Thursday, September 6, 2012
Can't make tonight's meeting? Watch it live here.
The Canton City Council is meeting now at City Hall to discuss, among other things, a procedure for City Manager Scott Wood's evaluation. The council in April placed Wood on six months probation "to evaluate his effectiveness" as city manager. The council is also discussing a 5-year plan to meet the fire service needs of the city's residents. For nearly two years, the city has tried to develop plans to build new fire stations. Council members have discussed consolidation with the county as well as the creation of the city's own fire district. Both ideas have been met with opposition. Council member Glen Cummins plans to ask his colleagues to repeal the latest idea, the fire district ordinance that Attorney General Sam Olens' office says …
Thursday, April 12, 2012
After a report of a March 15 traffic stop involving the city manager surfaced last Thursday, questions of preferential treatment dogged the city.
The Canton City Council placed Scott Wood on six months probation "to evaluate his effectiveness" as city manager. "You're going to have a blemish-free record from now on is the way I see it," Council member Glen Cummins said tonight. The majority decision comes seven days after a WSB-TV report revealed that the city manager was pulled over shortly after a March 15 city council meeting. Until that report, the city said nothing about the stop. Wood, who made sure the officer knew he was not dealing with an ordinary citizen, drove off that night with a warning for failing to maintain his lane and driving 45 m.p.h. in a 30 m.p.h. zone. And Henley received a verbal warning for shutting off the audio toward the end of the stop. That violation …
Todd Vande Zande, the interim chief of the Canton Police Department, overheard a Friday meeting between City Manager Scott Wood and Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison about the candidates for police chief. Garrison said the meeting wasn't unusual.
The city still reeling from the fallout that followed revelations of a March 15 traffic stop involving City Manager Scott Wood, the interim police chief said this week that he questions the integrity of the search for a permanent replacement. It started Friday, when Todd Vande Zande called the city manager's phone. Wood answered, but said nothing. Three times, Vande Zande said, "Hello." He waited. And waited. And then Vande Zande heard a conversation between the city manager, Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison and a third unidentified person. They were talking about him. "I'm thinking, "Well, maybe he's finishing up a conversation because he can see who calls when they call,' " Vande Zande said. "So I sat there for a few minutes. It …
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
The interim chief of the Canton Police Department said he can't blame Officer Daniel Henley for resigning.
Interim police chief Todd Vande Zande was on his way back to the Canton Police Department when he decided to call and make sure that everything was OK back at headquarters. Since last Thursday's WSB-TV report about a March 15 traffic stop involving the city manager, things have been stressful around 221 East Marietta St. Questions of preferential treatment surfaced. And in an instant, the perfect record—and the public perception—of an officer who the chief described repeatedly as a "good employee" had its first blemish. During today's call, Vande Zande learned that things weren't OK. Daniel Henley, the officer who pulled over City Manager Scott Wood, had walked into police headquarters, turned in his gear and submitted a one-sentence …
Until a WSB-TV report on Thursday evening, the city said nothing about a March 15 traffic stop involving the city manager.
Todd Vande Zande, Canton's interim police chief, confirmed that Officer Daniel Henley resigned today. Here's the transcript of his interview with Canton-Sixes Patch: "It's true. I found out this afternoon. I was attending a vendor demonstration and I called back here on my way back to see how everything was going and found out that he came in, turned in a letter of resignation and turned his gear in and that was it. He hasn't been back to work since the incident aired on TV. He took off. He's called in sick. And then today, he came in and turned in his resignation. To whom it may concern: Please accept this letter as my letter of resignation from the Canton Police Department effective immediately. April 11, 2012 No (I haven't spoken to him…
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
City Manager Scott Wood was stopped just after 10 p.m. March 15. At 8:30 a.m. March 16, his assistant was on the phone with the interim police chief with a request.
Less than 12 hours after a Canton police officer pulled over the city manager, the interim police chief received a call. It was 8:30 a.m. March 16. Donna Bell, City Manager Scott Wood's administrative assistant, was on the other end. She said that Wood "wished to meet with myself and Officer (Daniel) Henley in his office," Todd Vande Zande said Monday in an interview with Canton-Sixes Patch. "I told her that (Henley) wasn't working Friday and that I would get back with them in regards to when that would be possible." Henley was the officer who turned off his microphone during the last 95 seconds of a March 15 traffic stop in which Wood made sure the officer knew he wasn't dealing with an ordinary citizen. Until a WSB-TV report on Thursday …
Monday, April 9, 2012
But Mayor Gene Hobgood said the interim police chief has put to rest any questions of preferential treatment.
While it didn't serve "any useful purpose" for Scott Wood to identify himself as the city manager during a March 15 traffic stop, the mayor of Canton said today that he has reviewed dashboard video footage of the incident, and "the main gist of it didn't seem all that bad." Until a WSB-TV report on Thursday night, the city said nothing about the stop, which occurred shortly after a city council meeting ended. Wood drove off that night with a warning for failing to maintain his lane and driving 45 m.p.h. in a 30 m.p.h. zone. And the officer who pulled the city manager over received a verbal warning for turning off his microphone during the last 95 seconds of the traffic stop. That violation of police department policy and the city's silence…
Friday, April 6, 2012
When a Canton police officer pulled over City Manager Scott Wood, he made sure the officer knew he wasn't dealing with an ordinary citizen.
Not long after the City Council wrapped its March 15 meeting, Canton Police Officer Daniel Henley spotted a silver convertible speeding on Railroad Street. Henley didn’t know the man behind the wheel of the car. But when he pulled the vehicle over at the Chevron Gas Station on Marietta Highway and Waleska Street, the driver made sure that Henley knew he wasn’t dealing with an ordinary citizen. “I’m Scott Wood, and I’m the Canton City Manager," he told the officer. "And I just left a 4-hour City Council meeting.” “Mr. Wood,” Henley said, “I don’t know you, sir.” “Well, I don’t know you, either,” Wood said. “But I’m just telling you who I am and what I just left.” Much of what was said after that exchange between Wood and Henley is a mystery…
Monday, February 20, 2012
The person will replace Chief Jeff Lance, who resigned last month after a scathing review revealed leadership failures during the search for slain 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera.
City Manager Scott Wood said today that Canton received 36 applications for police chief by the Feb. 17 deadline. "Names will not be divulged until we announce the finalists," he wrote in an email to Canton-Sixes Patch. Interim chief Todd Vande Zande previously told Canton-Sixes Patch that he planned to toss his name in the ring. Vande Zande, 44, was named interim chief on Jan. 19, the day that a less than flattering audit of the department's actions during the search for slain 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera exposed an investigation beset by leadership failures, confusion, policy violations and other critical errors. Chief Jeff Lance, Vande Zande's former boss, resigned. Depending on who you ask, he was either forced out or left of his own …
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Here are some of the highlights from Canton-Sixes and nearby Patches for Jan. 25.
For more on these stories, click on the links below:
Debbie Burns
11:25 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
Scott Wood.....you are a joke. City Council Members, please, do not allow this to go on any longer than it already has. Mr. Wood is a liability to the City of Canton. more ›