Chief’s Ouster Sparks Spirit Lake Revolt Outraged Residents Call For Mayor’s Resignation

Jeff Alexander has been called one of the best police officers in Spirit Lake’s history.

But on Friday, he was looking for a new job after being fired by the mayor.

The firing outraged many local residents, who spent Friday waving protest signs in front of City Hall and gathering signatures demanding the mayor’s resignation.

“We want our police chief back,” “The chief cleaned up our town” and “Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” the signs read.

“We feel the way this was handled was totally improper,” said Teresa Morgan, as she toted a placard through the morning rain.

The three-man Police Department has been left in disarray with Alexander’s removal. Only one officer is now available for duty. The second officer is in Boise for training. Mayor Bob Knapp says all police calls will go through his office but some residents say the service is already suffering.

A newly formed group, Citizens for Honest Government, is also gathering signatures to recall the City Council members who voted with the mayor to fire Alexander, said Sandy Faubion.

Knapp cited conflicts between Alexander and City Hall employees when he fired the police chief during a City Council meeting Thursday night. Knapp has been in office only three weeks.

His proposal was approved by council members Ellis “Ed” Hanna, Tina Spadt and Rod Erickson.

Knapp said the town still has a Police Department, just not a police chief. He announced Friday that Councilman Hanna would take over as department administrator.

Hanna was appointed to the council just minutes before he voted to fire Alexander on Thursday.

“This city cannot function with any degree of efficiency if the departments become isolated from each other,” Knapp said, pointing to Alexander as the source of friction.

Dave Esterly, a Knapp supporter, said he feels the Police Department hasn’t been visible enough. But he also thinks there are too many police officers.

Knapp contends the Police Department needed to “treat individuals as neighbors.”

However, the mayor would not say what type of conflict Alexander had caused in City Hall and would not specify how Alexander had been unneighborly.

Knapp said a highly trained retired law enforcement official would help him reorganize the department but would not release the name of the official. He said a patrol officer was hired Friday to fill Alexander’s spot but wouldn’t release the name.

The firing shocked both the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department and the county prosecutor.

“Jeff Alexander was probably one of the best police officers they have had there in the last 20 years,” said sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger.

“Jeff Alexander has given outstanding service to the citizens of this community,” said Bill Douglas, county prosecutor.

Alexander spent mornings filling in as a crossing guard for schoolchildren when the regular crossing guard was sick, said Rob Tucker.

Alexander believes that personality differences are the true reason behind his firing.

Alexander said the new mayor wanted to get rid of all the motorcyclists in town. The mayor was unhappy when Alexander told him that he could not target one section of society.

He said the mayor also wanted more drug arrests. Alexander said he, like most police agencies, has been turning much of his drug information over to the Kootenai County Drug Task Force and State Bureau of Narcotics.

Alexander believes he is also the source of friction because he investigated allegations of wrongdoing by former Mayor Paul Korman. Korman is currently under state investigation for alleged misuse of funds. Knapp denies Korman’s investigation spurred the firing.

Alexander spent Friday trying to decide what to do with his future. He is considering working at another area police agency but said, “I want my job back.

“I ran an honest department, I tried to treat everybody fairly. I don’t feel I’ve done anything wrong.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Map of area. 2 color photos