12/23/2017- The following was posted Friday on the City of Owasso Facebook page, after several weeks of newscasts the city calls “erroneous”:
In recent weeks, several erroneous media reports have been broadcast from a local television station regarding an issue addressed and resolved over four (4) years ago. In an apparent effort to create, rather than report, news, the stories fail to acknowledge or report the truth.
Indeed, absent from the sensationalized stories is the indisputable fact that the entire chain of events from 2013, relating to the former city manager, a resulting internal investigation, and the issues contained in an investigative report, were all analyzed and reviewed for any criminal wrongdoing in 2013, by 1) the Owasso Police Department; 2) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 3) state prosecutors; and, finally, 4) a Tulsa County Grand Jury.
Tellingly, after three (3) separate law enforcement authorities found no criminal wrongdoing, the leader of a local citizens group made a laundry list of allegations of criminal wrongdoing by Owasso city leaders, businesses, employees, and volunteer civil servants, over a several year period, to include the subject matter of the recent television reports. Over a multi-month period, the resulting Tulsa County Grand Jury heard and questioned 38 witnesses, to include the person making the formal allegations, all City Council members, the former and current city managers, the current and former chief of police, civic leaders, private citizens, city employees, and unidentified persons whom the accuser claimed had pertinent information to support the allegations of criminal wrongdoing. In this process, the Grand Jury also analyzed 116 pieces of evidence, including the same investigative report and findings now being scrutinized – four years later – by a local news station.
The Owasso City Council, in conformity with the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, passed a resolution declaring the personnel investigative report to be confidential. Some weeks ago, an employee of the City of Owasso obtained and published the report in open defiance of an order by a federal judge. This incident will be scrutinized and reviewed by the federal court, and potential sanctions from the court may follow.
Like most municipalities, the City of Owasso does not comment on open personnel investigations. It is inappropriate to do so until an investigation is completed and it is determined whether discipline is warranted. Accordingly, the City of Owasso will not comment on specific information relating to a police department employee who has been placed on paid administrative leave pending investigation. To do so would violate the privacy of that employee and potentially subject the City to liability.
Not only did the Tulsa County Grand Jury completely clear Owasso and its employees of all allegations of criminal conduct, the Grand Jury openly chastised the person bringing the allegations, stating, “it is important to verify information and/or facts before making unsubstantiated allegations.” Sadly, the rebuke by the Grand Jury in 2013, over making reckless and unsubstantiated allegations, bears repeating today.
