Mayor Robert Smith said Tuesday he expects a five-month timeline for tracking the progress of Columbus police chief Oscar Lewis.
The timeframe, he said, would give the chief ample opportunity to implement the tenets of a city council-prescribed action plan for his work performance — the specifics of which have not yet been made public.
“Any time you have an approval plan or a plan of action it’s a process, and you go step by step,” Smith said. “We have already started the process, and if the citizens will just give us an opportunity, the plan will be implemented.”
City councilmen approved the plan of action for Lewis on Aug. 15, weeks after police consultant K.B. Turner recommended the city terminate the chief.
The five months may also correspond with the date Lewis becomes eligible to retire under Mississippi Public Employee Retirement System guidelines. Neither city Human Resources Director Pat Mitchell nor Lewis would specify Wednesday to The Dispatch the exact date Lewis would become eligible to retire, but the chief confirmed to The Dispatch it would be some time in 2018.
The Dispatch has filed an Open Records request with the city to obtain that information.
Lewis has worked in law enforcement since 1994.
PERS requires 25 years of service for Tier II employees like Lewis. Unused paid leave counts toward that time.
Turner offered several other recommendations to improve the police department in a report that culminated his six-month study. Most notably, the city credits Turner’s efforts for rebuilding the police force to nearly full-staff after it had fallen to less than 2/3 of its budgeted roster of 67 officers in late 2016.
Overview committee
CPD’s civilian overview committee reviewed the council’s action plan for Lewis during a Tuesday morning special-call meeting. For the general public, however, the details of that plan currently remain unclear.
For about an hour, the committee met in executive session to discuss the plan, which city officials have noted is a personnel matter.
Committee Chairman Rev. Steven James said he felt everyone is on the same page regarding the plan of action. However, he said he couldn’t discuss the plan’s details after Tuesday’s meeting.
“There’s going to be community meetings in different wards,” he said. “People can come out and they’ll release information and progress as far as what’s going on and things that are taking place. I’m sure there will probably be some releasing as things go on, but right now they just want to get it going.”
City leaders and Turner strove to be transparent throughout the review process. However, Smith said the plan, as a personnel matter, is protected under Mississippi’s Open Meetings Act. He said city officials will withhold protected details for now but might reveal more in the future.
“You can discuss certain things when you’re dealing with personnel and there are certain things you cannot discuss,” Smith said. “I think anyone that knows about executive privilege knows that.
“Now, as time progresses, there are certain things that we will discuss,” Smith added. “But as far as what we discussed today concerning the personnel issue, we’re going to keep it as a personnel issue and we’re not going to violate the executive privilege.”
The mayor said the council and overview committee will receive monthly updates on Lewis’ progress and confirmed there would be more public meetings in each ward.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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