[6/17/04]The Vicksburg Civil Service Commission indefinitely postponed a hearing scheduled Wednesday due to a court ruling that one of the three commissioners cannot hear disciplinary cases.

Linda Sweezer should recuse herself from all cases involving the police chief because she is the pastor of the church Tommy Moffett attends, Warren County Circuit Judge Frank Vollor ruled in an appeal of two earlier cases.

Also, Commissioner Clyde Harris opted out of the scheduled disciplinary hearing because he is a retired police officer and worked with Sgt. William Combs who had appealed the city’s decision to fire him last month.

That left only the commission chairman Joe Graham to hear the appeal.

“We couldn’t get together a quorum,” said City Attorney Nancy Thomas.

Thomas said the city is seeking an opinion from the Attorney General’s Office about appointing alternate commission members to hear disciplinary appeals when there is a conflict. She said that if that is not allowed, Sweezer be asked to resign. Sweezer has not publicly commented about the court’s decision since it was given last week.

The only other option would be for the city to appeal Vollor’s ruling to the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Civil Service commissioners are appointed by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to set standards for police and firefighter performance and they hear appeals of disciplinary matters. Their inquiries are to focus only on whether job performance was the basis for administrative decisions and they have the power to uphold, reverse or modify city actions.

The decision to postpone all disciplinary appeals before the commission does not mean that the city cannot fire civil service employees. It only means that those employees will have no course for appeal until the matter is resolved.

The commission did hold its regular meeting later in the day, but did not take up any disciplinary actions.

Vollor overturned the commission’s decision to uphold the firing of Officer Gary Cooper because Sweezer did not recuse herself from the case. The vote was 2-1 with Harris dissenting.

Without Sweezer’s vote, the vote would have been a tie and Thomas said there is no policy for a tie vote.

Cooper was first suspended and then discharged by Moffett for arresting a 19-year-old accused of violating the city ban on loud music and later releasing the teen because Moffett had issued a “zero tolerance” directive.

At the same time, Sgt. Randy Blake, Cooper’s immediate superior, was handed a three-day suspension for not taking action against Cooper.

Both officers engaged Vicksburg attorney Travis T. Vance Jr. to represent them in their appeal to Warren County Circuit Court.

Vollor ruled that state law says an objective standard applies in recusal cases, meaning the test is not whether Sweezer thought she could be impartial but whether her role as Moffett’s pastor created the appearance of a conflict.

Lamar Horton, director of human resources for the city, said it is not clear how Vollor’s ruling will affect Cooper’s employment status.