Tyson: Firing Allowed Dignity
I'm glad to read Tyson's brief account of the firing differs from the widely distributed version posted elsewhere- that version suggesting Tyson gave Nielsen five minutes to hand in his equipment and leave the office. According to Tyson, it was Nielsen's idea to turn in his equipment and he was given plenty of time to gather up his things. I'll take his word for it, unless someone can come up with compelling evidence to the contrary.
I still feel Tyson could have just told Nielsen he had until Monday to clear out his stuff, absent serious reasons that would suggest he need be shown the door immediately.
The feeling I've had from the start was that the firing was simply the result of some serious bad blood between Tyson and Nielsen. I still tend to feel that way. However, I find it hard to believe that four out of five council folks would support that firing if that's all it amounted to.
This puts the majority of the council in an unfortunate position: They can't discuss specific reasons for the firing because of the privacy involved with personnel matters. If you disagree with that, consider how you might feel if you were fired and your employer went public with the reasons for it.
As a result, they end up looking like the bad guys, especially to the Nielsen supporters, many of whom weren't happy with those council folks to begin with. They can't win in this situation.
But I have to wonder about Linda Atkins? Why would she be the sole vote in dissent? Might she think the specific reasons for the firing aren't valid? Or might she be simply voting against the rest as she feels that's her proper role in this ongoing us vs. them/ Left vs. Right situation?
Hard to say since she can't comment on the specifics of a personnel matter, either. But it wouldn't surprise me, given what seems to be her self- appointed role as council contrarian, that she might vote against the council simply because she feels she's supposed to be on the opposite side and that she's supporting the wishes of "her" constituency.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 9:33 AM
29 comments
29 Comments:
If he was given so much time, why was Merle Harpham called to escort Garr out of the building after about 8 minutes? Tyson is a liar
Maybe if Garr wants the story told, he can sign off on his employee rights, and give them permission to speak... though maybe no one would want to even then.
This whole thing is just baffling.
While clicking through some blogs on one I noticed that Highboltage had something posted re the firing of Nielsen and if the Daniel Kalis issue may have had something to do with it. I went to that blog and after reading the short post it made me wonder since Nielsen didn't seem to know Kalis was being investigated for a lot of things but had put him on administrative leave about a month before his arrest. The DA has filed a lot of charges dealing with drugs, theft, among a lot of other things. Someone at the EPD had to know what he was doing.
The answer is obvious, Fred and it seems everyone has overlooked it. Who was set to lose their jobs and get an early retirement for a short budget?
The "story" about giving Nielsen five minutes and striping of his uniform came from Hearldo, which means it came from Larry Glass. The T/S went along with it like it was a fact. Shameful.
And for Fred, and everyone else, here is the real deal; when a police officer is fired whether it be while on probation just for not working out or for some more serious reason the first thing that is done is take his/her weapon and keys or access to the building. And that goes for law enforcement all over America, check it out do some research if you don't believe me! Just common sense too. The firing of a police officer is an emotional event and you do not want an overly emotional person to have a loaded weapon at the time of his/her termination. There is the possibility of them commiting suicide because of the shame or shooting someone they believed caused their termination.
Nielsen has done the same thing to at least one officer he has terminated (from probation)! Too bad he didn't do the same to Kalis and that other officer when he had the chance. He allowed them to resign later after they had already committed termination/criminal offenses.
And Joe Blow nobody at EPD was going to lose their job, the PD is in the Black and in the process of hiring more officers. Unlike other departments in the state.
Linda Atkins, as her co conspirators Peter and Larry, is just angry that they don't have control of the council. Atkins doesn't even like the cops! Remember Glass and LeVallee lost by a significant margine!
Tyson did the right thing as did 4/5ths of the council. The more you learn about "Garr" the more you will wonder why they didn't do it sooner.
I know if may be frustrating for some of the citizenry to not have more details but that is to protect the person terminated. Personally I wish they would tell it all.
It's over, move on.
It's frustrating only getting pieces and 'one side' of the story.
It's troubling that it does appear that someone who participated in closed session is talking - and the small details that thus leak out only add fuel to the flames.
At the Herald, the lynch mob is dragging the City Councilmemebers and the Mayor down the street to the gallows... gnashing their teeth and polluting the air with their torches.
I suspect that, if Garr is what they proclaim him to be, which is a man who wants peace in the neighborhoods, and professional demeanor to rule the day, he would tell them to knock it off, there is no reason for scorched earth if he left it a better place than he found it, that is high praise indeed, why burn it down in their rage?
Tyson: Firing Allowed Dignity
That's like they used to say in the woods: "It won't hurt. We'll use some Vaseline."
By the way, I answered a couple of your questions on my Report. (Shameless plug.)
I notice 1:38 that you don't refute the story. You only try to justify it. Didn't work!
If the firing was legitimate, why did the council hold a special meeting on short notice at the start of a holiday weekend instead of just waiting until Tuesday? It smells bad. Really bad.
Rose said:
"Maybe if Garr wants the story told, he can sign off on his employee rights, and give them permission to speak... though maybe no one would want to even then."
Rose, you made a very wise comment/observation,
but I can tell you without a doubt that the fired chief would never in a million years sign off (he would come up with a BS reason why he could not), because he does not want you all to know what he did while at the department.
There is one current employee who knows all his skeletions because she had to endure his wrath for years, but she can;t say anything publically either.
Suffice to say, he is not what all his supporters think he is. Enough said.
I'll take his word for it, unless someone can come up with compelling evidence to the contrary.
The "evidence to the contrary" is Nielsen's version of events as reported by the Times-Standard. So it's Tyson's word against Nielsen's word.
Arguably both have a motive for spinnning the event one way or the other; Nielsen because he was unhappy about being fired, Tyson to counter the belief that the firing was part of a personal vendetta, which an unnecessarily rude and humiliating firing procedure would tend to point towards.
Personally, given my overall opinion of the two men, I tend to believe Nielsen. But I'll certainly admit that it's really just Tyson's word against Nielsen's word, so I can understand why those who have a high opinion of Tyson and a low opinion of Nielsen will tend to believe Tyson.
I will also add that the same argument you make about Atkins could be equally applicable to the other councilmembers -- particularly Brady and Newman, who more or less ran as a team, and who seem to be hell-bent on opposing anything Glass and Atkins supported, including the Jefferson School purchase, and Chief Nielsen.
So that argument goes both ways, and it seems entirely plausible to me that those councilmembers, along with Tyson, may have been motivated, at least in part, by their political alliances and by a desire to demonstrate their power by getting rid of a Chief that they perceived as both a political opponent (there has been a lot of complaining about Nielsen openly supporting Glass) and as an unfortunate reminder of Glass's effectiveness, since Glass was a strong supporter of Nielsen, the POP program, and other reforms and improvements to the EPD.
- tra
"There is one current employee who knows" We all know who that is, Suzie. Suzie had it in for Garr from day one. Who doesn't remember the pie in the face at the very beginning. Sorry Suzie's a bit much of a wacko.
Wrong 7:59am, dead wrong. A bold faced LIE.
Suzie O. was Nielsen's right hand for his first few months at the EPD! Remember when she and Rex Bohn set up the Spagetti cook off between Owsley and Nielsen? The fund raiser. All was good.
Your statement about her having it out for him on day one is total BS!! Suzie O's problems started a few months later when Nielsen test paged Suzie instead of his "special friend" by accident!
Nielsen is not the person some make him out to be. He abused his position, was extremely vindictive, and was a bully. Glass and that brand X councilperson are just using this for political purposes. Anyone can tell you that Glass doesn't like the police, with the exception of Nielsens two *&^&%^$%%^ boys. One retired, one not.
Glass should man up, he lost the election. He can always try again.
Atkins is just an angry woman. Some anger management classes would be in order.
Judging from today's Times Standard, the progressives are going for mob-rule. They cannot allow the elected officials to do their jobs.
Will you sign? Petitions circulate Eureka calling for the termination of Tyson, reinstatement of Nieslen
Maybe it is time for a wikileaks type dump of information. There's a lot of accusing going on - all by anonymous sources, let's see the cards.
And if anonymous's think they have something, prove it - with facts and documents.
At this point, all involved have a right to face their accusers.
Maybe it is time for a wikileaks type dump of information.
That might be the only thing that would settle this and, if the actual reason(s) for the firing came to light, might have Linda Atkins having to answer some tough questions, although that would depend on what exactly those specific offenses were.
If they came to light and it turned out they were the sort of thing most people would agree were firing offenses, she'd have some explaining to do after being the only council critter opposing the firing.
Then again, what if it came to light and the reasons seemed petty?
I've been told there are a few lawsuits that have been filed against Nielsen. Assuming the lawsuits aren't withdrawn, maybe they'll shed some light on the matter?
I'm hearing the same thing, Fred.
I'm not buying that this was petty - or a pissing match between two men. It's obviously much more than that. It's puzzling, and has been from almost the beginning.
So - again, maybe Garr can let the story come out. Or he can call off the attack dogs, because I will say it again: there is no reason for scorched earth if he left it a better place than he found it, that would be high praise indeed, why burn it down? And if he lets the lynch mob go on in his name he has not left this place better than he found it.
And Larry, if he is involved, and it looks like he is, since once again he's got the bumper stickers at his shop, needs to stop it.
How many times does Salzman & co. get to play this game? Drum up the natives with pitchforks and torches, bring out the anonymous "Dump so and so" bumper stickers, all that's missing is the euphemistic new "group" with the "grassroots" cloak. Better install security cameras on the parking meters. If the reporters give him a pass on this one, shame on you, too, you're perpetuating this.
If anyone actually believes that citizens circulating a petition is a sign of "mob rule" and that bumper stickers equate to "pitchforks and torches" weilded by a "lynch mob," then that person is in dire need of professional psychiatric intervention.
-tra
tra, Rose has many good points. Glass is one of the key people behind this, not just my opinion read the paper, watch the video at the Vet's hall meeting! And of course the bumper stickers.
Reading between the lines I would have to guess that something came out during Garr's most recent lawsuit where he was deposed. And you are under oath when deposed. But I am also sure there are other issues, but don't know who is the keeper of the documents.
Nielsen is gone and that is that. The more Glass and Atkins go on the more downgraded the memory of Garr will be.
People can petition or go for a recall (tis is America) but in reality it's a waste of time. The most they can do is not vote for the council people next election.
Time to move on and use all that energy for something good.
I would still like to know who at EPD was covering up for Daniel Kalis as someone had to be doing that. Of course EPD can't say why he was put on administrative leave and then the DA filed charges and from what I understand Kalis then quit. Maybe more officers are involved.
If my employer found out I was looking for another job I would be fired immediately as most people would be. Understand Garr N. has been looking for a couple of years so Bend, Oregon was not the first one, but the one they found out about in the T-S.
There's no question in my mind he was looking elsewhere if for no other reason than he seemed to get up and move out of here awfully quick after the firing. I have to wonder if he knew what was coming, despite his claiming it was a surprise.
I thought of, created the art for, ordered, paid for and picked up the bumper stickers all by myself. No help from Larry or anyone else. No conversation, email or phone calls (other than asking Larry if he wanted some) with anyone. I'm not any part of any group and I do and say what I feel because that's who I am.
Nice waste of money though...hopes it makes ya feel good, RobPushedMe...uhhh, I mean mike.
I really care not what you hope or think. Say what you like. But I put my money where my mouth was and now it is bugging you.
I would have to guess that something came out during Garr's most recent lawsuit where he was deposed.
Nice try at continuing the campaign of character assasination against Nielsen. Classy.
Your sleazy little fact-free insinuation would have fit right in on that disgusting "abovethelaw" blog.
Fact is, if Tyson and his cronies on the City Council had something solid they would have fired Nielsen "for cause" intead of wasting $160,000+ of the taxpayers money to fire him "without cause" and then hide behind the oh-so-convenient "we can't comment because its a personnel issue."
Instead they took the cowards' way out, confident in the knowledge that tools like you would use the firing as an opportunity to throw more mud at Nielsen.
As far as the lawsuits and depositions go, all we know for a fact at this point is that after the depostions in Hansen's sexual harassment lawsuit against Tyson and the City, lawyers for the City of Eureka and its insurance company decided it was better to pay out $200,000 to settle the lawsuit, rather than put Tyson and his cronies on the stand in a trial. Since you're so fond of "guessing" about the content of depositions, perhaps you can "guess" what that means about Tyson's culpability in that mess.
So it looks to me like just in the last couple of years Tyson and the Old Guard clique at the EPD have cost city taxpayers $160,000 for firing the Chief without cause, $200,000 for the Hansen payout, and I think it was about $300,000 for Tyson's (intentionally?) botched "global investigation" in the Hansen case. So that comes to something like $660,000, not even counting lost productivity for all the time wasted on all the unfounded couplaints to the Grand Jury, not even counting attorney's fees in the Hansen case, and so on.
But no, we should all be mad at Linda Atkins and Larry Glass. Yeah...right.
It is your right Mike. I for one don't hold it against you for expressing you view or buying bumper stickers. As it is I doubt if you know the rest of the story and have wasted your money. But hey, this is America and you have the right to express your opinion and waste your money.
It doesn't bug me, RobPushedMeBuettner, it makes me laugh.
7:48, puhleeze - you decry character assassination and that's all your saviours larry and linda have done for the past week. The things Leisure Vest Larry said in the NCJ are very possibly actionable.
Why didn't Larry's messageboy...oops, I mean the very talented reporter Thad Greenson see fit to print Tawnie's deposition? You know, the one where she got caught in multiple lies?
If anything Atkins or Glass has said turns out to be "actionable" character assasination, they can be called to account for it, because unlike the EPD Old Guard cliquesters with the junior high mentalities who operated the "abovethelaw" blog, Glass and Atkins operate in the open.
On the other hand, those anonymous cowards who trafficked in the many childish and sleazy rumours peddled on the "abovethelaw" blog, (much like anonymous 2:04 with their pathetic attempt to perpetuate this campaign of disinformation and character assasination against Nielsen), well they are the types of low-lifes who slither around spewing their unfounded crap from behind a cloak of secrecy.
The fact that some of those same immature, gutter-minded creeps were walking around with guns and badges during the day, and then engaging in such a hateful and vitriolic campaign of anonymous backstabbing against Nielsen at night...well that's exactly why the EPD was so in need of reform in the first place.
Thanks to Nielsen, at least some of those cretins are no longer on the force, and hopefully enough of them are gone that those officers currently on the force will form a critical mass of professionalism and maturity that will prevent the department from ever again being dominated by the likes of that "abovethelaw" clique.
You can try to spin the depositions in the Hansen case all you want, whining about unfairness by the media and so on, but the cold, hard fact is that lawyers for the City and its insurance carrier looked at the totality of what came out in all the depositions and decided that city taxpayers and the insurance company needed to cough up $200,000 rather than risk putting Tyson and his cronies on the stand in open court. To me, that speaks volumes.
Which is probably why some of you would rather change the subject and whine about Greenson, Atkins, Glass, and other folks who -- unlike Tyson and the "abovethelaw" clique -- haven't cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in wasted tax money.
- tra
The other side of the story
Carr Nelisen problems started adding up when he first took a unmarked patrol car to San Franciso for the weekend with a female employee and had a accident with the car,damaged and not able to drive it back to Eureka,second the 50 plus complaints from sworn and non sworn employees, third Garr was pulled over in the Redding area on Hwy 299 for speeding and reckless driving in a marked patrol car by CHP, yet another unauthorized trip with a city vehicle
CARR Neilen??? LMSAO!
Wow, I don't think the proGARR crowd caught the number of the Freight Train that hit them tonight.
The pro City Council other than Linda Atkins, was out in force tonight.
I don't think Linda Atkins was expecting people like the woman who called her out on her BS. It was utterly unexpected, and I loved it.
This small vocal minority received a dose of reality tonight - that the blogsquawkers and gadflies who show up do not represent the majority of people in E-Town.
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