FAIRHOPE, Alabama— A recent report about the Fairhope Police Department could serve as ammunition on both sides of next year’s local election battles for mayor and council in which its police chief has come to occupy a center stage.

That review of the inner workings of the FPD by Lorenzo Howard, who said “there was a perceived pattern of a confrontational management style” by its police chief, was conducted by an unpaid volunteer in one month and based on interviews with 39 of the department’s 73 employees. And a written report, though prepared in the form of a PowerPoint presentation by Howard, a member of the city’s personnel board and a retired human resources director, was not obtained by the City Council, which heard instead his oral report on Oct. 19 during a special council meeting, leaving no written report for the public to review.

Although no public opinion polls have been released about this Eastern Shore community’s perceptions of Chief Bill Press, who was hired following a national search in 2009, many residents have split into two distinct camps about him. And at least one possible council candidate—funeral home owner Gary Wolfe— has focused on the conduct of Press, who chose to end free police escorts of funeral processions in 2010, as a looming campaign issue for the August 2012 municipal election.

And whether you’re a fan or detractor of Press, and the changes he has brought to Fairhope’s police department, often indicates your sentiments about Mayor Tim Kant, who has butted heads with Press on several issues and initiated an ethics complaint against him last year.

Howard’s assessment of the FPD was initiated by the council in September to evaluate allegations of a hostile and dangerous working environment. He concluded there was not a dangerous working environment, but that 40 percent of those interviewed believed there was a hostile work environment, though they had trouble defining that term. As reported in The Fairhope Courier, Mayor Tim Kant said those allegations of a hostile and dangerous work environment had been made to him during a private meeting with several police officers in August.

“The allegations of a hostile work environment, highlighted with an emphasis of a real potential for violence within the police department was an attempt to try to negate current recommended personnel changes of five terminations,” Press stated by email after the Oct. 19 meeting, which neither he nor Kant attended. “A finding that there was no hostile work environment is, therefore, not surprising.”

Howard also concluded in his report that training was needed at the department to address some of the perceived issues, and that the council needed to address whether Press was a “good fit” for Fairhope.

Press noted in his email response that “A finding that 20 percent of those interviewed are unfavorable about the way this organization is run should also not come as any grand revelation. Clearly, those employees who choose not to change into a professional setting where everyone is now held accountable (approximately 20 percent) will be disgruntled to one degree or another. Like any other business or institution, we have and will continue to try to assist those into moving toward that transition of professionalism by providing training, discipline, and/or a recommendation for termination where personnel to meet minimum standards of professional conduct or merit.”

As for Press as a political liability, some commenters on social media sites believed the ethics charges against him could damage Press and his supporters on the council in their own upcoming elections. But following two closed hearings at the Alabama Ethics Commission, that complaint, which alleged ethics law violations in the use of a private bank account to pay of off-duty police officers, was dismissed in August for insufficient evidence.

Still, Councilman Mike Ford, a frequent ally of Kant and the lone council member who did not support Press for the job when he was hired in 2009, has often said he does not think Press is a good fit for Fairhope. Immediately after the Oct. 19 meeting, Ford elaborated on what he saw as some of the problems Press has brought to the job.

“The whole thing boils down to he’s arrogant,” Ford said. “He’s a good police officer and knows his business, but he’s not a Fairhope-type community policeman.”

Ford said the department is losing many of its local officers because of Press’s management style, which could not be confirmed from the city due to pending public records and other information requests.

Ford summarized the problem as one of Press changing the “good old boy” system, stating, “that good-old-boy system worked for years.”

Councilman Dan Stankoski said that prior system was one of the reasons a committee he chaired in 2009 decided to conduct a national search for a new chief.

Stankoski also elaborated immediately after the Oct. 19 meeting on what he saw as problems in that “old system.”

“I talked with over 19 people myself about what was going on in the department,” Stankoski said. “These are some of the problems that were brought to our attention: officers were not writing reports; disparity in discipline and promotion; poor evaluations; missing personnel documents; release of personnel information outside the agency; people were put in jail and no paperwork was done; mayor influencing investigations and management decisions; moral was bad; poor or no training; radios didn’t work; and absent leadership at the top.”

Stankoksi said Press has addressed many of those issues.

Kant did not respond to phone and email messages for comment for this story, which noted the allegations about his involvement in investigations and management decisions.

Council Rick Kingrea agreed with Ford that the issue was one of a new system clashing with the old, but concluded differently about the fit of Fairhope’s police chief for the job during the changing times.

“This is not the same community it was 20 or 30 years ago,” Kingrea said. “We need to make sure we have people in the police department who are as professional as possible and we’re not just hiring a police officer to give a job to the relative of a friend. I’m sure there’s friction at the department because of things being done in a new way. That’s to be expected.”

Editor’s Note: This is the last article in a three-part series about a report presented last month on allegations of a hostile work environment at the Fairhope Police Department.