BILLINGS - Three days into the administrative leave of Billings Police Chief Ron Tussing and some questions remain unanswered.The chief was put on the paid leave by City Administrator Kristoff Bauer so they could investigate some of his actions as head of the department. Bauer has not yet said when the investigation will start, who will conduct it or how much it will cost. As of the end of December last year, the city had paid at least $8,000 to a Colorado attorney to help advise the city in the dispute between the two men. Chief Tussing himself had paid about $5,000 out of his pocket for legal fees. City council member Larry Brewster said Thursday afternoon, he believes about $15,000 has been spent towards the current investigation. He says the city has what's called a 'council contingency' fund for such matters. Assistant City Administrator Tina Volek says that fund contains $75,000, but she's not sure if that money would be used in this situation.
City council members say they've been swamped with emails and phone calls regarding the dispute between City Administrator Kristoff Bauer and Police Chief Ron Tussing. Councilwoman Shirley McDermott says she's gotten a number of angry, even hysterical, calls from people. She says since she has caller ID, she's looked up some of the callers and found that most of them aren't actually from her ward. She says she knows many of the people in her own ward, and most of them have been much more willing to talk about the situation.Councilman Vince Ruegamer says he's gotten lots of calls, but they haven't been too bad. He says the thing he's focusing on is the number of people he hasn't been hearing from. He says, "I call them the calm and quiet. Their message is 'we elected you, we trust you, take care of it.' " Another council member was upset that the issue has grown to the point that it is getting statewide attention, saying it puts the city in a negative light. A fourth council member expressed hope that people will be patient for a couple weeks until the investigation into Tussing's handling of administrative duties is finished. And a fifth council member echoed that, saying that the soonest the council could meet to take any executive action dealing with the situation is March 9th because of the state's public meeting laws.
A member of the Billings City Council says that she asked for an investigation of suspended Police Chief Ron Tussing's handling of internal affairs in 2003. Councilwoman Shirley McDermott says she and late Councilwoman Doris Poppler received complaints from private citizens about police misconduct, and complaints from some officers about low moral within the department. She says she and Poppler went to City Administrator Kristoff Bauer and told him they wanted the complaints followed up on. She says some of the letters and correspondence were anonymous, and charged that Tussing wanted to ignore them because they weren't signed. She says she felt it didn't matter if they were anonymous or not, they should be followed up on. McDermott believes that a complaint of police brutality on Christmas Eve set off the chain of events that have led to Tussing's suspension.
In the midst of the high-profile dispute between the city's administrator and police chief, one Billings city councilman says he's trying to educate people about the city's system of government, and advocate a big change. Dave Brown of Ward 2 says he's been getting plenty of calls from city residents since Chief Ron Tussing was placed on paid leave. Brown says he's been talking with people about possibly changing the city's system of government from having a city manager to having a mayor who oversees daily operations. Brown says "the system that we have, that we use in Billings, tends to isolate those who serve the people of Billings from the people of Billings, rather than them getting the kind of government they want, and the services they want, for the dollars they want to spend." Brown says city residents could petition to change the city's charter, or the council could choose to review it. Either way, a proposed change would have to go on a city-wide ballot for voters to decide.
Deputy Chief Darrell Bell is acting police chief in the absence of Ron Tussing. He says from patrol officers to detectives to support staff, everyone is working their jobs day to day as best they can. Bell says they're being the professionals they are, to maintain police services for Billings residents. Bell says, "I think we're taking a breath and moving forward. The community should not expect any change in operations in the police department, officers are professionals and will go out and do what they're trained to do, support staff is doing the same, putting in their effort and working hard. Very positive, they're moving forward and hopefully we can continue in that direction." Bell says if an officer or employee needs to talk to someone about any concerns, there are resources available. That includes the police union and the sergeants and captains, to name a few.