UPLAND – Police Chief Steve Adams’ retirement should be official by the end of the week, and Capt. Jeff Mendenhall will take the reins.
Adams, who has been on sick leave since December, will end his 30-year career with the Police Department due to a heart condition.
City Manager Stephen Dunn said he would appoint Mendenhall to be chief. Mendenhall, who has worked for the Police Department for 29 years, has filled in for Adams while he was on sick leave.
The City Council approved Adams’ claim for medical retirement on Monday.
“This is a bittersweet moment for Chief Adams,” said Stephen Larson, Adams’ attorney. “On the one hand, he greatly appreciates the support of the Upland City Council as reflected in
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(Monday’s) vote. On the other hand, Chief Adams will deeply miss working with the brave men and women of the Upland Police Department and serving the community of Upland.”
Adams’ attorney and the city are still working out details, but Dunn said Adams’ retirement should be official by the end of the week.
Dunn said he would make public the amount of the city’s payout to Adams.
Adams, 47, was paid more than $229,000 in salary last fiscal year, according to city records.
Mayor Ray Musser said the council made the right decision.
“We gave him, I think, the best solution from a city standpoint. It’s now a matter of a workers’ (compensation) situation,” Musser said. “We gave him no bonuses to leave or anything like that. It was a pure termination, and I personally feel bad that he is gone, but at the same time we as a city need to move on and protect the citizens and have a new person in charge.”
Councilman Gino Filippi said he is mostly concerned about the potential cost to the city.
“I am most concerned about the cost of the total payoff for the chief. I have unanswered questions and concerns, which I shared with the city manager,” he said. “I understand we will have the information by the end of the week.”
Dunn hired a private investigation firm to investigate two allegations made against Adams over the past several months.
The investigations will not be made public because they involve investigatory and personnel matters, City Attorney William Curley said in an email.
Dunn and Musser, too, said they could not share copies of the report.
The first investigation looked into Adams’ handling of a police report taken in 2008 involving a domestic dispute between then-City Manager Robb Quincey and Quincey’s ex-fiancee.
Allegations of Adams having unduly influenced the writing of the report and improper filing process and retention of the report were “unfounded,” Larson and Dunn have said.
Another allegation of coercing the destruction of the report and evidence was “not sustained,” they said.
Quincey was never charged and the report was never sent to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office for review.
The investigator determined that a lieutenant, the watch commander at the time, decided not to send the report, Dunn said.
“Since the victim was not going to file charges or prosecute, their standard procedure was to not do anything,” Dunn said.
The second investigation involved the Chronic Cantina restaurant, which closed in April 2009 after the City Council pulled its conditional use permit.
The restaurant owners are suing the city, accusing former Mayor John Pomierski and Building Board of Appeals member John Hennes of extortion.
The owners alleged that Adams was involved.
Pomierski and Hennes were charged in March for allegedly extorting $45,000 from two Upland businesses, including Chronic Cantina.
Adams has not been charged with any crimes.
“The outcome was it was not sustained and the chief had no role in the revocation of the conditional-use permit,” Dunn said.
The investigators came across other leads during their investigations, but Dunn said he told them not to pursue them.
“It was a fact that I’m trying to get us past all this as well as there’s a cost element to it,” Dunn said. “They just asked me how much money I want to spend, and I said zero. I can’t spend zero. I didn’t want them to be chasing after other allegations as well.”
