Rader faces questions for his role in police chief investigation

(To see the entire accompanying video, which includes seven short clips, visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/jagatton)

When relatively little information was available about Cops for Kids and the discrepancies in the organization’s financial records, Commissioner Frank Rader had no problem taking a stance on the issue – showing up at “roll-call meetings” at the police department to tell officers that the “only story making sense” was that of then-Police Chief John Crone, who had sole discretion over the Cops for Kids funds.

But now that more information has been made available – and now that the town has fired the police chief – Rader refuses to take a stance on the issue, citing ongoing investigations and “personnel policies” that supposedly prevent him from talking.

At his “ToM Discourse” meeting last night, Rader repeatedly contradicted himself and gave half-answers to pointed – and many times, confrontational – questions from the 20-some attendees.
Rader admitted that he attended the police department staff meetings and told officers that they could write letters of support for Crone – who was on paid suspension at the time and the subject of active personnel and criminal investigations – as long as they did so in their own time and using their own personal resources. Rader also admitted that he told officers that “the only story that was making sense” was Crone’s.

Rader said his visits to the police department were “in line with what I’ve done before.” He said he visits the police department on a “fairly routine” basis and has “cooked hot dogs” for police officers and oftentimes rides along with them on weekend nights.

Rader displayed for the attendees at Wednesday night’s meeting the anonymous letter that was mailed to John Crone before he was suspended – the same letter that Rader distributed to the media, shared with police officers, and has speculated as the cause for launching the media probe into the Cops for Kids records.

His display of the letter – and his coining of it as “vile” – kicked off 45 minutes of lively discussion at the meeting on Wednesday evening.

Rader said he shared the letter with officers during the roll-call meetings at the police department because the anonymous letter was “the first documentation anyone saw” about Cops for Kids.

But that is not true.

The Gatton Report posted its first entry on Cops for Kids on June 27 (http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/06/what-is-cops-for-kids.html). The first mention of the anonymous letter was more than a week later, on July 7, when Crone showed a copy of it on camera to a WSOC-TV reporter (http://www.wsoctv.com/news/16813270/detail.html). That very night, the town placed Crone on paid suspension.

Commissioners – including Rader – were unaware of the anonymous letter until that time; in fact, the town didn’t have a copy of the letter until after July 14.

Here’s how we know: After Crone mentioned the letter in television newscasts, the Report e-mailed Town Attorney Steve Gambill on July 10, asking for a copy of the letter, a public record. Gambill responded on July 11: “I do not have it nor have I seen it. I also do not know in what capacity (Crone) received it or where it was received.”

Responding to a second request for a copy of the letter, Gambill stated in a July 14 e-mail: “I have no details regarding the anonymous letter.”

It wasn’t until July 17 – almost three weeks after the Report’s first Cops for Kids entry … 13 days after the Report and Tribune published the first articles about Cops for Kids … and 10 days after Crone was placed on paid leave – that Gambill provided the letter to the Report. Therefore, he must have provided the letter to commissioners sometime between July 14 and July 17 – long after the Report and the Tribune had published their articles that detailed Cops for Kids’ financial discrepancies. Rader acknowledged on Wednesday that it was Gambill who provided the town board with a copy of the letter.

This proves the letter had nothing to do with the initiation of the Cops for Kids investigation by the media, the public or the town. But Rader continues to insist otherwise because he believes the “vile” letter, which is angry and accusatory and a bit over-the-top, casts all of Crone's critics as unhinged and ill-informed.

Rader was also dishonest in his responses to attendees who repeatedly asked the at-large commissioner if he had ever seen the May 2008 deposit slip showing money had been moved from the police department evidence room into the Cops for Kids account. “I’ve never seen it,” Rader said. “No means no. I have never seen the deposit slip.”

But that is not exactly true either. Commissioners, collectively, were shown the deposit slip on July 7.

Rader was asked during Wednesday’s meeting why he saw fit to distribute the anonymous letter … but didn’t see fit to circulate any of the evidence that points to wrongdoing on Crone’s part. Rader was asked if the anonymous letter “carries more weight” than the deposit slip, but Rader failed to answer, responding only with: “It’s under investigation.”

One resident, from the back of the room, quipped: “So is the police department, but you talked to them.”

Local attorney Cliff Homesley asked Rader if he considered that his actions – specifically, telling officers that they could write letters of support for Crone – was undermining the acting police chief, Carl Robbins, who had previously instructed his officers to stay out of the situation. Rader responded that he does not believe his actions undermined Robbins and his orders.

When asked by local pastor and community activist Larry Green: “who invited you to the police department to make the presentations?” Rader responded: “Me.” When asked what gave him the right or the authority to make those presentations, Rader pulled a town identification card from his pocket and said “this.”

He said the reason he took it upon himself to attend the roll-call meetings without the knowledge or consent of fellow commissioners or the police department is “because I’m a commissioner” and because “morale (at the police department) was pretty d-a-m-n low.”

But Michael Roessler, a former investigative reporter for the Mooresville Tribune, asked Rader exactly how passing around a “vile” letter to police officers was supposed to boost morale.

Rader didn’t offer a clear explanation.

Roessler asked if Rader would now disavow the statement he made to officers – that Crone’s story was the only one that made sense. But Rader wouldn’t answer that question, either, saying only that he had limited information at the time. Roessler asked: “Knowing now what you know now, do you stand by your statement?” But Rader still refused to answer, saying instead: “I’m not going to go there.”

Rader consistently hid behind “personnel” whenever he was asked tough questions – even when those questions were about policy and not personnel. He found it acceptable to address police officers about a pending personnel matter that was also an active criminal investigation. In fact, he said: “I see it as my job.” But when asked to address policy-specific concerns, such as to form an opinion on whether the assistant town manager position should be eliminated – or to provide an opinion about standards that the town manager should be given to determine when an employee should be terminated – Rader declined to comment, citing “personnel."

Roessler called Rader to task on that, saying: “You can’t hide behind personnel on one hand and use it as justification for your actions on the other.”

Rader “congratulated” Roessler, saying on more than one occasion: “You must have done well in Inference 101.”

But Roessler remained focused on the matter at hand, telling Rader: “You are talking out of both sides of your mouth.” Citing the commissioner’s “double-talk and nonsense,” Roessler said: “This is just unacceptable, sir.”

Rader admitted that he has not so much as asked Assistant/Interim Town Manager Erskine Smith about why he fired Crone. Instead, Rader insists that he has absolutely no curiosity about it … even though one short month ago, Crone’s version of the story was the only one that Rader found legitimate.

Rader also said that he believes that Smith – who has been serving as interim town manager since February – is not under the control or authority of the town board, thereby suggesting that Smith is absolutely immune from discipline from anyone until a new town manager is in place.

Green asked Rader about the proper procedure for citizens to file complaints against Erskine Smith for his role in the Cops for Kids fiasco – and how the citizens can demand Smith’s resignation. Rader told Green he could write a letter to commissioners. Green said he had already written a letter, and that “the response has been nothing.” Rader said no response “is another way of saying ‘no,’” but he told Green to feel free to write another letter.

Regarding the disciplining of the interim town manager, Rader said “that’s why we have town managers.” A citizen responded: “No. That’s why we have you.”

Rader said that as a commissioner, he deals with only two positions – the town manager and the town attorney. He continually said that “until the investigations are complete, I have no opinion.” At one point during the meeting, someone asked Rader what his standards are for employees, to which Rader responded: “I’m an elected official. I have no standards.”

A little commentary:

At the end of the day, the “ToM Discourse” was a demonstration of democracy at its finest – a spirited and robust debate between an elected official and his constituents, many of whom are dissatisfied with Rader’s performance and leadership – or lack thereof.

On the one hand, my hat is off to Rader for making himself available for such discourse. But on the other hand, the disingenuous nature of many of his responses left much to be desired.

Rader admitted to holding the meetings at the police department – which his critics rightfully find appalling. They criticize Rader for inappropriately injecting himself into a delicate process and potentially committing obstruction of justice by tainting the opinions of police officers, all of whom are potential witnesses in the matter.

Through his selective evasiveness – through his many contradictions – through his double-speak and half-answers – through his willingness to cite “personnel” to justify his actions, then hide behind “personnel” when the questions got tough – Rader demonstrated an abdication of his duties as a public official to answer questions from his constituents and thereby show them the respect they are owed.

Albeit, some people – including Rader – may claim that those in attendance last night were disrespectful themselves, simply because they firmly demanded answers from their elected official. At times, that meant that the attendees interrupted Rader. And occasionally, they raised their voices. If last night’s meeting had been a dinner party, then such behavior would rightfully be deemed rude. But it wasn’t a dinner party. It was democracy. It was an example of the people letting their elected official know that half-answers and nonsense from elected leaders are no longer acceptable to the citizens of Mooresville.

When those in power refuse to level with their constituents, then the constituents have every right to escalate and make demands and interrupt and raise their voices, individually or collectively.

To hide behind “decorum” – as Mayor Bill Thunberg attempted to do last month when trying to silence protestors who marched on Town Hall when they clapped and cheered for speakers who challenged the behavior and decisions of Crone, Smith and others – is the strategy of someone who fears the people … and for good reason.

A few questions for Commissioner Rader

In a couple hours, Commissioner Frank Rader plans to meet with a group of folks who are still scratching their heads over the at-large commissioner’s recent “presentations” to police officers amid several investigations into former Police Chief John Crone and his Cops for Kids program.

The meeting will be held tonight from 7-9 p.m. at the Mooresville Public Library.

Rader says he’ll allow each person one minute to ask a question – and he’ll require that the “questioner” provide a name and town of residence. He has said he wants “simple questions” for “simple answers.”

The following questions may be too complex for Rader – and they’d certainly take up more than one minute. But they are some of the questions that I hope people will ask the at-large commissioner … and I hope Rader will answer:

1. Did you address Mooresville police officers? When? Where? And why?
2. What did you say to the police officers? What information did you provide? What opinion did you provide about John Crone?
3. Why do you believe it is appropriate to address town employees amid multiple investigations of a suspended police chief?
4. You seem to suggest that absent criminal charges or conviction, town employees should not lose their jobs. Do you believe that a town employee should be eligible for termination only after they’ve been criminally charged and/or convicted? What about non-criminal conduct? Particularly for department heads, what is the standard for losing their job?
5. When is the first time you saw the deposit slip showing that money had been moved from the police department evidence room into Cops for Kids? How does that deposit slip qualify as “speculation”? Isn’t it evidence?
6. You and Mayor Bill Thunberg have repeatedly stated that you want to “wait for the facts” regarding Cops for Kids. Yet, the media and private citizens spent days pouring over the Cops for Kids records. While you were stating that you were content to wait on the facts, what steps were you taking to find the facts?
7. Along those same lines: Mooresville’s police chief has been fired and several investigations – including one led by the State Bureau of Investigation – have been called because of the financial problems that the media and citizen activists found while scrutinizing the Cops for Kids records. Yet, you take cute jabs at those citizens, calling them “investigattons” and “corruption folks.” Do you applaud them for their work? Do you believe they made a valuable contribution to our community, or are they just muckrakers? Why or why not? Do you believe it’s good for citizens to be involved in their government, or would you rather them sit down and shut up while you run the show your way?
8. Regarding the anonymous letter that was written to Crone: Why have you credited that letter with launching the Cops for Kids inquiry? The review of the Cops for Kids records uncovered significant mismanagement and possible criminal conduct. So, where does the anonymous letter fit in? In your mind, does it somehow explain away everything – or anything – that has been uncovered and exposed?
9. Why, in your “Rader At-Large” e-mails, did you include letters of support for Chief Crone but leave out letters that were critical of Crone or supported the investigations into his handling of Cops for Kids?
10. Have you ever requested anyone to give money to Cops for Kids? Have you ever accepted money for Cops for Kids and turned it over to anyone handling the Cops for Kids money?
11. In your “meetings” at the police department, you reportedly told officers that Crone’s story about Cops for Kids was the only one that “makes sense” to you. Do you still feel that way?

And while Commissioner Rader is on the record, perhaps he’d answer these questions:

12. Why does the Town of Mooresville use Windstream instead of MI-Connection for its Internet Service Provider?
13. The Mooresville Golf Course has been praised by the government for turning itself around and pulling itself out of the red. But if the town put groundskeeping back into the golf-course budget, what would be the net profit or loss at the golf course?

P.S. One of my readers just e-mailed this to me, asking me to send it out to those who are interested: http://www.rulesonline.com/

Mooresville police involved in chase; United Way of Central Carolinas fires its president

Here are two local news items that you may find interesting:

From WSOC-TV: A shoplifting suspect at Lowes Foods led Mooresville police on a chase yesterday. Click here for the story: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/17303172/detail.html

From WBTV 3: The United Way of Central Carolinas has fired its president, Gloria Pace King (http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=8902963), following two months of public scrutiny over the amount of money the organization paid King in salary and benefits (http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/06/united-way-presidents-salary-nearly.html).

Rader to meet with "questioners" and "investigattons" this week

Commissioner Frank Rader plans to meet with “questioners” and “investigattons” this Wednesday, Aug. 27, from 7-9 p.m. at the Mooresville Public Library.

Rader is coining the meeting “ToM Discourse” and said in his Aug. 22 “Rader At-Large” e-mail that “the discourse is of idea and opinion” and was “born of statements and questions posed by a folk(s) who think I’ve done wrong.”

More specifically, Rader is referring to questions surrounding his recent visits to the Mooresville Police Department to speak with officers even while the town is investigating the former police chief, John Crone, and his Cops for Kids program.

Without the consent or knowledge of fellow commissioners, Rader made “presentations” during regular staff meetings at the police department while Crone was on paid suspension. Rader told officers that Crone’s version of events was the only one that was “making sense.” He also alluded to the officers that they could write letters of support for Crone, as long as the letters were written on personal time, using personal resources. Rader also read excerpts from an anonymous letter that was sent to Crone before the Cops for Kids story broke in the press – a letter that has mistakenly been credited for launching the media scrutiny of the Cops for Kids records. Rader reportedly characterized the letter as being “vile,” and he took it upon himself to also distribute that letter to members of the media.

But Rader conveniently didn’t see fit to distribute to the media or police officers any evidence of wrongdoing on Crone’s part – including a deposit slip showing that cash was moved from the police evidence room into the Cops for Kids fund. (For more information, visit http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/07/report-spanks-frank-rader-at-large.html and http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/07/free-speech-or-speech-under-duress.html.)

In fact, Rader has called that evidence “speculation” … even though it led to Crone’s firing. “This is part of speculation (my term) spoken, written and demonstrated by anonymous, though some public, voices,” Rader wrote in his Aug. 22 e-mail. But interestingly, Rader added: “Note: I do not read Web Logs = Blogs.”

He said among the “queries” and questions he expects at the meeting are these:

• "Commissioner Rader took it upon himself to penetrate the sanctity of the police department and inject himself into this personnel/criminal investigation by overtly trying to influence the rank and file police officers."
• ". . . would you find it appropriate for an elected official to attend and make presentations at several recent staff meetings of the police department and apparently share with officers the anonymous letter that was sent to Crone?"
• “Why did you speak with ToM Police about the Cops for Kids investigation and what did you say?”

Rader said he hopes that the meeting “if well attended, will become monthly or quarterly.” He said, “Over time, I hope it becomes a reasoned way to examine and discuss as much ToM information as legally and practically possible.”

Rader continued: “I cannot assure the questioners will attend, though the prime reason for the session is to address their questions and ask them mine.”

It is unclear, then, why Rader plans to start off with a budget discussion. But that’s what he says he’ll do: “I'll come with a prepared discussion of the ToM Budget (yawn) and lead with that, then field what question (sic) may come, subject to NC Statute restrictions (personnel and closed session),” he wrote.

It is also unclear what types of questions Rader plans to ask those in attendance.

Rader went on to say that “an invitation to a specific questioner to attend a ToM Chat has been turned down by a questioner, him or her insisting on email correspondence.” He also stated that “one of the potential questioners is in Time Out for using language not acceptable in Kindergarten and will not be entertained.

“To the extent the questioner insists on questioning,” Rader continued, “it will just consume time.”

While most of us have a very simple "rule" for our elected representatives – that they honestly answer questions and speak to us with respect and candor – Commissioner Rader has established some interesting “ground rules” for the “ToM Discourse” meeting. Here they are:

Rader Rule No. 1
"Questioners and Investigattons must identify themselves by name and town."

Rader Rule No. 2
"Questions are limited to one minute."

Rader Rule No. 3
Rader says that he “will answer all that can be, subject to NC law.”

It is unclear what Rader plans to do to “questioners” and “investigattons” who break his "rules," as he did not delineate consequences or punishment. It can be “speculated” that he’ll place them in Time Out with the other “questioner.”

Rader’s e-mail adds that “ticket (sic) for the event are available at 285-2727.” He did not provide an area code. Rader’s slapstick humor aside, tickets are obviously not needed for the meeting.

Investigations into Cops for Kids continue

The Town of Mooresville continues working with the State Bureau of Investigation to complete several probes into former Mooresville Police Chief John Crone and his Cops for Kids program.

The SBI is conducting a criminal investigation, and the town is in the middle of its own internal personnel investigation, which is assessing the conduct of town employees – including Crone – related to Cops for Kids. The N.C. Secretary of State’s office is investigating Cops for Kids’ charitable solicitation license but has not been available for an update this week. Additionally, the town is conducting an audit of Cops for Kids and an inventory of the police department evidence room.

Town investigation
Ken Andrews, the former FBI agent who is heading up the town’s investigation, has completed his first round of interviews. Additional interviews depend on the schedule of the SBI’s investigation, which is not known. Andrews, however, is apparently currently working on a preliminary draft of his findings.

Evidence room inventory
Three town employees – Acting Police Chief Carl Robbins, Accountant Deborah Hockett and Finance Director Maia Setzer – have completed an initial inventory of the police department’s evidence room, at the direction of the SBI. The initial review took almost 50 hours for the three employees to complete and resulted in Crone's ultimate termination from the Town of Mooresville (see http://thegattonreport.blogspot.com/2008/08/evidence-room-inventory-led-to-crones.html). For unknown reasons, the SBI has directed the three employees to conduct a second review. The timeframe for that – and for those three town employees to write detailed reports of their findings and submit them to the SBI – is unclear.

Audits
The town hired Tom Himes with Carolina Financial Investigations – who has former experience with the Internal Revenue Service – to conduct an audit of the Cops for Kids financial records. A second firm, which will verify Himes' findings, could be hired as soon as the Sept. 2 town board meeting.

After reviewing seven years of Cops for Kids' financial documents, Carolina Financial Investigations will turn over results of its probe to the town possibly within the next three weeks. The second firm could have its results to the town as soon as a month later.

What world are we living in?: Mooresville students begin taking home laptops this week

My youngest daughter is one of the rising sixth graders at Mooresville Intermediate School who is now the proud keeper of a brand-spankin’-new Apple MacBook.

We recently returned from the hour-long training session that accompanied the long-anticipated release of the coveted laptop.

The MacBooks are being sent home this week with MIS students – grades 4 through 6. They will be handed out to Mooresville High School students next week during classes.

Citing the growing usage of iPods and cell phones, MIS Principal Julie Morrow told us tonight that the Mooresville Graded School District is preparing students for the 21st Century.

“We are living in a digital world,” she said.

But all I could hear was Madonna. My mind flashed back to being about 9 years old, donning purple fingerless gloves, non-matching outfits with two different color socks, and a sideways ponytail tied up with a neon-green lace ribbon … parading around my living room, jumping up on chairs, singing “Material Girl” at the top of my lungs. I thought I was cool; I had the album in 12-inch vinyl.

And tonight, 22 short years later, there I was … sitting beside my 10-year-old daughter whose posture and angst during the one-hour “parent training session” resembled that which she holds during family Christmas meals that precede the opening of gifts.

I used to love summer breaks from school – swimming pools, kickball in dirt fields with neighborhood friends, staying up late enough to throw chains at bats and catch lightning bugs. My daughter, on the other hand, spent the better part of this summer looking forward to this week – the week before school starts – because that’s when she would receive her coveted MacBook.

I wasn’t so excited.

Parents have pondered many questions about the laptops, such as: How will $50 of insurance cover all the laptops that might be scratched, dropped or otherwise broken over the course of a school year? Will the students receive “zeroes” or “incompletes” for homework assignments that can’t be turned in if the computers crash? Who’s responsible if a laptop is lost or stolen? And perhaps the most important, at least to me: How will students’ Internet usage be monitored?

Is this “introduction” to the digital world introducing an unwelcome can of worms?

Answers to frequently asked questions can be found here: www.mgsd.k12.nc.us/16231081512531693/site/default.asp

I walked away from tonight’s informational meeting feeling a little more comfortable about the idea that my daughter will possibly forevermore leave in her dust the good ol’ days of paper and pencils … venturing out, instead, into a digital world that is, well, far beyond my world of comprehension.

“Students are digital learners,” Morrow said tonight, explaining that instead of students having to “power down” to go to school (translation: to go from computers at home, to pencils and paper at school), the laptops will help them “power up.”

“Engaging these students and making education relevant is critical for our schools to continue to effectively and fully prepare the citizens and leaders of tomorrow.”

(Quote from tonight’s presentation)

The laptops are wireless compatible and Blue Tooth capable (did I word that right?). Students’ MacBooks – unlike those provided to teachers – will not be able to play DVD movies, Morrow said … adding, however, that the students’ laptops do have the capability to make movies.

The laptops have about a 4.5-hour battery life – or more, depending upon how often the students keep them plugged into an electrical outlet.

Each student is also being provided a bookbag that offers a safe haven for the laptops, as long as the students:

• don’t leave them in extremely hot or bitterly cold cars
• don’t slam them down on the ground like my daughters tend to do once they return home after a long day at school
• don’t pile books or other heavy objects on top of them
• don’t mingle bottles of water or lunch with the laptops in the bookbag
• don’t allow pets or young children around the laptops (a challenge in and of itself for my daughter, who shares a house with two dogs and a two-year-old brother … along with an older sister who’s a little envious that middle-schoolers aren’t being sent home with laptops this year).

But at least the MacBooks feature titanium hinges, which we learned tonight are the strongest on the market. And that makes me feel happy and safe.

What truly did make me feel safe was seeing my daughter’s reaction to a brief, but very powerful, video that Morrow showed, demonstrating just how easily a faceless predator can convince a child to give up personal, identifying information over the computer. Morrow assured us, however, that students will not be able to access chat rooms or instant messaging on the MacBooks – and the only e-mail exchanges that the students can have are those between them and their teachers. At least for the time being, Morrow said, the MGSD isn’t allowing student-to-student e-mailing.

The MacBooks have pre-loaded software, including Pages (which is Word for those of us Windows users); Numbers (Excel); Keynote; iCal (a calendar); iTunes; iPhoto (which allows students to store and play around with photos) and iMovie (allowing students to make movies).

Morrow stressed to students and parents the Internet "code of conduct," insisting that Internet usage at school will be teacher-directed and used only for “educational research and activities.”

The school district strongly encourages parents to memorize their child’s usernames and passwords. Morrow also asked us to keep the MacBooks in a “common room” in the house … to make sure we establish time limits for Internet use … and to regularly check our child’s history of visited web pages.

Though the FAQ page on the school district’s website states that students’ history of visited web pages is “undeletable,” Morrow told us tonight that if we notice our child has no history of visited websites, then that means that s/he has deleted the history … which likely means s/he has been visiting sites that s/he knows better than to visit.

… I guess that also means that the history of visited web pages isn’t so “undeletable,” after all.

Noting that the “most important filter is parental supervision,” Morrow assured us that the laptops have “server-based filtering software” that filters websites based on content/keywords and also blocks specific websites – including “social networking” sites like MySpace and Facebook.

However, the code of conduct instructs students not to try to bypass the filter, which – at least to me – means it can be done. And if we’re teaching our children to live in the digital world, I’d be willing to bet that many of them will learn to bypass the filter – if they don’t already know how – within their first week with the new MacBook.

But, heck, I’m living in the material world, not the digital one, so what do I know?

I wanna know your thoughts on the MacBooks – are they a good idea or not? Why?

Evidence room inventory led to Crone's firing; two commissioners want more answers

Last Wednesday, Commissioner Frank Rader told us in the Mooresville Tribune: “The bottom line is we can either do an investigation or speculation. The town has chosen to do investigation, the (protestors) have chosen speculation, and that’s not going to change. We’re going to continue to investigate.”

The very next day, the town fired suspended Police Chief John Crone.

The public was informed about the firing Friday morning.

So, what happened between Wednesday and Friday?

The answer is simple, Commissioner Chris Carney said today. “More information was made available (on Thursday) that deemed it necessary for action to be taken.”

He said information about the deposit slip, showing that money had been moved from the evidence room into Crone’s Cops for Kids account, “was found to be accurate.”

Carney also said “other issues” from the evidence room pointed to violations of police procedures. He declined to elaborate on the other issues, saying only that a full report of the evidence-room inventory has not been released to commissioners. “We were just getting intermittent updates based on the evidence room,” Carney said. “I only know what I’ve heard from different avenues.”

The inventory is apparently still being finalized.

Commissioner Miles Atkins asked town administrators yesterday to add “personnel” to a special-called meeting tomorrow, which is unrelated to Cops for Kids or the former chief. Atkins said he wanted to add personnel to the agenda “so we can get a more detailed update on the investigation and the data that is now available.”

Also, Atkins said he has information he would like to share with his colleagues about an unexpected visit from Crone over the weekend. Crone, said Atkins, “dropped in on me at my home this weekend to share his feelings about the matter. He let me know his side and wanted to tell someone since he has not been given the opportunity to discuss it with anyone tied to the investigation.”

But Town Attorney Steve Gambill said that the only matters that can be discussed in tomorrow's meeting are those that were included in the public notice about the meeting. In other words, a discussion about personnel can't be added.

Atkins said he is "frustrated that information is not more forthcoming."

“There are two financial investigations, the evidence room inventory and Ken Andrews’ (internal) investigation. We have heard nothing to date regarding their findings, nor has there been any timelines established for summary or completion of their work,” he said.

“It is quite evident that several commissioners were caught off guard regarding Chief Crone’s resignation and ultimate termination,” Atkins added. "The handling of this matter along with the lack of communication and accountability is unsettling.

“We called for these investigations and are using taxpayer dollars to pay for them,” Atkins said.

Carney said if commissioners cannot receive updates on the investigations in tomorrow’s meeting, he supports having another special meeting on Monday. “Commissioner Atkins points to a lack of flow of information, and that is 100 percent true,” Carney said. But the question is whether the results of the evidence-room inventory are not being released because they haven’t been “thoroughly vetted” or “if it’s just a lack of information,” he said.

“Atkins is completely in line, in my opinion,” Carney added. “We at least need a timeline to understand when we expect this to be over.”

To date, the town has not agreed to release the results of the evidence-room inventory. But Carney said that the inventory “is not personnel. It’s under the control of the town and not under personnel. Realistically, it’s the one (investigation) we have the most access (to).”

As for the SBI investigation, Carney said, “it may take years, so that cannot be something we’re holding our breath on. We have to work with the internal investigation, and unfortunately, we may never be privy to the personnel issues, which is disheartening. On the personnel part, we are in the dark.”

But Carney said the public can rest assured that the commissioners “want the information just as much as anyone else.” However, he said, “we have to work within the rules.”

He promised that the town board “will release what is released to us.”

“We need to generate a report back to the public that explains what happened to reinstate some kind of credibility,” Carney added.

Atkins said he is “strongly encouraging full disclosure of any and all data and findings to date to be released to the town board and the public as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, Carney is encouraging the public -- Crone's supporters and detractors alike -- to remember that Crone’s firing “had nothing to do with what he had accomplished as Mooresville’s police chief any more than it had to do with the ‘sins of his past’. We had to answer the question of whether there was a policy broken that did not allow for us to continue to have him as a police chief.”

While the town board has not received a full report on any of the outstanding investigations, Carney said, “as soon as one thing acknowledged that something occurred against police procedures, something had to be done.”

He said the town not only needs to discuss “where we are now with any information and where we are headed,” but “we need to figure out where we went wrong as a town. We need to figure out what changes need to be made and then strongly encourage those changes.”