Filings cite arguments in firing of chief

First filings of the civil service appeal of former Colfax Police Chief Rick McNannay have been made public and provide a look at arguments involved in the dispute. The McNannay appeal to the three-member Colfax Civil Service Commission is scheduled to start July 29.

During a scheduling meeting March 5 with the three-member commission, McNannay's attorney and the city's special attorney discussed deadlines and procedure for the upcoming session.

Filings of papers in the dispute are scheduled to go to the Storey & Miller court reporting firm in Spokane. Leslie Cloaninger, retired Colfax attorney who chairs the commission, has hired the firm to collect and maintain the file for the record and to provide a recorder for the actual hearing which will be in the Public Service Building.

Spokane Attorney Robert Dunn, who represents McNannay, provided the Gazette with a 12-page statement dated Feb. 6 which outlines McNannay's appeal.

Chris Mathis, interim Colfax city manager, provided a nine-page report by Clear Risk Solutions, the Ephrata firm which was hired by the city to investigate city concerns involving the chief. The report was provided in response to the public records request from the Gazette.

The Clear Risk report from investigator John Young was dated Dec. 19.

Both filings start with McNannay's hiring of part-time officers to fill shifts in 2016 and how the procedures were alleged to have fallen short of requirements of the state's Criminal Justice Training Commission. The requirement had been on the books since they were revised in 2005.

Young's report starts with four allegations that McNannay hired four officers without conducting required background investigations, physical examinations and a polygraph examination.

Dunn's opening letter addresses the hiring mistakes but goes on to allege hirings were a mere "pretext for discrimination and retaliation."

Hired were Joseph Handley, then a member of the Palouse Police department; Steven Perez, a member of Pullman Police department; Jacob Spitzer, a former employee of the Spokane Sheriff's department and Shane Emerson, a veteran member of the Pullman Police department.

Handley has since been hired as a full-time Colfax officer.

Young's report cites certification requirements in place after July 24, 2005, which required examinations and polygraph tests for all candidates.

Young's conclusion alleges McNannay knew or should have known what was required to undergo the investigation and tests and falsely signed certifications in two instances in 2016.

Dunn's Feb. 6 letter of appeal to the civil service commission contends McNannay's hiring procedures were consistent with the practices of his predecessor as well as numerous other law enforcement agencies in Washington. He states McNannay complied with directions from the CJTC regarding submission of the hire forms notices.

The letter contends McNannany was notified by CJTC manager Trisha Jones Dec. 5, 2016, that new hires, even for part-time duty, had to undergo polygraph exams. It contends she subsequently advised him to just submit the previous forms for the hiring of two employees which were involved in the issue because of the length of time that elapsed.

Among episodes listed by Dunn in his "pretext" argument was contract negotiation between McNannay and Mayor Todd Vanek in June of 2017. The letter contends one of the contract items was a request by the Mayor that McNannay drop his civil service status as part of a $75,000 annual contract which had been offered seven months earlier. It contends the mayor "begrudgingly" agreed to drop the request and go along with the offer which was made in November of 2016.

Another dispute involved the city's alleged withholding of pay McNannay earned by providing security work for WSU football games. The letter contends McNannay before signing the contract for the $75,000 annual pay made a point to ascertain he could receive the extra pay for outside duty.

The letter relates that McNannay at one point hired an attorney and threatened to sue the city for payment of the football duty sums.

Dunn's letter contends McNannay was notified Oct. 16, 2018, by the mayor in a "callous and malicious manner" that he had been placed on administrative leave.

It also contended eight days later when he was interviewed by Young, who was conducting the report for Clear View, McNannay cooperated fully to questions about the 2016 hirings. It contends city's failure and refusal to advise him of the reason for his administrative leave and its refusal to allow him access to his office hampered his responses.

Dunn's letter describes the session with Young as an "ambush interview."

The report said McNannay notified the Civil Service Commission the same day, Oct. 24, 2018, that he had been placed on leave and believed the city had violated applicable law.

McNannay was terminated by the mayor Jan. 10. The Dunn letter contends McNannay inquired about 2017 and 2018 performance evaluations which he had not received, the mayor told him he kept the evaluations in a file because of the law suit which McNannay had threatened to file about the withheld WSU pay. It said the city reissued his termination letter Jan. 17.