TOOL–During the City of Tool’s city council meeting held Oct. 24, Chief Reid Rossmann opted for a public executive session to discuss his resignation from the city. City Administrator Julius Kizzee stated that he received Rossmann’s letter of resignation Oct. 14 as well as a resignation agreement and release. Kizzee explained that he and Rossmann have had several conversations and that he accepted Rossmann’s letter of resignation Oct. 17. Kizzee went on to state that he felt it would be in the council’s best interest to review both items. 
“During these last 15 months the time here has been mostly okay,” Rossmann began. “Since I got appointed, just prior to the election, I was notified by a now past member of the council that Mayor Tommy Lawhon wished to terminate my employment if he is to be elected, along with a couple of other previous employees. That comment has continued this entire time until today,” explained Rossmann. He stated that he noted in his resignation that during his time at Tool, there has been constant harassment, retaliation, hostile work environment, sabotage of the police department, unfair work conditions, belittling and defamation of character. 
Rossmann said he has numerous reasons to justify these allegations toward the mayor and provided a few examples that he also detailed in his letter. Among them was an instance of accusing the chief of not responding to a call, “Knowing the totality of the circumstances, I went ahead and decided to drive through the parking lot anyway and see if the suspect was there. He was no longer there. So yes I did respond,” said Rossmann. Rossmann went on to explain to the council that the lack of new hires is due to defamatory statements that are being spoken about him. In one instance, a call came into the department that there was a possible burglary in process at a location that was having an estate sale. Rossmann said upon his arrival, he found a Seven Points officer already on site. “What happened was the mayor had called Seven Points Police Department, asked for Seven Points to respond, then he calls our department and has us respond. So, I don’t understand that,” Rossmann said. 
Council Member Michael Fladmark inquired if he had considered filing a grievance within the city or going further up the chain of command. Rossmann stated that twice he had spoken to the mayor and had “sit-downs” to try and clear the air. He explained that he asked the mayor if they could just have a clean slate and start all over again. “We agreed to do that but yet it continued.” 
Numerous citizens used the public comments portion of the meeting to address their frustration with the situation stating, that the previous police force and previous chief before Rossmann was corrupt, asked why the mayor can’t be professional and even a “shame on you,” was directed towards Lawhon. One citizen directed her comments directly to the mayor stating, “Tommy you do nothing but negativity. What is your platform, what is your plan? We’re sick of it.” Former Mayor Tawnya Austin addressed council stating, “We’ve lost too many good people because of going backwards. Enough is enough. We need the good people to stay. If you’re not here and you’re not serving because you want to serve, then resign.” Austin’s comment was followed by chants from the audience of, “Resign, resign!” Soon a line formed behind the microphone to speak on the topic. A gentleman addressed council stating that, “what was happening here tonight is disgusting, the back and forth was ridiculous.” He stated that the department should be absolved and start over. 
Moving forward, Kizzee stated that the plan would be to work with Rossmann to work out immediate police presence, find an interim, then find a permanent chief. With two council members leaving office and three new members coming in following the Nov. 8 election, Kizzee stated that he felt it would be unfair to the new council members to hire a police chief without their opinion. Kizzee stated that Tool would look to neighboring cities and municipalities to help cover the city. 
The only comment Lawhon made, was in response to the chief’s wife, Mrs. Rossmann’s demand for one. Lawhon stated that he refused to get into an argument. “Bottom line, he made severe mistakes. I didn’t even say anything, Julius came to me. He made four grave mistakes with him.” Lawhon claimed he and Rossmann could have gone fishing and “really gotten along.” 
Mayor Pro-Tem Mike Dumont presided over the public session and made two motions. The first was a motion to accept Chief Reid Rossmann’s resignation. That motion failed, without a second. The second motion was made to deny the resignation agreement and release that Chief Rossmann provided to the city council and city administrator. That motion passed 4-0. The chief’s last day is slated for Friday, Nov. 11.
In other business, council:
• Approved minutes from the Sept. 15 regular meeting. 
• Heard an update for the property located at 1216 S. Tool Drive. 
• Approved the adoption of resolution 2022-04R, the creation of a Fiscal Affairs Committee. 
• Approved the adoption of the Fiscal Affairs Committee Bylaws, amending the word “board” to “committee.”
• Approved a request by Timothy Yates of 1217 Aloha Road of the Paradise Bay Subdivision to replat lots 2070 and 2071, creating one 0.76 -acre lot, Lot 2070-R. 
• Took no action on a request by John Heimsath of 424 Ridgewood Drive of the Cedarcrest Shores Subdivision to grant two variances, one on the five-foot setback from the property line and one to place a carport in the front yard. 
• Approved a request by Robert Cochrane of 495 Kontiki Drive to grant two variances, one on the off-street parking and loading requirement and one on the side setback from Kontiki Drive. 
• Approved the adoption of Ordinance-2022-08 at the request of bella Trust of 1209 Rim of the World Drive of the Westwood Beach Subdivision to abandon 0.09 acres of the city’s right of way. 
• Approved the adoption of an amendment to the Employee Handbook, creating a PTO bank. 
• Approved the adoption of Police Department General Orders/Policies and Procedures Item Numbers 3000-3500.