Salt Lake City Council Chair and mayoral candidate Luke Garrott says he would have fired former Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank if he were to be elected Mayor.
Current Mayor Ralph Becker ousted Burbank after public outcry due to the way he handled a sexual harassment suit involving Deputy Chief Rick Findlay. After the charges were substantiated Burbank placed Findlay on paid administrative leave until he retired.
Garrott says that should have been a fireable offense, but Becker mishandled the whole situation.
"I believe Chief Burbank mishandled it," says Garrott. "Findlay should have been fired for the harassment. Who is the boss of the police chief? It ain't the city council. We can't hire and fire people in the administration. That decision for Mayor Becker to sit on that and allow the chief to do nothing. It wasn't until it became public and people became horrified of the facts. "
For that incident and others, Garrott says Chris Burbank would not have continued on as police chief in a Garrot administration.
"The police chief hasn't been forthcoming, cooperative or terribly honest with the city council for a number of years," lamented Garrott. "There is a lack of transparency and cooperation and a haughtiness that his way of doing things is right, a tone deafness which is ultimately a lack of accountability. The chief has been a bit too big for his britches and that has played out in this sexual harassment case and his insubordination vis-a-vis the mayor."
Watch the whole interview below:
