Police chief says he was suspended for dispute with mayor

ASHLAND, Mo. -- A central Missouri police chief alleges he was suspended from his job because he refused to remove a woman from a home she shared with the town's mayor.

Lyn Woolford filed a petition Monday seeking to be reinstated as police chief in Ashland, a town of about 3,800 residents between Columbia and Jefferson City. He was suspended last week by Mayor Gene Rhorer but the reasons were not publicly explained, The Columbia Missourian reported.

In his petition, Woolford contends on at least two occasions, Rhorer demanded officers be sent to remove his girlfriend from a home the two shared. Because there were no apparent threats of violence, Woolford instead told officers just to keep the peace.

City administrator Tony St. Romaine said in a news release Tuesday that Woolford is still employed by the city and his current contract expires April 30. The mayor fills certain city positions on one-year appointments, including the police chief. St. Romaine said he received a proposed contract prepared by the chief two weeks ago that will be presented to the board of aldermen sometime after the next election. The news release did not address any of Woolford's accusations.

The girlfriend's name was not included in the petition.

The mayor's attitude toward Woolford began to "sour" after those incidents, according the petition.

Woolford was removed as city administrator March 29, less than a month after one of Rhorer's calls, said Matt Uhrig, Woolford's attorney.

The calls between the two men weren't recorded because the mayor called Woolford directly, rather than through 911 or the police department.

Uhrig said the mayor's actions violate state law on how a city of Ashland's size can remove its police chief and state laws that protect public employees from retaliatory action when reporting or disclosing any prohibited action by superiors.