Medina residents continue push to reinstate fired police chief

Published 12:48 am Tuesday, June 14, 2011

A group of more than 100 Medina citizens took over the City Council meeting Monday to protest the city’s handling of former Police Chief Jeffrey Chen.

They paraded to the microphone for public comment representing the 431 individuals who have signed a petition to have the former chief restored to the position. The raucous crowd, wearing name tags that read “I support Chief Chen” flashed green “thumbs up” for things they liked, and red “thumbs down” cards for the opinions they didn’t agree with.

Chen was under investigation since last winter for allegations of misuse of company email systems, destruction of public records and improper use of city resources, before being fired in April.

Speakers rolled out a 10-foot long sheet of paper with the names of those signing the petition.

The loudest applause came after Chen himself opened the comment period, outlining his case and telling the City Council he would put aside everything that’s happened late last year – a saga in which Chen turned in a resignation that was later rescinded, received a suspension and subsequent termination.

“Medina’s a great, unique community, and my hope and dream is to help all of you maintain this community and keep it safe for years to come,” he said.

Chen was emphatic in his innocence, repeating his points and looking council members dead in the eye to hammer his argument home.

More than 20 people spoke on Chen’s behalf, but their pleas, points and persuasion yielded no outcome as the majority of the council voted down a motion to add an agenda item to discuss Chen’s status. Audible frustration and boos from the crowd drowned out some of Mayor Bret Jordan’s words.

The audience not only supported Chen, but they also lambasted the council and City Manager Donna Hanson, who made the call to can Chen in April following several months of investigation. Several speakers called for her resignation, or for the council to fire her, so Chen could be reinstated.

Others chose to stay away from the politics, but to simply make their support of Chen known.

“You develop a sixth sense of which man, which woman, you would take to the fight with you; Chief Chen is that man,” said Chang P. Wang, a former naval officer and Medina resident.

A couple of individuals joined the other side of the debate. They spoke of the suspicious nature of Chen’s decision to void tickets, using city memorandums in what appeared to be an unprofessional manner. Others spoke to the need to support the council going by the rule book.

Much of the people’s beef against the city lies in the process. It took months before a final decision was made on Chen’s future. He was put on leave in December, and remained in limbo until April 27. Not only did this ruin Chen’s job, it also hurt his credibility for future jobs, many speakers said.

The crowd also slammed the investigation of Chen’s situation. It was labeled everything from bias, to a piece of junk. They labeled it as a personal vendetta between Chen and Hanson. Chen admitted that he hadn’t done the best job managing the “personality clash” between the two of them. But that wasn’t cause to end his career, Chen’s supporters told Hanson and the council.

“These are residents of Medina and Hunts Point that want our police chief back, and I understand you guys had a difference of opinion, but you need to look past that; you need to do the right thing; you need to rehire Chief Chen,” said Laura Weingaertner.