Evidentiary hearing set in Blair police chief case
City of Blair Chief of Police Kent Johnson (left) swore in officer Kimberlee Potts in September, 2020. In January of this year, Johnson was suspended after Potts filed a complaint against him. Johnsons’ suspension will continue until at least March 10 when an evidentiary hearing is tentatively scheduled. (Submitted photo)
Both the City of Blair police chief who is currently suspended and the officer who raised claims against him could have their chance to present their sides of the issue as soon as next month.
Chief Kent Johnson was suspended on Jan. 21 — the day the claim was made — by Mayor John Rawson and city attorney Mark Radcliffe after a complaint filed by City of Blair police officer Kimberlee Potts, according to information shared at an initial hearing at City Hall last Friday.
Potts began as a full-time officer in Blair on Sept. 18, 2020 and had her probationary period extended for three months in September 2022. She is currently on medical leave from the department.
The nature of the suspension and complaint were not publicly available as of Friday’s meeting, attorney Jon Seifert told the Times after the meeting. Seifert was appointed by the City of Blair to “act in place of the board of police and fire commissioners,” Seifert said at Friday’s hearing.
The evidentiary hearing has been tentatively scheduled for March 10 at 1 p.m. in the Blair Preston Community Center, though the date may not work for attorney Pete Reinhardt, who is representing Johnson. If that date is unavailable, the hearing would be rescheduled to March 14. A third and final possible date for the hearing was set for April 6.
The evidentiary hearing will involve testimony from both Johnson and Potts, and a hearing examiner from the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) will also take place in the hearing.
The current plan would be to have Seifert make the final decision in the case, but Reinhardt objected to this setup on Friday.
“I don’t see. ... how you can be a fair and impartial decision maker as one, we will be challenging the way you went about doing the investigation. Also, we have some concerns about you giving legal advice to Miss Potts as part of the investigation,” Reinhardt said via phone at Friday’s hearing. “And so, we have significant concerns about Mr. Johnson receiving his due process rights and having a fair and impartial hearing examiner.”
Reinhardt proposed having WERC chairman James Daley assume the role of Seifert, saying Daley has indicated that he would be willing to serve in the role if needed.
Seifert said the police and fire commission planned to move forward with him as the acting decision maker for Friday’s hearing, but this could be changed for the evidentiary hearing if the parties involved decide to change the setup after receiving a written objection from Reinhardt, who indicated he planned to file one.
Reinhardt also asked how evidence would be processed in the case, adding that typically the municipality’s attorney acts as the prosecutor in similar cases that he has seen, and he asked if a similar process would be in place.
Potts did not have legal representation as of Friday, but she indicated that she planned to get one prior to the evidentiary hearing. Radcliffe said he would likely question both Potts and Johnson in the matter, but Reinhardt took issue with that proposal.
“It seems to me we’re setting up a system where Miss Potts is acting as the party prosecuting the charges, and then you’re adding in another attorney prosecuting the charges,” he said. “And again, I don’t think that’s fair.”
Reinhardt said he didn’t think it would be fair for both Potts’ attorney and Radcliffe to question his client.
The parties decided to let Daley make that decision later, as well as decisions on the order of proceedings for the hearing and who will be the custodian of record.
