A man who sued the Haines Borough over his son’s drowning at Port Chilkoot Dock beach said this week he brought the suit because of concerns about the police investigation of the death and indifference from borough officials. “That would have saved his life if they had just put a sign up. To this day, there isn’t […]
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Lowe put on leave; hearing planned
Haines Borough manager Mark Earnest placed police chief Gary Lowe on paid administrative leave Tuesday, making Sgt. Simon Ford acting chief. The assembly voted unanimously Tuesday night to “as soon as possible, hire a hearing officer to facilitate an internal investigation into the complaints against the police chief and his abilities to perform his duties and supervise the police […]
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Union: Complaint mishandled
The union representative of Haines Borough workers this week said manager Mark Earnest has been “out of line” and not compliant with procedure in dealing with an employee complaint against police chief Gary Lowe. Though he received a formal complaint against Lowe on Feb. 19, Earnest did not contact the complainant until Tuesday to provide an explanation of how the […]
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Consultant option floated
Attached to Haines Borough manager Mark Earnest’s police department report to assembly members Tuesday was a proposal from a private consulting firm to evaluate the department at a $9,500 retainer fee. According to the proposal, Soldotna-based Russell Consulting, LLC, would conduct an investigation “to identify facts that will allow the Haines Borough Police Department to improve the efficiency and […]
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Lowe: Morphet threatened me
Haines Borough Police Chief Gary Lowe this week said Chilkat Valley News editor Tom Morphet threatened him personally after a discussion about the newspaper’s access to police call logs. Lowe said he met Feb. 14 with Morphet, reporter Karen Garcia and manager Mark Earnest to discuss newspaper access to logs. Before Lowe was hired as chief, reporters had access […]
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Borough reviews not done
Although required to by code, Haines Borough Manager Mark Earnest has not provided for evaluations of employees since starting on the job three years ago. As manager, Earnest serves as the borough’s personnel director. He is responsible for supervising and evaluating about a dozen of the municipality’s upper-level employees, including department heads and three borough “officers”: police chief Gary Lowe, […]
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Police employees raise issues about chief
Haines Borough manager Mark Earnest is reviewing complaints from personnel within the police department about chief Gary Lowe, mayor Stephanie Scott confirmed this week. Scott said Tuesday Earnest is investigating complaints made by employees in the police department, but would not discuss the nature of the complaints. “I am aware that there are personnel complaints within the department regarding the […]
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Former cop’s license under review
The Alaska Police Standards Council has started the process of revoking the certification of former Haines Police officer John Havard. Havard is the fourth Haines Police officer in less than two years to either be investigated by the Alaska Police Standards Council or convicted of a criminal charge. Officers Jason Joel and Kevin Kennedy lost their certifications. Kennedy and […]
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Borough, union to negotiate new contract
The Haines Borough has put together its bargaining team for upcoming negotiations with the Local 71 Union regarding a new collective bargaining agreement for borough workers. The current, three-year agreement expires June 30, 2013. The borough’s team consists of Mayor Stephanie Scott, personnel committee chair Joanne Waterman, borough manager Mark Earnest, chief fiscal officer Jila Stuart and police chief Gary Lowe. Earnest […]
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Police retrieve bow in dog-shooting case
The Haines Police Department served two search warrants last week and recovered items believed to have been used in the Jan. 15 killing of a dog and wounding of another. Police seized a bow and other materials during two searches of a residence, police chief Gary Lowe said. Police served the first warrant early last week and the second […]