VIENNA — It seems that as of last Friday, Vienna is without a chief of police.
David Musselwhite, who has been the Vienna police chief for the past several years, said City Manager Gail Bembry hand-delivered a letter to him Friday afternoon which stated that effective immediately, he had been “granted” two weeks leave with pay.
Musselwhite, however, contends that he never asked for any leave and was given no reason behind the city’s decision. He went on to say that Bembry’s letter said he was banned from the police department and banned from having any contact with police department personnel.
“I don’t see how they can suspend me or place me on leave without a reason,” Musselwhite said. “I’ve been with the Vienna Police Department for 33 years and never received any kind of reprimand or anything like that.”
Musselwhite said Bembry told him that the Vienna City Council had met, and that the general consensus was that he needed to be placed on leave. Exactly when that meeting took place is not known.
The issue was not discussed during the May 12 regular meeting of the city council, and according to James Tidwell, editor of the News Observer (Vienna’s legal organ), he received no notification of a called meeting.
It is a violation of the state Sunshine Laws not to at least verbally notify the legal organ of all Council meetings.
Attempts to contact Bembry on Monday for comments, as well as to obtain a copy of last week’s meeting minutes were unsuccessful as she is out of town until Friday.
