At their meeting on Monday, Grantville City Council members approved settling a lawsuit filed by Javier Garcia, the former chief of police.
“We are resolving issues from the past administration,” Mayor Richard Proctor said after the meeting.
Garcia was appointed as chief of Grantville Police Department in July 2014. Less than a year later, he tendered his resignation after filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against then councilman David Riley.
According to an article in The Newnan Times-Herald, he said he resigned under the pressure of then mayor Doug Jewell.
“Garcia submitted his resignation Friday during a meeting with Mayor Doug Jewell and City Attorney Mark Mitchell at which he was told the council had sufficient votes to fire him for cause,” a 2015 article states. “Though he loses pay because of the resignation, that action will make it easier for him to seek a new job. The Peace Officers Standards and Training Council, which certifies law officers in Georgia, investigates officers who are fired – potentially holding up job offers.”
In his complaint filed in December 2014, Garcia alleged that Riley led a campaign of attacks against him in person and online after he disciplined an employee in October of that year.
“In the complaint, Garcia, who is Latino, stated he felt he was being harassed by Riley ‘because of my race and national origin and … because I’m doing my job as police chief,’” an article about the resignation stated.
His complaint was one of four filed by Grantville employees at that time.
In other business council members:
— Reelected Casey Evans as mayor pro tempore.
— Approved purchasing power from the city of Calhoun for $15 per kilowatt hour in order to meet its needs and maintain a 15 percent reserve as required by the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia.
— Approved the purchase of an Altec AT40G bucket truck for $127,500 to replace the current truck. The current truck is no longer working at all as evidenced by the Christmas decorations still hanging in the city’s downtown, City Manager Al Grieshaber told the council members.
— Approved submitting an application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to renovate the freight depot into a multipurpose community center and food pantry. Councilwoman Dee Berry abstained from the vote stating that the resulting event venue could positively impact her Bonnie Castle.
— Heard the first reading of ordinance amendments that would allow alcohol on city properties, ban glass from city parks and remove a set fee for the use of city property for filming.
— Approved a change to the city’s defined benefit retirement plan to correct a mistake made by the Georgia Municipal Association in its implementation of the plan.
— Heard that Grieshaber was recognized by the International City/County Management Association for his 35 years of service in the field.
