PRAIRIE GROVE– The City Council voted 7-0 Monday to overturn the mayor's firing of fire chief J.C. Dobbs.
The vote came after an hour-long executive session to discuss Mayor Sonny Hudson's decision to fire Dobbs on Sept. 30.
Following the vote, Hudson spoke to Dobbs, telling him, "You're reinstated." Those at the meeting in support of Dobbs broke out in applause.
"Thanks for doing the right thing," Paula Ditmars, a Prairie Grove resident, said out loud to the council.
Arkansas Code 14-42-110 addresses the appointment and removal of department heads. The state law says mayors of first-class cities have the power to appoint and remove all department heads, unless the city or town council votes by a two-thirds majority of the total membership to override the mayor's action.
Council member Tony Cunningham was the only member absent Monday.
Hudson, speaking after the council meeting Monday, said he dismissed Dobbs based on information from a police report and video from police body camera from an incident on July 14.
Hudson said his decision was "due to what I considered illegal activities. I tried to keep it quiet out of respect to him."
He said he would have addressed the issue sooner but has been dealing with family health issues and needed to let that settle.
Hudson said he asked Dobbs for a meeting to discuss his concerns and Dobbs refused to meet with him.
"He left me no option," Hudson said.
According to the report, Prairie Grove police officer Warner Burgess responded to a possible disturbance call at 6:43 a.m., July 14, at an apartment on Walnut Street. The caller advised that the "ex-boyfriend of his girlfriend" was at the property banging on the door and window.
Jesse Maness told Burgess that Dobbs was the one banging on the door and window and had just left in his jeep before police arrived. He said Dobbs did not threaten anyone but he believed Dobbs was there to cause a problem.
According to the police report and victim statements, Dobbs had been at the house previously around midnight and the victims reported he had taken Maness' boots from the property.
The report said that while Burgess was getting a statement, Dobbs called the police department and asked if he could pay for the boots. Police said that would be up to the victim.
No charges were filed against Dobbs from the incident but the report said he was given a warning for trespassing and harassment with instructions not to have contact with either victim. The report says Dobbs returned the boots to police.
Council member Brea Gragg made the motion Monday to overturn the mayor's decision.
In an email Tuesday, Gragg said she did it "because I did not feel comfortable with the lack of evidence presented by the Mayor after comparing it with the police report, body cam footage, and public statements to warrant a termination."
Her email continued: "I told J.C. myself more than once, that as a friend, I did not support the decisions he made on his personal time, but as an alderwoman and from the standpoint of the city, it was simply none of my business because it did not affect his work. In all the years he's served the department, he has had no negative verbal or written evaluations, and I felt as if the sudden termination was detrimental to our fire department and our community. Since his termination, I've been contacted by 20+ citizens in our community who felt the story did not add up from their conversations with both J.C. and Mayor Hudson. It was those phone calls that led me to starting asking the hard questions to both the mayor and J.C. and as I said above, I just could not find any concrete evidence that warranted a sudden termination two months after the incident."
Council member Rick Ault on Tuesday said he was proud the council took the time in executive session to understand the human resources situation prior to voting in public.
"The unanimous vote overturning the termination in no way diminishes the high standards we all have of every city employee or the respect we have for the role of mayor," Ault said in a message to the Enterprise-Leader. "I personally appreciate all of those who reached out individually or during the council meeting to express support of the Prairie Grove Fire Department."
Dobbs was the first to address the city council Monday during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting. Hudson, expecting many people to speak, said the council would have a 30-minute public comment period, and each person would be allowed to speak for three minutes.
Dobbs noted he's given 30 years to the city of Prairie Grove, serving 15 years as a volunteer with the fire department and then receiving a "minuscule" amount as chief, with that gradually increasing up to about $19,000 over the years.
"I don't treat it like a job. I treat it like a passion," Dobbs told council members.
He pointed out he's come in under budget every year except for the one year the building was renovated, and the city would not be able to find another person willing to do the job for the same amount of money.
Dobbs said he was not ready to leave as fire chief and didn't know how the council could uphold and justify Hudson's decision to dismiss him as fire chief.
Many people spoke on Dobbs' behalf at the meeting.
Cheryl West with the Rural Volunteer Fire Department read a letter signed by all board members urging the council to retain Dobbs as fire chief.
West pointed out Dobbs has served as fire chief for many years and also is actively involved in civic activities with the city.
"He has demonstrated unsurpassed knowledge of the fire department rules, regulations, procedures and internal affairs, and in our judgment, to lose what he brings to the Prairie Grove Fire Department would be a great disservice to the residents of the area which the Prairie Grove Fire Department serves," West said, reading from the letter.
Others who spoke included former and current members of the Prairie Grove Fire Department.
Volunteer Randall Rieff said the reason the fire department has made progress over the years is because of Dobbs' vision, his knowledge and his time.
Jacob Cull, who has been with the department for five years, said Dobbs took him on as a "green hand" and now he works professionally as a firefighter.
"Everyone from the fire department is family," Cull said. "You just destructed our family and we're here to fight for our family."
Murphy Pair, who served 27 years as a volunteer firefighter and 33 years as a member of the council, also said he did not feel the mayor's decision to fire Dobbs was justified.
"Sonny, you and I have talked several times about this. I feel like this would be the worst thing you've done as mayor if you follow through with this," Pair said.
He said it would be the same if the council let the decision stand as is.
Willie Leming, who served 18 years as Lincoln fire chief and a volunteer for 40 years, said he knows as a chief how much time Dobbs has put into the Prairie Grove department.
"J.C. has done tremendous work," Leming said, adding the council and mayor did not need to judge Dobbs.
Leming pointed out that it would be very expensive "on the other side" to replace Dobbs.
Another volunteer, Shawn Fidler, said there is no one to replace Dobbs at this time.
"I'm not saying there won't be one later," Fidler said. "He loves this community. He cares about the community and he loves this fire department."
Dobbs on Tuesday said he was "humbled and appreciative of the council's efforts and thoughts."
He added, "I know it wasn't an easy decision. I'm humbled by their public confidence in me."
Dobbs said he preferred not to comment on the incident at the Walnut Street apartment, except to say it was a lapse of judgment.
Dobbs said Hudson's decision to fire him took him completely by surprise because nothing had been said to him following the police report. He said he did not refuse to meet with Hudson, but that Hudson wanted to meet and talk about his employment in four or five days.
"I told him if it's about firing me, let's talk about it now," Dobbs said. "I couldn't mentally go four or five days wondering if he was going to terminate me."
Dobbs said he did not believe the incident was justification to dismiss him as fire chief.
Since Dobbs' termination, police Sgt. Mark Scates has served as interim fire chief. At the end of Monday's meeting, Hudson asked Scates to continue to serve for a few more days until Hudson and Dobbs have a chance to meet and make the transition for Dobbs to return to his position as fire chief.
"We'll try to get things back to normal as soon as possible," Hudson said.
