By Marie Brown
Former Monroe Interim Police Chief Reginald Brown was vindicated last week by the Louisiana Supreme Court, after 5 years of legal proceedings by the Civil Service Board and the Second Circuit District Court in which they disagreed with the Man in the Hat (Friday), who recommended termination because of an excessive force issue involving Monroe resident Timothy Williams. Brown was accused by the Man in the Hat (Friday) of delaying the investigation of the case by not immediately referring the case to the Louisiana State Police, as advised by the City Attorney at the time.
For the record, Former Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo was in office at that time and was the boss of both the city attorney and the police chief, and advised Brown to follow the City’s policy, which did not require Brown to forward the case to the Louisiana State Police. Immediately after the Man in the Hat (Friday) was elected as Mayor of Monroe, he Demoted Brown to Corporal and appointed a new police chief, in addition to targeting Brown by terminating him, as he was able to get a district judge to agree with him.
Most people have forgotten that former Monroe Police Sergeant Chuck Johnson was targeted as well and terminated. His case is at the Supreme Court level and is expected to receive the same vindication as Brown once the court makes its decision. It is ridiculous the amount of wasted tax dollars that have been spent by the man in the Hat (Friday) because of a personal vendetta. Once all is said and done, it is estimated that back pay and benefits owed to both Brown and Johnson, Monroe City Attorney legal hours spent, and outside attorney fees will tally up to over $1 million dollars.
Former Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo is also vindicated because of the action he took, and it was apparent that the Man in the Hat (Friday) was targeting Mayo as well because of political reasons. I appreciate all the readers of this column who have expressed their appreciation of me for telling it like it is. I am also aware of those who are encouraging the City Council to fire me because of their disagreements.
I will continue to use every column inch I’m afforded to keep the public informed. We all want to Love where we Live and Live where we Love.
