Editor, The Era-Leader:
RE: Ethics Complaint against Franklinton Police Chief is dismissed.
As I had posted on the Franklinton Uncensored fb/meta page, this is welcome news.
This ethics complaint, made anonymously, was about pay Chief Brown received during the Hurricane Ida emergency. The other officers who were paid by FEMA for their work had no ethics complaints filed anonymously or otherwise against them, just Chief Brown. Mayor Route approved and signed the paycheck. FEMA also approved the payment and reimbursed the town.
Chief Brown stated, “My personal belief is the complaint was knowingly filed with the knowledge that there was no violation and it was filed with malice and ill intent after I had announced my candidacy for public office. (Brown was a candidate for the parish school board last fall.) Additionally, the complaint, in my opinion, was just another attempt to remove me as the Chief of Police.”
Can we now move on? Or, is there another political kerfuffery waiting behind the curtain to be brought out? Can Chief Brown just simply do his job?
Mayor Route almost from day one of his term as mayor, has attempted to remove Chief Brown, ignoring the town charter rules and going against a ruling from the State Attorney General.
He “improperly” tried to remove Chief Brown and “improperly” installed Olander Smith as FPD chief. He was forced, by the rules, to reverse both of these decisions.
He has attempted to exercise his authority, by announcing promotions within the police department going against the policy that has guided the department's inner working for years.
Is it his declaration, “I make my decisions on what I think is best for me.”, the way that things are to be done? That quote, by the way, is from the January 1st town council meeting in 2021. Mayor Route had said that he wanted a spirit of unity and teamwork. Kind of hard to be a team of one, now isn't it.
Then he had let it be known that he was “considering” filing a lawsuit against the Franklinton Board of Aldermen. Is this what he meant by Re-Routing Franklinton?
Speaking for myself, Mayor Route presents himself as someone who is determined to get his own way. Rules don't matter, higher authority doesn't matter, policies governing procedures within an organization, don't matter; so seeing all this, I have to go with my perception that Mayor Route isn't working within the spirit of unity and teamwork.
Chief Brown, I sincerely hope that you can now concentrate on doing your job without all these unnecessary distractions.
Ben M Sarro
Franklinton
