The Daphne City Council held two lengthy personnel hearings last week, upholding the dismissal of a longtime police captain while postponing a decision on the appeal filed by a former interim finance director.
Council members spent roughly four hours weighing the case of Capt. Danny Bell, who had served the city’s police department for two decades before his termination in June. Mayor Dane Haygood removed Bell from his post following a recommendation from Police Chief David Carpenter. The council voted 6-1 to uphold that decision, with Councilman John Lake casting the lone dissenting vote.
Council President Randy Fry said Bell’s hearing lasted about four hours, while a separate hearing two days later for former interim finance director Mike Hinson ran even longer, nearly five hours. Both men had been dismissed from their positions in June and were entitled to appeal directly to the full council under the city’s personnel handbook.
Fry noted that the mayor had sole authority over Hinson’s firing since the finance director reported directly to Haygood, unlike Bell’s case, which involved a recommendation from the police chief. Because of the added complexity, council members opted to take more time before ruling on Hinson’s appeal, with a decision expected at the council’s next regular meeting on Aug. 18.
Fry emphasized that Bell’s termination was separate from a pending criminal case. The former captain had been arrested in early June on a third-degree domestic violence charge related to harassing communications. “His pending criminal charge really had nothing to do with it,” Fry said, adding that other workplace issues had made his continued service in the public safety department untenable.
Hinson, for his part, disputed the circumstances of his dismissal. A letter from a Mobile law firm representing him alleged he was let go in retaliation after pushing for upgrades to the city’s financial software and disclosing a budget surplus to a council member. The letter requested reinstatement to his former roles as finance director and treasurer. City Attorney Jay Ross said the city disputed several claims made in that correspondence.
Fry acknowledged the difficulty of both proceedings, saying council members had to weigh the personal and professional toll on employees, some of whom had relocated to Daphne for their jobs. He praised Bell’s two decades of service but said the council ultimately concluded that keeping him on the force was not in the city’s best interest.