Oakland council puts chief on leave.

Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard

OAKLAND - The City Council on Tuesday night placed Police Chief Norm Counts on paid administrative leave through July 25 and voted to give itself the power to hire and fire all city employees, including volunteers.

Councilor Bette Keehley's motion said Counts was being removed pending completion of "an inquiry into certain allegations of conduct."

It directed him to surrender his police badge and vehicle, and forbade him to "initiate contact with any employee of the city of Oakland," including police department volunteers and reserves.

The motions were approved 4-0. The only councilor who has been publicly supportive of Counts, Andrea Botwinick, did not attend the session because of a death in her family.

Counts was hired in October 2005 by a previous council that included members soon removed from office in a recall election.

His future in Oakland has been rocky since late 2006, when the two remaining city councilors clashed on his performance review and could not agree on whether to extend his contract.

When the current council assumed office in January 2007, among its first actions was to schedule a disciplinary hearing to hear complaints against Counts and instruct its insurance carrier, City County Insurance Services, to negotiate a severance deal with the chief.

In February, Counts filed notice of his intent to sue the city, seeking $200,000 in damages for alleged wrongful termination and other allegations.

Also Tuesday night, the council appointed Rod Brown to provide "temporary administrative oversight" of the police department and arrange for temporary coverage of emergency response calls.

Neither Mayor Nanci Staples nor Robert Franz, a Springfield attorney representing the city in the Counts matter, would say who Brown is.

Counts' attorney, Paul Meadowbrook, said Brown is a retired Oregon police chief who works as a consultant helping communities find new police chiefs. He is also assisting Franz in an investigation of a complaint that Counts inappropriately responded to an April accident involving his son.

Meadowbrook said the Oregon State Police looked into the matter and found "no issue" with Counts' handling of the call.

"Now Mr. Franz wants to do an internal affairs-type investigation," Meadowbrook said. "He's decided he can be a better investigator than the state police."

Meadowbrook also charged that Brown's appointment constitutes a conflict of interest because he will be simultaneously running the police department and investigating Counts "when he's in the business of finding replacement chiefs."

Two community residents spoke out against the council actions. Mickey Grimes called Counts "the best chief we've had" during her 35 years in Oakland.

David Turpin charged that the panel improperly discussed in a nonpublic session in June the new hire-and-fire ordinance and an anti-nepotism ordinance they also adopted 4-0 Tuesday night.

He said he believed both were aimed at Counts' brother, a longtime police reserve officer who has clashed publicly with the mayor.

A Roseburg newspaper, The News-Review, reported on the council's June 5 closed session discussion of the ordinances, citing state law that allows news media to report of topics discussed behind closed doors that do not meet the criteria for such nonpublic sessions.

The newspaper quoted the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association attorney, who said ordinances were not proper topics for closed sessions.

Franz disagreed, saying the ordinances related to the advertised subject of the meeting - consultation with legal counsel - and accused The News-Review of breaking the law.

The council barred the paper's reporter Erik Skoog from a closed session Tuesday night, advertised as a discussion of litigation to which the newspaper was a party.

But in the public session that followed, the council voted "not to take action at this time with regards to The News-Review."