THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 31, 1995 TAG: 9510310310
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CAPE CHARLES LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Police Chief Bill Lewis has been asked by the Town Council to resign by 5 p.m. today, but Lewis said Monday he will not quit.
State police are investigating the town's payroll records, but there was no indication that the two developments were connected.
``If they want to fire me, they can fire me,'' said Lewis. ``I've never been disciplined once by the mayor or Town Council. I've done zero. I've done what was supposed to be done.''
Lewis was asked to resign after the council voted unanimously, in an executive session Friday, to change the police department's leadership.
Mayor Alice Brown, who is also the police commissioner, declined to give a reason for the council's resignation request. ``I don't think they need a reason,'' said Brown.
The call for Lewis' resignation is the latest upheaval in Cape Charles municipal affairs. Town Manager Dick Barton announced his retirement three weeks ago. Then Councilman Ken Miller was removed as roofing inspector after a roofing contractor for the municipal center project complained about him.
Fellow council members also have questioned how Miller got a $16,000 contract for another project, the construction of a police office. Council members said they did not remember authorizing that project.
The council members also wondered why the town's two-person police department ran $41,803 over budget in 1994, as an audit indicated.
At October's Town Council meeting, four of six council members voted for a special audit to help Cape Charles get a handle on its finances. Then the council held a closed-door meeting that lasted until 1:30 a.m.
After that executive session, the council members voted 5-1 in open session to rescind their order for a special audit.
Councilman Frank Wendell cast the dissenting vote.
``There is something wrong down there,'' said Wendell about the situation at Town Hall. ``How wrong has yet to be determined.''
Wendell said the state police investigation gives credence to the idea that Cape Charles needs another audit - and another auditor.
``We need a fresh, objective look at how business is being handled down there,'' he said.
Bruce Jones, commonwealth's attorney for Northampton County, said he was aware of the state police probe, but did not know what the investigators were looking for.
Lewis said he believed the state police were looking at the town's payroll records, but he said he had nothing to do with the investigation. Lewis contends that he was asked to retire because he fired officer William Bottom, who has since been reinstated. by CNB