Police chief saga rocks city hall

The “unfiring” of Colfax Police Chief Rick McNannay topped the city hall news list for 2019. McNannay was put on administrative leave in October of 2018, and was subsequently fired by Colfax Mayor Todd Vanek Jan. 17. The firing was announced at the Jan. 22 city council session.

Cause of the firing was cited as “findings of dishonesty” on McNannay’s part which allegedly involved shortcomings in hiring certified officers for the police department.

The findings were reported to have been made by an independent investigation by Clear Risk Solutions of Ephrata.

McNannay appealed to the city’s civil service board, and the city’s action unraveled at first-Tuesday board meetings in May and July.

At the May session, a revised plan by the city to re-hire McNannay and then demote him was rejected by the civil service board.

Board chair Leslie Cloaninger said that move would result in arbitrarily taking McNannay’s appeal, and any potential future suit for damages, off the table.

Cloaninger at that session also noted the civil service board, which had received depositions reports and other pre-hearing filings, was close to finding the Clear Risk Solutions, said to be the independent agency which investigated the allegations against chief , was, in fact, related to the city’s insurance pool.

At their next session June 4, the board decided to drop the scheduled hearing of the appeal and reinstate McNannay with pay. He was ordered to report for duty Aug. 1.

A notice of a pending tort suit against the city was filed by McNannay’s attorney, Robert Dunn, but so far one has not been filed in court.

Another impact of the McNannay episode surfaced Nov. 18 when the city council approved a $75,000 addition to the 2019 budget to cover unanticipated legal fees, the cost for hiring Spokane Attorney Ronald Van Wirt to represent the city in McNannay’s civil service appeal.

The city covered the bill to some extent with revenue from building permit fees for the school remodeling project. The permit revenue at one time had been eyed as a means of propping up the depleted reserve funds.