Lake Wales city manager rescinds planned firing of police chief Chris Velasquez

Lake Wales will not seek a new police chief after all.

A week after announcing the planned firing of Chief Chris Velasquez, Lake Wales City Manager James Slaton announced at Tuesday night’s City Commission meeting that he had changed his mind. Slaton said that he had rescinded his memo from the previous week, in which he said he would begin the search for a new chief in April.

“Chief Velasquez and I met again today, at my request,” Slaton told city commissioners. “There were some issues that we had to navigate our way through, and that we will continue to navigate. Chief Velasquez was cooperative and eager to ensure any issues that may have caused concern in the past will not be repeated in the future."

Slaton said that he had reversed his original decision "upon gathering further information." He cited the need for stability in local government.

Velasquez, who joined the Lake Wales Police Department in 1994 and has served as chief since 2011, followed with a brief statement.

“I'd like to apologize for any type of challenges that we've gone through as a city or as a department,” he told commissioners. “But I want to thank you for your support for 31 years, I've put this uniform on every day, and I've been proud to wear it. I'll continue to do that. I'll continue to serve, and I'll continue to do my job with honor and integrity.”

In his March 11 memo, Slaton said that an internal investigation had found “an appearance of unfairness” and deviations from past practices in Velasquez’s promotion of Officer Dale Hampton to the position of lieutenant in November. That review followed a complaint of racial bias from the Poor and Minority Justice Association, which alleged that Velasquez revised the candidate requirements to favor Hampton over more qualified minority applicants.

Slaton wrote in the memo that he had heard repeated public complaints since becoming city manager in 2020 about nepotism and a lack of transparency in the police department.

“The mere appearance of nepotism or favoritism causes low morale among the department personnel and erodes public confidence,” Slaton wrote.

He added: “I have been too involved in the administration of the Police department during my tenure as City Manager in an effort to find solutions to concerns raised by the community. Our environment demands proactive, adaptive, and creative leadership.”

Slaton did not explain why he had changed his mind after issuing such a strongly worded memo. Lake Wales spokesperson Eric Marshall said Wednesday morning that Slaton would not offer any further comment.

Commissioner displays anger

While some citizens and one commissioner, Danny Krueger, welcomed Slaton’s announcement, City Commissioner Daniel Williams angrily questioned the reversal, which he only learned of through Slaton’s statement earlier in the meeting.

Williams, the only Black commissioner, said he had endured such slurs as “Uncle Tom” from some residents for his previous support of Velasquez.

“I told the city manager, sitting down, looking him in the eyes, saying, ‘I will support what you decide,’” Williams said. “And I also told him, ‘Whatever you decide, stick with it.’ And so today to come in here — I was told when the decision was made, I was told that prior. But to walk in here today and find out that the decision had been changed, and no one spoke to me, I was extremely disappointed.”

Tensions between the Lake Wales Police Department and some Black residents have simmered for years. The PMJA filed a complaint in 2018 after a Black citizen accused an officer of addressing him with a racial slur. The city did not reveal the outcome the investigation, but the officer remains with the department.

Williams said that Slaton could have had a conversation with Velasquez before sending the original memo. He suggested that powerful voices might have influenced Slaton.

“I need everyone to know that when you see Black people in the city of Lake Wales right now, and they're frustrated, they got a reason to be frustrated,” Williams said in a forceful tone. “And we got to do a better job of saying what we mean and meaning what we say, period. We can handle anything, if you tell us the truth. But if it seems like you say one thing today, and then certain people call, and then things get changed, it makes us feel like we're still up under Jim Crow, and we ain't going back there.”

In the original posting for the lieutenant’s position, all candidates were required to have an associate of arts degree and to have completed middle management training. Hampton did not hold such a degree, while other applicants did, said Clayton Cowart, founder and acting local president of the PMJA. Two of the qualified applicants were Black and one was Latino, he said.

Velasquez later amended the job requirements, admitting applicants who either held an associate’s degree or planned to obtain one, Cowart said. Hampton modified his application after a first interview to say that he would have an associate’s degree in December, according to Cowart.

In response to the PMJA’s complaint, Slaton appointed Sandra Davis, the city’s human resources director, to interview relevant witnesses and gather facts, he wrote in his memo. The inquiry found no evidence of racial favoritism in Velasquez’s promotion decisions but still faulted the chief for his approach, the memo said.

Slaton criticized Velasquez for seeking approval to hire the daughter of an LWPD sergeant to a position in the department. He wrote that several officers had expressed concerns about favoritism in recent promotions.

Group files complaints

Cowart expressed disappointment Wednesday morning at Slaton’s change of mind.

“We're going to continue to fight,” he said. “One of the things that's important to us is, I believe that shows a sense of instability. And the city manager, he had the facts, he saw the facts, he stated he had the facts. I just believe that it shows us that the powers that be — and there was another conversation — the powers that be have the ability to make people change their mind.”

Cowart said he did not know who might have spoken to Slaton between the release of the memo and his announcement at Tuesday’s meeting. He said that the PMJA had filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and had hired a lawyer.

The PMJA plans to hold a community gathering on April 6, he said.

Cowart shared an email he had received from a Lake Wales officer, whose name he concealed. The officer described a private meeting held Dec. 29 with Velasquez, Deputy Chief Troy Schulze and Lieutenant Stephanie Goreck.

During the meeting, the officer wrote, Velasquez said that other promotions would be coming and said, in reference to complaints about Hampton’s promotion, “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.”

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The chief also reminded the officer that he had previously demoted sergeants, the email said. The officer wrote that he interpreted the words as “a warning.”

“I'm concerned that Christopher Velasquez's continued position of authority could lead to an unwelcoming work environment for me and other whistleblowers,” the officer wrote. “Moreover, I am worried that he and his team may retaliate against those who have spoken out against them.”

In the March 11 memo, Slaton said that Velasquez would face a three-day, unpaid suspension beginning March 18. He also wrote that the city would reopen the position to which Hampton had been appointed, allowing all applicants to apply again “after a promotional process is defined and adopted.”

As of early Wednesday afternoon, Lake Wales had not said whether the suspension was carried out and whether Hampton's promotion remained on hold.

During Tuesday’s commission meeting, some residents commended Slaton for the reversal on Velasquez’s planned dismissal. Former City Commissioner Al Goldstein said he had come prepared to be “very violent and very vulgar” in protesting the chief’s firing.

“I'm really ecstatic right now that this is able to work out, and I'm very proud to be part of this city,” Goldstein said during public comments.

Fay Wood, a resident, applauded the decision to retain Velasquez as chief.

“I'd like to thank the people that have come to this conclusion,” she said, “because in my travels I deal with a lot of police chiefs, a lot of governors, a lot of mayors, a lot of people. This is one of the finest police chiefs I have ever dealt with. He has high integrity. He's honest. He's straight to the point. He doesn't make up stuff. He is not a racist.”

But others expressed disappointment at the reversal.

Cassandra Ulysse complained that the officer who allegedly directed a racial slur at a Black resident is still with the department.

Q. Williams, another resident, asked for an investigation of hiring practices in all city departments. She shared a packet with the five commissioners that included resumes of applicants, some of whom had not even been given interviews for open positions.

Williams also attached copies of emails to leaders of the city’s human resources department and an assistant in the police department, indicating a lack of responses to inquiries.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Wales city manager reverses decision to fire police chief