CLERMONT — Longtime
Clermont city manager Wayne Saunders resigned Tuesday night as news broke of
another pair of firings in the city police department.
The city council accepted a
retirement plan for Saunders that makes his resignation effective Jan. 1, but
keeps him on payroll as a consultant under the next city manager until Jan. 1,
2014. Saunders has been city manager since 1985.
However, the announcement
coincides with the recent news that two Clermont police officers were fired for
a high-speed, off duty prank. The firings are the latest to hit the police
department in recent years.
Other former police
officers had protested Tuesday night's council meeting, calling for the firing
of Saunders and pointing to him as the underlying cause for the turmoil in the
department.
"The city cannot heal
until he is out of the picture," said Kim Meintzschel, a former road
patrol sergeant. "There are so many problems in Clermont that won't be
resolved until he is gone."
Earlier Tuesday, Police
Chief Steve Graham said the latest firings were the appropriate punishment as
the March 5 incident that reflects poorly on his police department.
Officer Marc Thompson and
Sgt. Mark Edwards were fired last week for a late-night stunt in which Thompson
sped at more than 90 mph down U.S. Highway 27 to entice on-duty Officer
Christina Fowler to follow and pull them over. Fowler's patrol car camera
captured the incident, which ended when Thompson stopped the car and jumped
out, hysterically laughing.
A third officer, Dennis
Hall, was sitting in the backseat and was suspended for one day without pay.
"It's embarrassing for
this agency," the chief said. "I would hate to see the actions of
these three characters diminish the good work the other officers do."
Graham said termination was
enough punishment without tacking on a potential traffic ticket for speeding or
reckless driving. "We didn't follow up with a traffic ticket and it's
within the officer's discretion to issue a citation," he said.