Durant Police Department Officer Bob Smith has resigned. Durant council members accepted his resignation after a closed session in which he was reviewed.
Controversy has plagued the city of Durant and its police department since May when news broke of Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington’s decision to refuse arrestees from Durant police officers. Wethington had accused the department of hiring a Giglio officer, Robert Smith, who retired from the Iowa State Patrol prior to being hired at Durant.
News of his refusal spread like wildfire, first being covered locally, then statewide with in the Des Moines Register. The issue even spread nationally with headlines reaching as far as the New York Times.
Following a closed session at the July 22 Durant city council meeting, council members Diane Quiram, Kevin Mundt and Dave Schulz formally accepted Officer Smith’s resignation. He will be paid to attend court in pending cases at his regular hourly rate.
On July 23, the Advocate News received the following statement per the city's legal counsel: “Officer Smith orally resigned his position as an officer with the city of Durant at the city council meeting held on July 22, 2019. The city council accepted Officer Robert Smith’s resignation, effective immediately. Mr. Smith’s decision was voluntary so no separation agreement exists. Former Officer Smith will be paid for any time spent testifying in pending criminal matters. Unofficial, non-approved draft of the minutes of the city council meeting of July 22, 2019 will be available this week and posted on the city website www.cityofdurantiowa.com.”
In a follow-up interview with the Advocate News, Sheriff Wethington said that once he got confirmation from Durant PD that Officer Smith was no longer on the force, he would begin accepting arrestees from Durant. However, he said he was unsure about Chief Orville Randolph.
“I’m not 100 percent sure I’ll let Randolph into the administrative side of the building,” said Wethington. “I don’t think he’s capable of the order of conduct Smith was, but there are issues between he and I that I don’t feel comfortable having him in the administrative side of the building.
“We will start taking arrestees from the city of Durant. All officers are welcome in the jail and administrative side. Randolph is welcome to bring a prisoner to the jail but not on the administrative side.”
He was also asked about the video that surfaced showing Officer Smith being physical with a motorcycle rider and the fact that the city hired a law firm in connection with the ongoing feud between the sheriff’s office and the PD.
“I’m not concerned with pending litigation because I don’t have to take their inmates,” said Wethington. “If they’re looking at a legal issue with me or the county I’m not concerned in the least. Now I’ll take their inmates. It’s unfortunate to have to take it to this level. This is Orville’s fault for wanting to hire (Bob Smith) and not getting rid of him. It took longer than it should have but in reality it was within a reasonable amount of time from when the video came out.
“I still think (Bob Smith) should be charged criminally. He should be decertified. He assaulted that young man (motorcyclist) for no reason.”
Wethington had previously stated he would not retire due to the ongoing situation with Bob Smith and the Durant PD. Although Smith is now resigning, Wethington said he still has no plans to retire based on Dawn Smith, Bob’s wife, being on the Cedar County Board of Supervisors.
“I will not retire until (Dawn) is no longer on the board of supervisors,” Wethington said. “She’s abused her position. I will not retire until she is no longer involved in politics in Cedar County. My staff believes if I retire, she’ll have a vendetta against them and walk all over them. I’m not going to let that happen.”
With Bob Smith’s resignation and Sgt. Mike Meier recently accepting the school resource officer position, the only full-time staff remaining on Durant PD is Chief Randolph. The city had been advertising to fill Meier’s position and held a special session on Tuesday, July 23 to likely approve the hiring of a full-time officer. Official action was not available by press time.
Brian Utter resigns from council
“I, Brian C. Utter, am resigning my elected office of Durant city council member effective tonight, July 22, 2019. It has been my honor and privilege to serve the citizens of Durant,” stated a resignation letter from council member Brian Utter. Utter’s term was set to end Dec. 31, 2019.
“We’re glad for your service,” Mayor Scott Spengler told Utter.
The city will need to decide what to do with the vacant seat. According to the city code, there are two options officials can take. The first is to appoint someone to the seat. City Clerk Deana Cavin said, “It would be great if someone has thought about running, and would want to be appointed.” She said it would be a good chance to get a “taste of the seat.”
The other option would be to hold a special election for the remaining balance of the term. Cavin said she was unsure if the city would take that step, as November elections are just around the corner.
Engineer report
Council approved a bid from Smith Seeding Inc. in Eldridge in the amount of $9,400 for filling topsoil and reseeding areas along Eighth Street. MSA senior project engineer Kevin Bailey told council that 11 contractors were contacted, but only one quote was received due to the season. He said a few more would be interested in doing the work next spring.
Bailey had two positive references for Smith Seeding, which also came in well below the $16,000 price mark that was estimated to complete the project. Council decided it was better for residents to have the work done sooner than later and approved the bid.
Bailey also briefly updated council on the Yankee Avenue study, said there was no update on the Sunset Farms addition and talked about the sponsored projects.
Finally, he told council that smoke testing was done last week in an attempt to resolve issues with backup that occurred during heavy rainfall recently. He said there was a big find at the intersection of Seventh Street and 13th Avenue, saying, “There’s some issues there.” He is working to finalize a report with recommendations.
Miscellany
In other action, council:
* Opened the meeting with approval of the agenda, approval of city bills and approval of minutes from the July 8 and July 17 meetings.
* Approved resolution 2019-41 setting Aug. 12 at 6 p.m. as the time for a public hearing on the fiscal year 2020 budget amendment.
* Approved resolution 2019-42 setting Aug. 12 at 6 p.m. as the time for a public hearing on ordinance amendment 2019-01, increasing of water and sewer rates. Cavin explained that the ordinance says the city should raise the rates a minimum of 1 percent, but proposed a 2 percent raise. She contributed a $13,000 shortfall in the water budget as the reason for a higher raise.
Cavin added that she has cut the budget for water and sewer in an attempt to reduce the shortfall. If passed, the raise would go into effect in October, after having three official readings.
* Approved resolution 2019-40 authorizing a transfer of funds for the end of the 2019 fiscal year.
Council members Quiram, Mundt, Schulz and mayor Spengler were present. Utter was present during the open session but resigned prior to the closed session held at the end of the meeting. Council member Dan Sterner was absent. All action taken was unanimous unless otherwise noted. The next regular meeting is Aug. 12 at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
