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Story By: TRACI CHAPMAN

WHITE WILL NO FACE CHARGES FOLLOWING COUNCILMAN'S COMPLAINT

Edition: Sunday, January 29, 2012


El Reno Mayor Matt White will not face any charges as a result of an investigation initiated by Councilman Kent Myers.

Canadian County Assistant District Attorney Paul Hesse stated in a Jan. 25 email his office would not pursue any criminal action against White.

“Last week, this office was presented with information from the El Reno Police Department concerning alleged violations of an Oklahoma statute and the City of El Reno Charter,” Hesse stated in the email. “The statute at issue, 11 O.S. § 10-107, prohibits Council members from giving orders on administrative matters to any subordinate of the city manager.

“This is not a penal statute and therefore any violation of this statute cannot be prosecuted by this office,” he concluded. “Any alleged wrongdoing must instead be handled by the City of El Reno.”

White responded to Hesse''s decision with a statement released Thursday.

“The people who are making these unfounded accusations are the same people who have made countless other accusations against me and instigated numerous other investigations against me,” he said. “Their focus is on looking back, but we're focused on taking El Reno forward.

“The thing that upsets me most is the fact that some of these people are on the City Council and are trying to manipulate the system,” White continued. “In turn they are taking precious time away from law enforcement, who have unsolved murders and many other important issues to deal with instead of political witch hunts based on old issues.

“I refuse to allow these people to get in the way of El Reno's progress,” he said. “I'm ready to move forward.”

Myers said Friday he was not surprised by the district attorney's decision, and he would defer to the city attorney's opinion on how to proceed further with the matter.

“I assumed because in our code book there's no penalty, there's no fine,” he said. “I'm pretty sure that our charter says the Council is a self-governing entity so it has to come back before the Council.

“Roger (Rinehart) will be the one to tell me what to do next,” Myers said.

The investigation stemmed from a complaint filed by Myers on July 19 with the El Reno Police Department. Myers said he was following procedures outlined by City Attorney Roger Rinehart and City Manager Tony Rivera concerning allegations White was violating both the El Reno Municipal Charter and Oklahoma State Statutes. Myers said he took that action because White was directing city employees.

“Tony (Rivera) told me that Matt (White) was making it difficult for him to keep quality employees,” Myers said last week. “I also visited with Robert Coleman, and he informed me of political pressure he was receiving from Matt made it very difficult for him.”

Coleman resigned in June, after serving about nine years as El Reno's community development director. He assumed the same post at the city of Mustang in July.

Rinehart said Thursday as the legal adviser of the city, he could find no reason to take further action on Myers' complaints.

“I can find no penalty for this alleged violation either in the city charter or state statutes,” Rinehart said. “I'm not planning on taking any action on behalf of the city.”

Myers' allegations came to light during January's City Council meeting. At that meeting, White clashed with both Myers and Councilman Jim Archer. During those interactions, the mayor referenced Myers' complaint.

“You've (Myers) accused me of directing city employees, tried to file a charge against me, trying to do this or do that,” White said. “I've had to hire an attorney just because of the same things that Councilman Archer and the Men of '54 ran an ad about and that you were so with David about.” White said following the meeting he was referring to local businessman David Ratliff.

During Council member's reports, both Myers and Archer addressed some of White's earlier comments.

“I truly don't have any animosity against anybody, but I do feel like this Council does need some, someone on here that's not controlled, for lack of a better term.”

White called Myers a liar and challenged both Archer and Myers to put aside past differences and work together.

Archer told White he needed to remove the “chip from his shoulder” and said White is hard to work with because he always comes from an attacking mode.

The mayor did not allow either to comment further, saying they had their say.






   
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