While the announced purpose of the Metropolitan Emergency Communications Association (MECA) board meeting Monday was to approve a 2017 budget, a lengthy executive session to deal with a “personnel matter” dominated the session.
The board is made up of the Jefferson County judge, mayor of Pine Bluff, the Jefferson County sheriff, Pine Bluff police chief, Pine Bluff fire chief, a representative of the 911 Administrative Board and the coordinator of the Office of Emergency Management.
Interim Pine Bluff Police Chief Ivan Whitfield confirmed Monday that the executive session dealt with Melinda Elliott, who until Dec. 31 was operations manager for MECA. She was fired by an unsigned letter from County Judge Henry “Hank” Wilkins IV, which was delivered to her, and again in a letter dated Jan. 17 from Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Karen Blevins.
Neither of the letters list a reason for termination, and Whitfield said previously that the only thing that he was told was that Elliott was “an at-will employee,” adding that the two letters firing Elliott “raised a red flag with me.”
“Our concern is that the city pays 70 percent of the agency funding, and we were not consulted,” Whitfield said. “We asked to be relieved of any obligation in the event there is litigation, and they [Wilkins] didn’t want to do that without consulting with their attorney.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Whitfield said the records showed the board hired Elliott as operations manger, and the board “should be the one to fire or reinstate her.”
A memorandum obtained by the Commercial showed that on June 19, 2003, the MECA Board met and selected Elliott for the position. That memorandum was signed by then-County Judge Jack Jones, then-Pine Bluff Mayor Dutch King, then-Sheriff Boe Fontaine, then-Police Chief Daniel Moses, then-Fire Chief David Parsley, Charles “Cooter” Failla, who represented the 911 Administrative Board, and Wally Hunt, who was the director of the Office of Emergency Management at the time.
“I remember [former] Chief Moses said he grilled her and was satisfied with her answers,” Whitfield said. “I remember that like it was yesterday.”
In her request for a meeting of the board to discuss her termination, Elliott said she was not “nor have I ever been classified as an employee of Jefferson County.”
Those letters were delivered to every member of the board on Jan. 4.
After an executive session which lasted about an hour-and-a-half, Wilkins, who is serving as board chairman this year, said “no conclusion was reached, but we did come to a good understanding.”
Whitfield twice made motions against approving the 2017 MECA budget until the personnel matter with Elliott is resolved, but Wilkins ruled that he was out of order for making the motion.
“This is a public safety issue and it’s hard to replace someone like that overnight,” Whitfield said. “I asked what she had in her file but they would not tell us. If they’ve got evidence it should be laid out.”
MECA is funded by money collected on both land lines and cellular telephones, and from money paid by the user agencies, with the city of Pine Bluff being responsible for 70.76 percent of the agency funding. According to the budget, that will be $696,172 this year.
Jefferson County contributed 25.35 percent, or $249,406, while the cities of White Hall, Redfield, Altheimer, Humphrey, Wabbaseka and sheriff’s office pay smaller amounts. Agency funding will account for more than 50 percent of the total budget.
By a 4-3 vote, the board approved the $1,778,469 budget, with Whitfield, Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington and Pine Bluff Fire and Emergency Services Chief Shauwn Howell voting no, and Blevins, Sheriff Gerald Robinson and White Hall Police Chief Ricky Wingard, who was filling in for White Hall Mayor Noel Foster, voting yes. Wilkins broke the tie with a yes vote.
Foster is chairman of the 911 Administrative Board.
“If there were reasons for her termination, let us know,” Whitfield said. “Don’t put our officers lives in jeopardy.”
After the meeting, Elliott requested under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act for a copy of the 2017 salary breakdown for each slot (position) within MECA and was told by Wilkins to put her request in writing.
She asked again, saying that the FOIA request could be made orally, and Wilkins again told her to put it in writing, adding, “Don’t lecture me on the FOIA.”
Wilkins was inaccurate in his statement to Elliott.
According to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Handbook, an FOIA request “need not be in writing, though a written request is advisable, because it provides a record if litigation becomes necessary. The request must be specific enough for the custodian (of records) to locate the records with reasonable effort.”