By Erica C. Barnett
After a silence of nearly 24 hours, Mayor Katie Wilson announced at 3:30 this afternoon that Police Chief Shon Barnes has resigned and will be replaced on an interim basis by one of his two deputies, Andre Sayles.
Wilson asked for Barnes’ resignation yesterday, but discussions over how much he will receive in severance did not conclude until late this afternoon, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
In an interview late Thursday afternoon, Wilson told PubliCola, “Last night, we agreed [on Barnes’ resignation] at a very high level and needed some extra time to make sure that we were entirely on the same page about the path forward and how we were rolling it out. And in addition, we had to figure out interim leadership for the department. So there were a lot of details and moving pieces that needed to be settled before it was appropriate to make a public statement.”
PubliCola reported on the mayor’s decision last night.
Barnes’ family lives at their home in Chicago while he rents an apartment here, and he has been under fire recently for his frequent absences from the city. Those absences have included trips around the country to conferences as well as trips home to see his family in Chicago. PubliCola first reported on Barnes’ heavy travel schedule last July, and was the first to report that he was out of town, at a conference in Dallas, when a mass shooting took place at Seattle center on Sunday.
When South Seattle Emerald reporter Connor Nash asked Barnes about my reporting on his absences, the police chief lashed out, telling Nash “no, you listen to me!” before he was hustled away, still sputtering, by his chief of staff Alex Ricketts.
Asked if Barnes’ outsize reaction to a reporter’s question about his schedulewas a factor in her decision to ditch the chief, Wilson said, “there were multiple factors and considerations that informed the conversation that the chief and I had that led to this call, and obviously, how Sunday unfolded and the aftermath was part of that, but not certainly not the only thing. I don’t believe I’m someone who acts rashly, and there were multiple considerations in this decision.”
Sayles’ family, like Barnes’, lives outside the state—in Wisconsin, where Sayles was police chief of a small town, Beloit, before Barnes appointed him deputy chief in Seattle. We’ve requested his schedule to see how much time he has spent with his family in Wisconsin. Asked if she was concerned about hiring another chief whose family home is out of state, Wilson said, “I want to emphasize that this is an interim role, and also that Deputy Chief Sales understands the importance of presence in Seattle during this interim period.”
City council members have criticized the mayor’s decision, which leaves the police department without permanent leadership during an active investigation of a major shooting incident and with one potential suspect still at large. City council members were quick to criticize the decision, with Rob Saka and Maritza Rivera criticizing the decision before it was official on Thursday. A majority of the council has reportedly expressed disapproval of the decision, according to sources familiar with the council’s reaction.
Progressive Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck expressed frustration with the lack of information from the mayor’s office, saying in a statement, “I am disappointed that I found out about the possible dismissal of Chief Barnes from reports on social media last night and did not receive any update or information about this development from the Mayor or Mayor’s Office until mid-morning today. Chief Barnes’ recent interactions with press have been concerning, but I have yet to receive an explanation of what decisions have or haven’t been made, or full rationale behind why any decision has been made.”
Wilson said she gets that “many of the council members strongly disagree with the path that we’re on with this decision” but dismissed the idea that they would try to block her when it comes time to appoint a new permanent chief. “I believe that moving forward, we will be able to work together to select an excellent candidate for our next chief.”
On Thursday afternoon, reporters swarmed the lobby of City Hall, doing standups at 4pm waiting around all day for interviews and information. Wilson gave one-on-one interviews to a handful of reporters (Publicola’s is supposed to happen at 4), which prompted those left downstairs, including TV reporters who have hounded Wilson and blamed her for inaccurate information and delays in the hours and days after the shooting. Cameramen and reporters could be heard grousing about the differential treatment; Wilson plans to hold a general press conference at 11:00 tomorrow morning.
“I understand the frustration and the desire for information, and in this case, I don’t think that was avoidable,” Wilson said.
Interim Chief Sayles, like Barnes and Assistant Chief Nicole Powell and Barnes himself, accepted a $50,000 hiring bonus intended to recruit experienced rank and file police officers from other departments during what police described as a hiring crisis.
PubliCola will update this post after we speak with the mayor.
I’ll guess Mayor Wilson didn’t think Barnes’ domestic arrangements represented a commitment to Seattle she expects from someone in his position, and consequently she had him on double secret probation. Perhaps his sales ability fell short when dealing with someone with sensitive bs detector.
Man knows how to swiftly blow a gig. That takes experience.
So… This is a big fuck up. If he had performance issues, you look into them and you address them. But, you don’t force someone out for something that many other senior leaders probably do to some degree. And if we’re not really going to investigate who’s doing it, and/or who is using their position in government for personal gain, then this is probably some part personal. It’s a likely combination of horrible, horrible judgment on her part (she’s flailing at this point) and something personal that’s been going on. Fuck the chief… He seriously is a big L… But Katie has seriously fucked this up and has been extremely out of her depth.
Do you have information on “many other senior leaders” who live outside the state while working in high profile/highly paid jobs?
As far as performance issues being addressed you can refer to “there were multiple factors and considerations that informed the conversation that the chief and I had that led to this call, and obviously, how Sunday unfolded and the aftermath was part of that, but not certainly not the only thing.” This is not a one and done situation, I expect his “phone it in” management style was just one of the things that came up.
If you take a $50,000 signing bonus — which would easily move your family to your new city — and continue to spend a lot of time away from your job, you lose credibility. A lot of people in seattle don’t make $50,000 in a full year, and not in one sweetener.
It’s easily investigated and shouldn’t require a significant burden of truth to prompt such an investigation–the deputy chief is in a similar situation! Lol. Also, your defense fails to account for the fact that this creates further disruption and uncertainty in a time of crisis, among communities who support him and a police force dealing with an active investigation and a summer of gun violence. There’s been no leadership in her lack of transparency around whatever you are inferring. Katie is purely uncouth and unsophisticated.
He needed to be gone and Katie is to be commended for firing Barnes but what I am most impressed with is that it took 40 minutes from presser to my email. Nice job Errica!
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