Staff Writer

JONESVILLE - The Jonesville Police Department was down to three officers this morning after its chief was fired for insubordination by the town council.

Mayor Ernest Moore Jr. said council voted unanimously Tuesday to dismiss Eddie Smith as chief for refusing to ask the S.C. Highway Patrol for permission to close part of S.C. 9 on Saturday for the Jonesville Town Festival. Moore said he'd asked Smith to make the request only to have Smith tell him he wouldn't do it. He said he warned Smith that refusing a request from mayor and council could cost him his job, but Smith persisted in his refusal to contact the highway patrol.

Council discussed this and other displinary matters concerning Smith in an executive session Tuesday evening and later voted in open session to fire Smith. He was notified of his dismissal Wednesday morning.

“We had to let him go because of insubordination,” Moore said. “We asked him to do something and he just flat out said he wasn't going to do it.”

Moore said another area of contention between Smith and council was over police officers working the town festival. He said that in the past, the town would compensate officers for working the festival by allowing them to take time off later.

Smith, however, sent a letter to council member and festival chairman Ann Queen requesting that officers be paid $20 an hour for working the festival. The festival committee could not afford this and so the request was denied. Moore said that some officers, however, said they would be willing to work the festival in exchange for time off as in the past. He said that when Smith learned of this he warned one officer that if he did he would be looking for another job.

Moore said he'd planned to take this matter up with Smith when they met to discuss closing the road for the festival. The discussion never got that far, however, because of Smith's refusal to contact the highway patrol.

Councilman Danny Gregory said Smith's actions were part of a pattern of insubordination. Gregory, who oversees the police department, said that in addition to refusing requests by mayor and council, Smith would leave work before his shift was over. He said on several occasions he would find his patrol car parked at the old national guard armory and Smith gone for the day.

Gregory said Smith rarely ever patrolled even when he urged him to do so in order to let the people of Jonesville get to know him. He said he told Smith he needed to get to know the community and its people but that Smith refused on the grounds of having to do paperwork. Also, Gregory told Smith on several occasions not to smoke in the police department or other parts of the town hall or in the patrol cars. He said Smith persisted in doing so anyway.

Smith had also clashed with council over its decision to end the practic of allowing officers to drive their patrol cars home at the end of their shift. He'd asked council Tuesday night to rescind the policy citing the need for officers to return quickly to town in an emergency situation; vehicle safety, security and maintenance concerns; and the increased costs born by officers because of the policy.

Moore said Smith's request that the policy be rescinded had nothing to do with his dismissal. He said the policy, which council initiated to cut fuel costs, is part of an effort to avoid dissolving the police department and turning its duties over to the Union County Sheriff's Office. Council is reviewing the matter and will take it up at its October meeting.

Smith could not be reached for comment this morning.

Jonesville Fire Chief Jimmy Wilkins is currently serving as acting chief.