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And then they were gone.
In her first significant personnel move, Mayor Vivian Flowers has maneuvered the city away from Police Chief Denise Richardson and Fire Chief Shauwn Howell. Richardson was fired, and Howell was said to have retired, although the timing puts that voluntary move into debate given the synchronous exits of both individuals. Some media outlets – not this one – even went so far as to erroneously report that Howell had been fired based on rumors of what had gone down.
We recall that in some church settings, when a new pastor was hired, other paid staffers, as a courtesy, turned in their letters of resignation. Maybe the new pastor will accept the letters and bring in their own people, and maybe they will want to keep the employees. But it’s their call as the new hire.
Perhaps that’s the way it should be when a new mayor comes on board, just to avoid the drama that was created last week. In any event, Flowers has the authority to hire and fire police and fire chiefs.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Many people will have an opinion about Flowers’ move. Ours is that the departure of the police chief was overdue, and that Howell seemed to have served the city well, as in we don’t know what’s not to like about him.
Richardson came to the police department as a recruit and across three decades worked her way up to chief, a groundbreaking and admirable accomplishment. She was promoted to chief in July 2022 by then-Mayor Shirley Washington, who should have fired Richardson a little more than a year later over the chief’s handling of the Maurice Taggart homicide investigation, the result of which left more questions than answers.
All of that said, Flowers had high praise for both Howell and Richardson and said firing Richardson was strictly an administrative decision and not one based on cause. Whether you buy that or not, the new mayor has a right to bring in the folks she wants. Her administration will be judged on how well she and her team move the city forward, and if she can’t pick the members of that team, she will be forever hamstrung in her efforts. In four years, when election time rolls around, if you are still bitter about it, vote accordingly.