Sloan Appeals His Firing From Police Force

CARNATION

Frank Sloan, who was fired from the Carnation Police Department last week, says the city officials who terminated him violated the contract with Teamsters Local 763 that covers Carnation police officers.

Sloan and Gunnar Otness, who was relieved of his public-safety-director position months earlier, filed appeals this week with the city's Civil Service Commission.

In February, Sloan was put on paid administrative leave by then-Mayor Jack Stein pending the outcome of three investigations focusing on complaints against the officer. A probe by the King County Sheriff's Office cleared Sloan of any criminal violations. Results of an FBI investigation have not been revealed.

However, a parallel investigation by an attorney for the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) and findings by Redmond police Cmdr. George Potts, who served as an interim Carnation chief for several weeks, led to Sloan's firing.

Sloan was accused of dishonesty, dereliction of duty, consistent abuse of his power as a police officer, repeatedly billing the city for hours he didn't work, destroying or hiding public records to avoid their use in the AWC investigation, back-dating reports and falsifying or providing misleading reports about investigations he conducted.

In a letter to the Civil Service Commission, Sloan says the city did not:

-- Give him a 30-day notice that he may have violated state law.

-- Determine the truthfulness of complaints against him.

-- Follow the personnel or police manual while investigating complaints or in firing him.

-- Handle personnel information about him in a confidential manner.

Sloan further contends he was put on leave because he refused to follow Stein's orders to harass the husband of a woman with whom Stein allegedly was having an affair. And Stein later offered to provide a letter of reference if Sloan resigned, Sloan says.

Stein would not comment on Sloan's allegations.

The full content of the AWC probe has not been made public, but details will come out at the commission hearing, said Sloan's attorney, Gerald Pearson.

Pearson said he and Sloan will meet with the commission May 26 to set a hearing date and discuss procedures.

Otness said he simply wants to know how he stands with the city. On Feb. 24, Carnation City Attorney W. Scott Snyder and Otness' attorney, Anne Bremner, said Otness had been placed on leave to ensure an appearance of fairness in the Sloan investigations.

"Out of an abundance of caution," Otness said, "I am requesting a full investigation and hearing into my employment status. Because of statements by city officials and developments in recent weeks, I am unsure as to my employment status with the city."

City officials say Otness' contract with the city ended in March, but Otness believes his contract is still in force.

This belief, Bremner said, is based on a written one-year contract Otness had for 1996 and subsequent oral contracts he made with Stein and City Administrator Randy Suko for 1997 and this year in which he was given pay raises.

But the 1997 and 1998 contracts were never put in writing, and requests by Otness for written contracts were ignored, Bremner said. "It's not Gunnar's fault; it's the city's fault, and he is paying for it."

Louis T. Corsaletti's phone message number is 206-515-5626. His e-mail address is: lcor-new@seatimes.com