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Carroll City Manager Cannot Provide Much Commentary On Monday’s Proposed Closed Meeting, But Asserts Rumors Are Unfounded

In an effort to provide more details on what led up to the reasoning for a closed session of the Carroll City Council Monday night, Carroll Broadcasting reached out to City Manager, Mike Pogge-Weaver. As a part of his position with the City of Carroll, Pogge-Weaver has “active control” over several areas of city operations, including the Carroll Police Department. As reported in an earlier story (a link to which is included here), Chief of Police, Brad Burke, had been presented with and asked to sign a request for a closed session in order for the council to evaluate his deposition in the civil case of Jacob Smith v. Herald Publishing Company, the parent company of the Daily Times Herald. When the agenda was presented last Thursday, instead the reason for the closed session read as follows: “To evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance, or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual’s reputation and that individual requests a closed session.” Word spread throughout the community about the meeting and a contingent of supporters of Chief Burke began flooding council members and the mayor with calls, texts and emails. When asked about the reasoning behind the need for a discussion of performance-related issues, Pogge-Weaver told Carroll Broadcasting he could not comment and answered only a few questions, but refused to do so on audio. One of the first questions was about the depositions that were reportedly under review. Carroll Broadcasting was notified months ago this particular case had been placed under a protective order by the court and we were not allowed to see court documents. Since the City of Carroll is neither the plaintiff nor the defendant, Pogge-Weaver was asked how they came to be in possession of the depositions. He said that a better understanding of the procedures would help with figuring that out and the person being deposed has the right to review it. Both Chief Burke and Pogge-Weaver were asked if they were allowed to read the depositions. Chief Burke’s answer was no, he was not given a copy of his own deposition, but Pogge-Weaver’s answer was yes, he was allowed to review Burke’s statements. He also silently confirmed that though they were not plaintiffs or defendants, they were able to get the transcripts from the court reporter. He says Chief Burke was not acting as citizen, Brad Burke. Pogge-Weaver also declined to comment on what, if any, other issues were to be discussed in relation to Chief Burke’s performance. And in a counterbalance to community members who came forward asking council about rumors heard over the weekend, he did state, he would go on record, saying those rumors about the reason for the meeting and how it came to be were blown out of proportion and untrue.

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