Ex-Port Richey chief returns to force Monday
After being fired, Bill Downs rejoins the city's Police Department as a captain and will be second in command.
By PHIL DAVIS
Published August 4, 2005
PORT RICHEY - After almost two years on the sidelines, former Port Richey police Chief Bill Downs will be back on the beat starting Monday. Downs, 59, rejoins the Port Richey Police Department as captain and will be second in command. He will be the city's top cop for a week while Chief Bill Sager is on vacation.
Downs appealed his Oct. 31, 2003, firing and asked to be reinstated as chief. In June, an independent arbitrator ordered the city to rehire Downs as second in command. The arbitrator ruled that the city had cause to demote Downs for insubordination when he became embroiled in the city's contentious council politics, but overstepped its bounds in firing the veteran officer. Downs had joined the department in 1993.
Both Downs and the city are bound by the arbitrator's decision.
As part of the agreement, the city must pay Downs' salary back to the date of his firing. Attorneys still are hammering out that agreement, but according to the proposed city budget, the total back pay package could range from $117,000 to $148,000. City Manager Jerry Calhoun said Downs will get an annual base salary of $43,656 (a total compensation package of $63,931) until negotiations are complete.
Sager, who used to be Downs' second in command, said he is glad to have the former chief back on the job.
"I'm looking forward to working with him," Sager said Wednesday. "We worked great together. I know he feels the same way."
Calhoun said Downs will perform a mix of administrative duties and road patrol.
"I want him and the chief both out there on patrol a minimum of two days a week to help support our officers," Calhoun said. "If they both do a minimum of two days a week, that's almost another officer."
Downs' return brings the small department back to almost full strength, with 13 sworn officers. A 14th position is being held open while Officer Jeffrey R. Kay awaits an arbitrator's ruling on his Nov. 5, 2004, dismissal for insubordination after supervisors questioned his judgment in a 2004 traffic stop.
Phil Davis can reached in west Pasco at 869-6247 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is pdavis@sptimes.com