Mertzon Mayor Uses Rumor Mill to Run Off Police Chief

The former Mertzon Police Chief’s no-fault separation got dirty on Monday night at the community’s city council meeting, when allegations of steroid use, crazed dope fiends, falsified time cards and an $800 set of speakers flew through the makeshift council chambers during a heated appeal that digressed into the equivalent of a pissing match with kidney stones.

Former police chief Ethan Farmer, dressed in a black suit with white tie, appeared hopeful and calm when the meeting began at just after 7 p.m., presenting the council with a 10-page report on issues previously brought up by Mertzon’s Mayor Carol Shaw.

“When I was initially terminated, I received a no-fault separation letter,” Farmer said. “Mayor Shaw walked into the office, handed me the letter, walked out and didn’t say a word. I had no reason or idea what had happened or what I’d done to deserve such treatment.”

Farmer said he’d attempted to resolve the issue outside of city council, but the attempt was unsuccessful. He said he still has not seen a copy of the city’s employee policy, nor have requests for minutes and an audio recording of the last city council meeting been filled.

Inviting questions as the council members perused the documents he’d provided, Farmer sat back down and waited for a response. He was hopeful he’d be reinstated in the position at police chief.

After Farmer made his case, Mayor Shaw took over the direction of the meeting, pulling out a stack of her own stapled copies and passing them down to council members in each direction as she asserted her authority as Farmer’s direct supervisor.

She explained that the city’s personnel policy permits a supervisor to terminate the employment of anyone below them if they believe the employee is either not suited to do the job or that the employment is not in the best interest of the city.

“That’s what I did that morning,” Shaw said. “Here’s why I did it. Mr. Farmer stopped at Best Buy and bought a recorder with the city’s credit card—$90—brought it in and announced to all the employees and me that he was going to record everybody’s conversation with him and nobody was to talk to him until he had his recorder.”

The tape recorder was linked to a rumor circulating around town that had been leaked out of the city office. Both Shaw and Farmer recalled different versions of the incident, but acknowledged that it had to do with Linda S., a city employee Farmer alleges Shaw said is known to leak information at church, who had access to the information circulating in the rumor.

“I don’t know who started the confrontation between Mr. Farmer and Linda…but one occurred,” Shaw said. “He had come to me because he had decided that Linda was the cause of the rumors that were all over town, particularly the rumor about his buying $800 speakers…”

Shaw said she spoke with Farmer and other city officials and initially determined they had better discuss it with Linda, but decided against the talk before it took place.

“We were trying to work with Linda to bring her up to speed on the job she was doing,” Shaw said. “I didn’t want her upset. I ordered Mr. Farmer not to talk to her about the rumors…but in any event, I come back to city hall, she’s burst into tears, she’s screaming and hollering and he’s sitting [behind a] closed [door] in his office.”

According to Farmer, he and Shaw did discuss talking with Linda, but Shaw decided against it “because she needs her help”. On March 2, Linda approached him on the subject stating she would never release confidential information, and the two left it so.

The following morning, Farmer said, Linda spoke with him again, stating she felt good about the conversation but had been told by Mayor Shaw that he was the one making the accusations against her. The conversation was cut short due to an appointment, Farmer said, and he was terminated later that day.

Shaw said her decision to nullify his contract was not based solely on the tape recorder incident Linda, but that she’d also “heard that he is prone to aggressive behavior”.

Although she could not state whether the allegations were true or false, Shaw said she didn’t want to chance it and that is why she left so abruptly after handing off his termination letter.

“I walked in, gave him the letter, left the door open, and I came outside,” Shaw said. “I did not want to be in a closed office with him, him having just gone on the attack with Linda.”

In addition to hearing that Farmer is aggressive, Shaw said she had also learned that he is not an EMT, at least not in the state of Texas. Having checked with the Texas Department of State Health Services, Shaw explained that military training does not license one to practice in the state of Texas, and that the city would be liable if he were to offer medical assistance.

“He came to the interview with a backpack of medical supplies,” she said. “He told us how he became an EMT so that as a police officer, if he was the first on the scene, he’d be able to render aid. But the truth is, he’s not.”

Pointing to page one of the multi-page packets she’d passed out, Shaw read from Farmer’s Facebook page.

“It says, ‘It’s official! I’m now a nationally registered EMT!’” Shaw said. “Well, if you look, he is on the National EMS System…the third page says, ‘a national certification is not a license to practice.’”

In response, Farmer said that he is a Nationally Registered EMT, but in order to become licensed in Texas, his understanding is that all he has to do is pay a fee of roughly $65 stating he completed the training in the army and he will be certified. He won’t be able to do so until he is a full-time peace officer, he said, and Mertzon has yet to be issued an agency number.

But with more proof in her pocket, Shaw pulled out copies of Farmer’s time cards and began to go over his university schedule and National Guard training schedule as she pointed to dates and hours he’d written in.

She said she’d requested a class schedule the first week he was on board with the city, but he wouldn’t provide one, so she had deduced he was going to school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week.

“He wouldn’t confirm it,” Shaw said of the schedule. “I asked him several times about it. He even told me drug dealers were after him so he had to keep it a secret.” Farmer’s face contorted and his jaw dropped at the statement, but he remained silent as Shaw continued.

Noting dates, pen marks and the type of clock used to measure hours on four sets of time cards, Shaw said it looked as if he had completed two cards at the same time and the other two at a different time.

“On the first ones he used standard time; on the second ones he used military time,” she said. “They’re off. He didn’t know there were 31 days in January, so the dates are off. He did get paid for all of that time.”

Pointing out Valentine’s Day weekend, Shaw noted that Farmer had reported working 12 hours each day from Feb. 13-15 without penciling in a meal break or writing down the times. She stated she and other city employees had been in and out of city hall that weekend and he’d never come in.

“He’s going to claim that he was telecommuting,” she said. “I don’t know how you telecommute for 36 hours straight. When I asked him, he said he had 10 or 12 emails he had to answer.”

Shaw said the two had indeed spoken about telecommuting, but that Farmer had been instructed to provide documentation of his work, which he failed to do. She also questioned if he’d worked at all over that weekend, referring back to his Facebook page and posts he’d made about his girlfriend.

“Also, the 13^th was a Friday,” she said. “We were told that was perhaps a class day, although we were never able to get a schedule…he was having dinner with Kaylee on his Facebook on that date, so I still don’t know how he could have worked 12 hours. On Valentine’s Day, he was again with Kaylee. We have pictures from his Facebook page.”

Shaw pointed out the weekend after Valentine’s Day, during which Farmer was at National Guard training, and stated she couldn’t confirm his whereabouts, but he’d submitted a time card for the dates. She made obvious her suspicion of his attendance when she added that two weekends later another training was scheduled, even though there was only one a month.

He said one occurred at the end of February and another at the beginning of March, but the explanation didn’t make it far.

“I think there’s enough here to say that his time cards are not an accurate reflection of his work,” Shaw said. “We have a time clock over there…I don’t think I told you but you knew we had a time clock, surely.”

At this point, Farmer broke his silence as he shook his head. “I didn’t know where it was until you pointed at it last city council meeting, Ms. Shaw. I was never trained properly on it.”

Bewildered, Shaw responded, “It’s not real difficult to work a time clock…”

Prior to Shaw discussing his time cards, Farmer had addressed the matter of National Guard, stating that he had asked whether the city had a policy on military paid time off and had requested a copy of the employee policy, which he never received. He also produced copies of text messages sent between himself and another city employee in which he inquired about how the payroll process works.

The messages show that he was told fill out time cards and turn them in.

Having presented her case to the council, Shaw asked if council members had questions, spurring a discussion held between member Terry Criner and the mayor herself as others sat in nearly complete and utter silence for another 20 minutes.

“I have a lot of questions,” Criner said matter-of-fact. “Why was he never given a copy of the personnel policy, asked to read it, and then we have a form that tells him to sign and that he did read it and that he agrees to it?”

“Would you believe that there is no requirement—I talked to the Texas Workforce Commission—there is no requirement that we give it to him,” Shaw responded flatly. “I did give him the police department thing the first hour he was here and it says he will apprise himself of all city policies and all ordinances, which I don’t think he did. But there is no legal requirement that he get it.”

Puzzled, Criner pressed: “How do you comply with a policy that you’re ignorant of because you’ve never seen it?”

Shaw contended that Farmer had ample opportunity to hear about the policy because a page of it was being discussed at a city council meeting and he was present, but Criner clearly wasn’t satisfied with that response either, stating there was no way Farmer had memorized the policy on that one occasion.

“Did he ever get any leadership from this—any of us up here—over when to fill out time cards, what the process is, we do have a time clock—did he ever get any leadership from anybody here that explained to him what was going on,” Criner asked. “And if there were questions on that later on, why wasn’t that handled on a face-to-face basis…”

Still, Shaw said the time cards were self-explanatory and he should have been able to figure it out.

“He was given free-reign and no leadership behind it,” Criner shot back.

The discussion between Criner and Shaw continued for several minutes, Shaw repeatedly stating that she wasn’t required by law to provide this and that or to talk about issues prior to termination, and Criner stating that Farmer had been hired and fired before he had ever even been told how things work.

Occasionally, Farmer stood up to clarify his side of things at Criner’s request, each time met with more argument from Mayor Shaw and often an additional blow.

“As far as the time cards, I was never properly trained. I was never given a city policy, and that’s clear,” Farmer said. “As far as the hours that I was working while I was in San Angelo doing things, it has been required several times that I travel from this location in the middle of Mertzon to buy things for my office and other things to get this thing done, to get this department running.”

Farmer referred to the letters he brought with him from other entities that verified he’d been working beyond the hours he spent in the city office. He said he chose not to drive around in the marked patrol car to cut back on complaints from the Texas Commission On Law Enforcement about its use when the city has not been issued an agency number and said he’d told Shaw verbally he would be going to National Guard training and that it was his understanding he wouldn’t need to provide her with orders.

Pertaining to the class schedule and drug dealer allegation, Farmer said he’d never denied Shaw a class schedule, but had been told she wouldn’t need it instead.

“I never said anything about narcotics and drug dealers being after me,” Farmer said. “However I have received threats from narcotics dealers whenever I worked in Ballinger due to the amount of narcotics that I would stop and interdict.”

Farmer said the real issue was that Shaw didn’t know what to tell the public when he was out of town, and he did not want the general public to know when he’s gone for safety reasons.

“I don’t want the general public to know when I’m gone, or at home, or when the city is basically unprotected,” he said. “It shouldn’t be brought up to the public. All you need to tell them is I’m accounted for. If I have Kaylee living with me…and some dope head…decides to go by my house and shoot it up because it’s been disclosed that I’m now in Dallas for National Guard weekend, it’s a security risk to me and my family.”

After roughly 40 minutes of heated argument, Mayor Shaw said she believed enough time had been spent on the matter and asked for further questions and comments from the council before closing.

When after a brief pause none were made, Shaw continued. “I will tell you one other thing I know about Mr. Farmer. He is taking steroids to build up his muscles. A side effect of steroids is aggressive behavior. There are rumors galore about use of excessive force. Because of those rumors—and I’m not saying if they’re true or false—but because of those rumors, I will not supervise this gentleman.”

At this point another councilmember spoke up, Jim Tharp, who wanted to know if the allegation was fact or based on rumor.

“No, I found them in his office,” Shaw said. “I have the bottle at home. He had bottles in the trailer too.”

“Of Cycle Support? A liver detoxifier?” Farmer asked. “Is that what you’re referring to?”

“Yeah. They’re a pro-hormone and they are a type of steroid,” Shaw said. “…they’ve been taken off the market by two distributors.”

“There was a pro-hormone that I was on that was completely legal and you could buy it off the Internet,” Farmer said. “But I’ve never injected any illegal substance into my body, nor would I do so—“

“I’m just talking about pills,” Shaw said, before the conversation completely fell apart.

After cutting off discussion for a third time, Shaw firmly stated the council had other city business to tend to and said she did not wish to continue a “mudslinging contest”.

Before closing, Criner made one last comment in the form of a motion, asking that Farmer be reinstated. As they waited for a second the room fell quiet and Shaw announced the motion a failure. Farmer left, thanking the council for their time.

“I wouldn’t want another brother in blue to work here,” Farmer said after the meeting. “Not after that.”