Tacoma won’t release investigation on ex-police chief’s use of leave. Here’s why
Tacoma declined Monday to release records pertaining to its internal review of ex-Police Chief Avery Moore’s usage of leave, which had come under scrutiny late last year around the same time he was being investigated for overseas work phone charges.
Moore, who resigned in February as the city’s top cop and retired from law enforcement, racked up a $1,000-plus bill on his city-issued phone while on a July family vacation in Sweden. An outside probe, which cost the city more than $11,000, concluded that Moore didn’t deliberately mislead two city administrators about his knowledge of the charges, which were incurred for GPS navigation. He repaid the bill.
An investigation report in December authored by Hana Kern, a contracted lawyer tasked with digging into Moore’s truthfulness related to the charges, also noted that City Manager Elizabeth Pauli had heard rumors in September about Moore’s use of leave, prompting Pauli to request an examination that was still occurring when Pauli spoke to Kern in late September.
“Even though these were just rumors and nothing concrete, she had asked City HR Director Shelby Fritz to look at Moore’s leave usage to see if there was any cause for concern,” the report said. “That process was still ongoing when Pauli was interviewed for this report.”
In January, before Moore announced his resignation, The News Tribune filed a public records request for all information related to the city’s inquiry into Moore’s usage of leave, including any reports, emails and meeting notes. The city’s public records office on Monday notified The News Tribune in writing that the city had taken the position that those records were exempt from disclosure and cited a state statute that indicated the review is still ongoing.
The statute in question exempts the disclosure of preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations and memos “in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended.” Governments or agencies relying on this exemption must show, among other things, that the “records contain predecisional opinions or recommendations expressed as part of a deliberative process,” according to the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington.
The News Tribune first learned late last week that the city planned to withhold information from the public records request due to the matter being unresolved. The city previously provided some documents, which were either redacted due to attorney-client privilege or related to the investigation into Moore’s work phone charges.
On Friday, The News Tribune asked for details about the review into Moore’s usage of leave, confirmation that it was still active and an explanation of why the city continued to look into the work-related activities of a now-former employee. City spokesperson Maria Lee replied that she didn’t have any information to share.
It’s unclear what exactly about Moore’s usage of leave had been the subject of rumors and the subsequent review. Attempts to reach Moore on Monday were unsuccessful, using phone numbers that public records show were connected to him.
Moore’s calendar and a Tacoma Police Department memo obtained by The News Tribune showed that he took paid time off or was out of the office last year between March 18-22, July 10-21, Nov. 6-12, Nov. 21-Dec. 1 and Dec. 24-31.
In her late-September interview with Kern, Pauli noted that she was responsible for approving Moore’s leave as she did with others who directly reported to her, according to a copy of Kern’s notes obtained in a previous public records request.
Moore was also placed on paid administrative leave in late September, returning the following week, amid the investigation into his overseas work phone charges.
Last month, The News Tribune reported that Moore was paid nearly $500,000 by the city as part of his employment separation agreement. TPD’s second-in-command, Deputy Chief Paul Junger, was fired in March following a workplace investigation. The News Tribune later reported that Assistant Chief Crystal Young-Haskins had accused Junger of harassment and creating a hostile work environment.
