuesday, August 21^st. The city tried to recall John Calkins to the stand, but the rules state no further witnesses or records could be admitted except Ms. Pierce.

Pierce outlined her duties and work history, including her relationship with Calkins (which had been professional). She reviewed the process of working with Calkins getting the police cars ordered, which had been delivered to the car dealer by January.  Pierce reiterated that the funds for the vehicles came from the criminal justice funding, not the general funds. Police salaries are paid from the general fund, but criminal justice funds cannot be used for general fund purposes.

Pierce contacted Mayor Sun shortly after he took office about the cars when the state needed an ordinance or resolution from the city for the financing. Sun told her to stop the purchase of all five cars.  She contacted the state and the dealer several times but there was no normal way to cancel the purchase contract at such a late date. The dealer had an open-ended amount they could charge for canceling the contract.

Despite being very concerned about this going on behind Calkins’ back, she “was instructed specifically no, you do not say anything.” She knew Calkins had been blindsided when she announced to the council on January 17^th that the mayor had stopped the purchase.

When the council when into executive session, Pierce said she stood up. Calkins started yelling, she yelled back. “I was put into a position I shouldn’t have been put in.” She was very upset and told Calkins to talk to her boss. Calkins apologized and acknowledged he was upset at what the mayor had done. She never felt physically threatened, nor did he reach for a gun. She never felt like he intended to harm her.

Pierce was called to the mayor’s office, but said she never asked the mayor to discipline Calkins. She felt she could have continued to work with Calkins.

Calkins verbally attacked, which was unprofessional but given the circumstances she understood why. She was upset about the situation she had been put in, not just the argument with Calkins. “I was the person who had to be the bad guy.” She was angry that the mayor did not stand up and take responsibility for his decision.

Under cross-examination by the city, Pierce noted she never felt that Calkins prevented her from leaving. Both she and Calkins were yelling at each other. Calkins was not swinging his hands; he was not out of control. He was pissed.

The city clerk came over and said, “John, let’s go. It’s not her fault; it’s the mayor’s fault.” Pierce and Calkins continued to yell at each other for a few minutes with others in the room. She admitted having trouble keeping her composure. She had tears in her eyes but not because she was upset with Calkins. She cries easily, when she is angry or at a toilet paper commercial.

Pierce testified she would have talked to Calkins about the hold on the cars if she was not afraid of being fired. The mayor had warned her she would be insubordinate if she told Calkins what was going on, but she asked the mayor several times if he had spoken to Calkins as he promised. A few hours before that council meeting, the mayor told her he had spoken to Calkins but because of Sun’s “past practice of him lying”, she knew he had not and she dreaded going to the meeting.

Closing Statements

Just before statements began, the former city clerk Jane Montgomery helped solve a problem with the recording equipment.

City attorney Elizabeth Thompson reminded the commission that their duty was to determine two things 1) was the decision to terminate for good cause; and 2) was the termination done in accordance with civil service procedures. She instructed the commission to disregard the testimony about who said what to whom or who may have been lying. What was important was did the mayor maintain an open mind before deciding to fire Calkins.

Evidence showed Calkins was out of control in front of others, including the mayor’s wife. It took at least three different people intervening to calm him down. His anger was the result of questioning the mayor’s authority. But Calkins took out his anger on other employees rather than the mayor.

If the mayor was “hell-bent” on firing Calkins, he would have acted sooner. But he took a long time to deliberate. The mayor’s decision was based on conduct that was indisputable. Calkins conduct was improper. The civil service code provides for discharge for this transgression and the city asked the commission to find the discharge was for cause and appropriate.

Calkins attorney Chris Vick noted there are many other issues at play. Was the decision for political or religious reasons? Clearly it was political. Either the mayor is lying or everyone else is lying. There was plenty of testimony that the mayor planned to fire Calkins before this incident. Calkins behavior was unprofessional, but the situation was orchestrated by the mayor.

In addition, procedure was not followed. The mayor had already decided to fire Calkins before he was elected. Sun did not keep an open mind as required. No one had been fired for an argument before. The punishment was disproportionate. Vick asked that the commission find that the mayor was disingenuous in his testimony, that he had prejudged and that this incident did not rise to the level of discharge.

The commission then went into deliberations. Once a decision is reached, their attorney will write it up for their approval. The process is expected to take three weeks.

Calkins Hearing Notes

Here is a summary of the first hearing regarding former Public Safety Director John Calkins appeal of his firing by Mayor Cy Sun. The civil service hearing was held on Tuesday and will continue tonight at 6pm at city hall. The proceedings are open to the public.
___________________
The mayor allowed the city attorney, Ken Luce to accompany him this time but would not allow Luce to question him. A second attorney, Elizabeth Thompson, asked the questions for the city. The civil service attorney, Gary McLean ran the meeting, explaining that the commission acts like a jury under similar rules. McLean noted that some records had not been provided in a timely manner and therefore were not admitted. Under civil service rules, two issues were important; 1) was the discipline for cause and 2) were procedural requirements followed. The burden of proof is on the mayor. The commission is not allowed to consider any information not presented previously to the employee. If something is brought up post-action, it cannot be considered. Calkins' attorney felt the RCW listed in the termination letter as reason for the discharge did not apply. The city attorney agreed, it only applies to cities without a civil service commission. The other reasons for the termination still stand.

Opening Statements:
Thompson outlined the situation: Sun was elected on a campaign of fiscal responsibility and put a hold on the purchase of five new police cars because of that promise. When the issue came up at the January 17th council meeting, Director Calkins responded with inappropriate anger. The mayor placed Calkins on administrative leave and took steps in a deliberate and thoughtful process over four months before firing Calkins under civil service rules. That codes says discharge may occur for insubordination or acts injuring the public.

Calkins' attorney stated that this has nothing to do with the mayor managing a budget. It is about the law that says employees cannot be discharged except for cause. Mayor Sun intended to fire Calkins before this incident. He ordered his staff not to talk to Calkins about his plans to cancel the car order. Reasonable minds would conclude Calkins was set up. In hindsight, it was a bad choice to loose his temper but it is not cause for termination.

Testimony For The City:
Barbara Sun, the mayor's wife: Testified that she witnessed Calkins get into a heated argument with the finance director after the council recessed into executive session on January 17th. He was very close to her face and very angry. It was clear the finance director was very upset and looked like she was ready to cry. The city clerk tried to intervene and eventually took Calkins into the hallway. Sun heard Calkins tell the clerk to shut up.

Under cross examination by Calkins' attorney, Mrs. Sun confirmed this was only a verbal confrontation, no gun or threats of any kind, no physical touching. Only Calkins had his voice raised, not the clerk or finance director.

Mayor Cy Sun: Thompson asked him about his decision about the police cars. After a 10-second delay, Sun responded saying he only canceled the purchase of one car to save money, but he had told the council that night he wanted to hold the purchase of all five cars to study the issue. He did not witness the argument but the clerk told him about it later. The finance director was "in-cohesive". He felt the clerk and finance director were too upset to talk that night; "I heard gobbldygook. They just wasn't themselves."

When he interviewed them the next day, they wanted some dispilinary action against Calkins. All he could think of was to put Calkins on leave so he could have more time to think. Both women advised him and participated in this action.

He said he carefully read the civil service rules and the RCW's so he would have a lawful point to establish his claims. Calkins had intimidated personel in front of the public. The mayor felt that violated the law and was unbecoming for the positon Calkins held. "You just don't go up to a person and tell that person to shut up and drive your point home. You just don't do that. If you got a problem, its best to talk it out respectfully."

The mayor said he took a long time to think about his next step. He was concerned about firing Calkins since he had a family to support. It was a hard decision and it took him all that time to think about it (the four months of adminstrative leave before termination).

Exhibit 3, the Loudermill letter lists the reasons for termination: 1) dis-temperance, 2) immoral conduct, 3) willful failure to properly conduct himself, and 4) bringing negative publicity to the city. Sun felt that Calkins exhibited dis-temperance and immoral conduct when he lost his temper and was abusive and disrespectful.

When asked what he meant by negaitive publicity, the mayor said he negated any past rumors or publicty because it was in the past. But when he wrote the Loudermill letter, he could see there was trail to his character. Calkins' attorney objected and it was sustained, so the mayor restated that he was refering to negative, unsatifactory, damaging publicity based on news and blogs. He was not trying to set up Calkins and felt the discharge was in the best interest of the city.

Under cross examination, Mayor Sun denied ever telling anyone he intended to fire Calkins before this incident. He never told anyone he intended to cancel the order for all five cars, nor did he instruct anyone to withold his decision from Calkins.

Calkins' attorney (Mr. Vick) asked Sun if he planned on firing Calkins before issuing the Loudermill letter, which the mayor denied. Sun said he hoped Calkins would come up with some constructive rebuttal at the Loudermill hearing. Sun denied that Calkins requested to meet with him the next day or that Calkins came by his office attempting to meet with him but was denied access.

Vick notes the Loudermill letter states Calkins should be fired for the KOMO News investigative story and a blog story by Robert Smith. Sun denies that he used that as an instrument to fire Calkins, but it was included to augment his decision. Vick asked if the argument on January 17th had not happened, would the reason listed in the Loudermill letter of bad publicity  have come up? Sun responded that he did not say that, but that it fits hand and glove with the other reasons listed. Vick asked Sun if he was testifying that everything the press says is true. The mayor felt they would not write what they did if it didn't happen.

Testimony For Calkins
Police Lt. Massey stated he had a friendly relationship with Sun before the election and that Sun had told him he planned on firing Calkins because of the news stories and making Massey chief. Massey explained how police cars are used and their costs.

City attorney Thompson asked if Massey had ever seen Calkins angry, but Vick objected stating this is about one specific incident, not a pattern. Massey stated he had seen Calkiins angry and Calkins had seen him angry over their 12 years working together. He never felt threatened.

Council member Clint Steiger chairs the council's public safety committee, which invesitigated the allegations outlined in the KOMO News story. Steiger said Calkins was not displinined for anything out of that story after the council's investigation. Steiger noted that prior to Calkins becoming director, there was no policy about purchasing police cars and they were always breaking down. Calkins resolved that problem. He never felt bullied by Calkins. Calkins had worked with the council for this purchase of five new cars and the council had approved the purchase. The mayor had never notified the council of his plans to cancel the order.

Steinger noted there were no witnesses to the allegations of anger in the KOMO story. He knew that the clerk had met with Sun on December 7th to tell her about h is plans for the city; which included firing five people including Calkins. Steinger reiterated that the mayor had told staff not to tell Calkins about canceling the cars order, even though by January 17th they were already at the local car lot.

Steinger testified he had never seen anyone fired for having an argument and never heard staff request that Calkins be fired for this incident. He had heard Sun discuss firing Calkins but the mayor was not sure how to go about it. Sun, Steinger, the clerk had discussions with the insurance company about progressive disipline and that this offense was not enough for termination.

Under cross examination, Steinger noted there was discussion about Calkins salary after the fire department was removed from his scope of work.

Massey was recalled to the stand and stated he was called to the mayor's office prior to the termination decision. The mayor stated he planned on firing Calkins and this agument made it happen quicker. The mayor stated that anyone who didn't support him would be fired.

Calkins then took the stand. He outlined his background and that he had never been displined in Pacific prior to this, but had recieved several commendations. He outlined his five-year policy of new car purchases using criminal justice funds, not general city funds.

Calkins expressed regret over the argument, but the first he knew of the car purchase being canceled was when the finance director announced it to the council in the meeting. He had apoligized to both of them that night when they told him the mayor had ordered them not to tell him.

Under cross examination, he stated he had been investigated but never for anger issues. He agreed the argument was inapproprate. He attempted to contact the mayor the next day to apologize and ask why the mayor chose to blindside him. When he went to see the mayor, Sun told him to leave and shut the door. Calkins then went to speak with the clerk. Sun banged loudly on the door, then told the clerk she was never to speak to Calkins again.

The former finance director did not appear to testify due to childcare issues. The hearing will continue on Friday at 6pm.

Calkins' Hearing Tonight

The appeal before the civil service commission for John Calkins, former Pacific Public Safety Director fired by Mayor Sun, is scheduled for this evening at 6pm at city hall. The proceedings are open to the public. No word if Tracey Vedder of KOMO News will appear as a witness for the mayor. Mayor Sun listed Vedder and others from her investigational story about Calkins as witnesses during the pre-hearing conference hearing last month (story here). More details on tonight's hearing coming soon - along with the civil service decision whether to reinstate Calkins.

Calkins' Pre-Hearing Conference

Tonight's civil service commission meeting was not the full hearing on the appeal of former Director of Public Safety John Calkins' firing. Tonight's meeting was a pre-hearing conference, originally scheduled for last month and reportedly delayed at the mayor's request because he did not have an attorney. The meeting included commissioners David Stookey, Monika Newbold, Elaine Kozanitis, Scott McIver and Don McDonough along with the commission secretary Gail Bennett and the hearing officer Gary McLean who ran the meeting. McLean is the attorney hired to advise the civil service commission.

Mayor Sun arrived before the meeting and sat alone preparing for the meeting. He was alone throughout the meeting without an attorney to represent the city. The purpose of the meeting was to set out the process for exchanging information between the parties. John Calkins was represented attorney Chris Vick.

The meeting began with Vick outlining their witness list and evidence they plan to present at the hearing. When it was Sun's turn, he searched through his stack of papers but was unable to produce anything. McLean explained the rules about what the city is required to provide prior to the hearing, including a list of witnesses and what they will testify to. Sun complained that he had fired the city attorney but the council would not cooperate with the new attorney he wanted to hire.

Vick then moved to exclude the city's evidence since the pre-hearing order had been violated. The mayor announced that his witness list included Tracy Vedder from KOMO news (who had done an in-depth investigative piece on Mr. Calkins' performance as public safety director - link to story here).

After the mayor finally produced a list of witnesses, McLean informed him that he must ensure all the witnesses appear to testify and list in advance the testimony they will provide. The commission asked the mayor to produce all the required information within the next 48 hours, noting that Calkins was prepared for tonight's meeting. After complaining that he could not reach his attorney, Sun requested a week to prepare, which the commission granted.

Another pre-hearing conference will be held (perhaps by phone) with only the hearing officer to confirm both sides have presented the proper documents. Vick stated that the city ignored two prior discovery demands (where the city was required to provide this evidence in advance of the hearing). The mayor was asked if he had any requests for material from Calkins' attorney, but he did not respond. Sun complained that he was hard of hearing and needed an attorney. The commission told him he was still required to produce the personnel file and previous investigation the city had completed on Calkins.

The pre-hearing conference is scheduled August 15th at 10am and the actual hearing is scheduled for August 21, 24 and 25.

Mayor Sun's Witness List (spellings as presented by Sun)
Tracy Vedder, KOMO News
Flygare-Scott Christine Louise, Bonney Lake
Scott Brian Christopher, Bonney Lake
Tom Jowers
Brian Aldridge
Maria Pierce
Jane Montgoment (affidavit)
Barbara Sun
Jerry Eck
Dana Hubbard, Bonney Lake Police Detective
Richardson, Jamie (DUI), Buckley
Kocher, Robrt M. (DUI arrest record)
Vienna Catalani, KOMO News
Delbert Knee, Orting
Tim Leary, attorney
Mike Mitchell,, Bonney Lake Chief of Police
Undersheriff Erik Anderson, Klickitat County Sheriff's Office
Sergant Pat Kaley (KCSO)
Wiester, Bill
Law enforcement represenative to Klickitat County insurer Canfield and Associates
Deputy Darin Rayner (PCSO)
Sgt. Ben Benson (PCSO)
Deputy Dennis Miller (PCSO)
Robert Kocher, Bonney Lake Officer
Officer Yancey, Sumner Police Dept
Tom Pickett, Canfield and Associates, Ephrata

Mayor Cy Sun preparing before tonight's civil service commission meeting.

Calkins pre-hearing conference meeting underway.

Civil Service Rules