Weber City council votes to have representatives at chief, officers' decertification hearing

WEBER CITY – Weber City's town attorney and one town council member could attend an electronic decertification hearing for former police chief Don Harding III and two former police officers.Tuesday's council vote followed a 35-minute special-called closed session for personnel issues. Mayor Justin Addington confirmed before the session that the police department would be part of the discussion.After the session, Council member Jeff Flanary moved that council "cease and desist any further actions against decertification of the officers that (were) terminated."Flanary's motion failed after no other members seconded it. Council member Keltie Kerney - participating electronically in Tuesday's meeting - then moved that the town asks to participate via Zoom in a Virginia Department of Criminal Justice hearing to decertify Harding and the two officers. Eileen Roberts Deckard seconded the motion, with Teresa Tilson and Zackary Salyer also voting aye to Flanary's opposition.Flanary was the lone no vote against Salyer's motion to designate Kerney and Town Attorney Mike Carico as town representatives if DCJS allows the town to participate in its hearing.Harding and one of the unnamed officers were fired by council March 31 over allegations of embezzlement involving police time sheets.Lee County Commonwealth's Attorney H. Fuller Cridlin - appointed as a prosecutor to investigate the allegations against Harding and the officers - wrote in an April 15 letter to the Virginia State Police that evidence did not support criminal charges.Police Chief Charles "Clay" Robinette – hired by council in July – did not participate in the closed session. While waiting outside council chambers, he did answer questions about how the department's evidence room and armory were secured after Harding's departure.The evidence room and armory were sealed and monitored via camera, Robinette said, and both areas were placed under control of the Scott County Sheriff's Office after Harding's departure. Robinette, who also handled evidence procedures and inventory at the Bristol Virginia Police Department before becoming the Weber City chief, said Harding had begun implementing a new evidence handling and inventory system before his departure.All weapons and equipment in the armory have been accounted for, Robinette said. He added that he has begun the process of inventorying and logging pieces of evidence that were not logged in before Harding left.The evidence logging process involves cross-checking items against case numbers and consulting with the Commonwealth's Attorney's office, Robinette said. No chain-of-custody problems have been found regarding the department's evidence.Robinette said he has three goals for the department: building up staffing; establishing department general orders and procedures and; starting the process to earn DCJS accreditation.The department has four vehicles that can be used, Robinette said, and two that may be taken out of service. Those vehicles and various pieces of equipment need to be checked whether they were obtained via grant funds, he added. If so, they cannot be sold but can be transferred to another law enforcement agency. The vehicle equipment may be able to be used by the Weber City department, he added.