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According to a press release issued Friday afternoon, Feb. 19, the council moved to terminate the employment of Marshall Police Department Lt. John Brad Bartlett upon "mutually agreeable terms," at the recommendation of special city counselor Joe Gall.
Council members Barbara Utlaut, Sheila Cook, Vince Lutterbie, Gabe Ramsey, Dan Brandt, Sam Moten and Mayor Pro Tem Lorna Alexander voted in favor of the termination. Council member Ron Duvall was absent; there were no dissenting votes.
The council's next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, March 1, at 5:15 p.m. in the City Office Building.
Contact Sydney Stonner at marshallbusiness@socket.net
Comments
Was he fired,terminated,did he resign, or was their some other agreement that will end up costing the city a lot more money? I think the citizens have a right to know how much this is costing the taxpayers and whether this officer was fired or whether he resigned. Terminated or fired means to most of us the officer was not doing his job, if there was an agreement to resign than that is what should be reported. Let's get this right so a future is not destroyed by the use of the wrong wording.
I heard Mr Bartlett was not fired. Is this true???
Does terminated mean fired? Will there be a public hearing for this officer?
The special city counselor is probably Joseph S. Gall of Humphrey, Farrington & McClain, an Independence firm. He specializes in several areas, including municipal law.
Logic tells me that in addition to being the City Attorney for Marshall, Mr. Stouffer is also the Prosecuting Attorney for Saline County. My guess is that as Prosecuting Attorney, Mr. Stouffer would have to deal closely with Det. Bartlett. Perhaps Mr. Stouffer felt that his working relationship with Det. Bartlett would create a conflict of interest and the best way to handle the situation was to bring in someone else. As Det. Bartlett's wife is a probation officer, my guess is that she also works closely with the Prosecutor's Office. All the more reason to have someone else handle the personnel matter. Just a guess on my part!
Marshall's loss on this one. He's a great detective...leave it to Marshall to chase off good people.
So not only do we the citizens of Marshall have a city attorney, we have also have a "special" city counselor. What else has he "counseled" our City Council on? Perhaps the resignation of our Mayor and her subsequent appointment to City Administrator, all in one fell swoop.
Seriously, who is this guy and why was he brought in? I realize that details of job performance, etc. are private and thus discussed in closed session. On the other hand, I would think that the tax payers should have a right to know if a financial settlement was involved.
What could a 15 year veteran of the Marshall Police Dept have done to warrant dismissal? And why did the city hire a Kansas City lawyer instead of using Don Stouffer? It would be interesting to know what the total cost of this dismissal cost the taxpayers. Maybe the Marshall Democrat News will investigate and find out so we will know how our tax money is being used.
John Brad Bartlett was if I remember right the Chief of detectives for MPD and took over when Tom bowling quit/retired. His wife is a probation officer with the Saline county department of corrections.
What happens in a closed door session is not open for public scrutiny. Y'all are certainly in a hurry to second guess the council and jump to conclusions. I've heard it said that speculation is the playground of small minds.
-- Posted by Pragmatist on Mon, Feb 22, 2010, at 4:47 PM
Nice little bit of name calling yourself there. As far as my comment I believe that anytime someone loses their job for any reason it's just "bad stuff" I didn't try to second guess anyone or make any judgements on who did what..I just made the simple comment that when I did have knowledge of his work he was a good officer. I personally saw that from him. That being said I haven't seen his work as of late so I can't comment on that or make a judgement on something I am not aware of. I just hope that the situation works out for all involved for the better. End of story.
What happens in a closed door session is not open for public scrutiny. Y'all are certainly in a hurry to second guess the council and jump to conclusions. I've heard it said that speculation is the playground of small minds.
wow he's been around for awhile and was a good officer at least when I was working with him...it's a shame that bad stuff happens..maybe it's for the best all the way around. I wish him luck anyway.
OMG.....I believe if you re read the article it says "when personal information about the employee is discussed." Seriously...
Maybe those that were involved in "fleeing" from the officer should have just pulled over when they saw the bright flashing lights or better yet they could have just turned themselves in as I am sure they were aware of their warrant... but that would be a perfect world, wouldn't it? This is the real world where criminals roam the streets and occasionally crash into parked vehicles endangering their own lives and the lives of innocent civilians and cops when they could have JUST PULLED OVER!!
It was a mistake to pursue a suspect with a felony warrant?? Mistake in judgement?? How do you figure?? What planet are you living on?? You need to get a clue. Put the blame on the felony suspect where it belongs, there was no mistake in judgement by the police officer, it is soley on the felon for not obeying the law and stopping for the officer as they are mandated to do.
Keep up the great work Marshall Police, you have a thankless job!!