Chattahoochee Hills
Incorporated: 2007
Population: 2,610
Area: 51.5 square miles
Median household income: $62,539
Located: Southern Fulton County
Source: Census, Georgia.gov, research
The resignation of Chattahoochee Hills police chief Matthew Rook earlier this month was only the beginning.
Since he left the city following conflicts with the new city manager, two more officers, including the acting chief, have left the seven-person force. "Reinstate Chief Matt Rook" signs dot the rolling hills. Nearly 250 people have signed an online petition to bring the chief back, and 300 have liked a Facebook page pushing for the same result.
At a specially called meeting Thursday, some hope it will be the city manager who will go.
“Everyone’s morale is so torn up,” said Nathan Allen, who resigned from the police force this week. “The new city manager basically came in and destroyed our morale.”
City manager Jay DiPasquale, who previously worked for the U.S. State Department, came to Chattahoochee Hills in July. Rook and DiPasquale have clashed several times since then, but the incident that prompted Rook’s resignation remains a mystery.
Rook did not respond to requests for comment and DiPasquale declined to talk about any issues in the city. “People come up with various stories and the like,” he said. “I don’t want to surmise anything, I don’t want to make any guesses.”
Mayor Tom Reed declined to comment and other members of council did not respond to requests for comments.
Rebecca Williams, who is on the board of the Chattahoochee Hills Charter School, said she and other residents hope council members would vote Thursday to suspend DiPasquale, who she said has been difficult to other members of the community. She added that the fight had brought the already-tight community closer.
“We all feel we’re fighting for something together,” she said.
Chattahoochee Hills, which was formed in 2007, gives the city manager the ability to hire and fire employees. That “ultimate authority” granted to DiPasquale means department heads have no due process if they have issues with the city manager, Rook wrote in letters to DiPasquale and Reed in appeals to reprimands he received. Rook said in the letters that respect for the city is fading as a result of DiPasquale’s actions.
Three letters dated Oct. 6 are in Rook’s personnel file reprimanding him for accusaitons of directing an officer not to speak to DiPasquale, for his use of social media related to city business and for improper use of the city credit card. He was ordered to turn in the credit card immediately.
Rook, chief since 2012, has fans across the community. Residents were just as likely to call him on his cell phone as to call 911, they said, and he was helpful and accessible.
Prior to the October incidents, Rook’s personnel file had no other complaints about his work.
Residents and local workers say the former chief went beyond what was required of him to make sure people were comfortable and safe.
Mayor Reed, who said he could not comment on personnel matters, said Rook “did a great job of implementing a true community-driven policing model” as chief.
“Matt is much beloved here, and will be missed by many, myself included,” he wrote in an email. “The outpouring of community sentiment we are seeing reflects that.”
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