INSET BELOW: Police Chief Carmen Mattox
By Dan Moffett
Manalapan Police Chief Carmen Mattox will undergo ethnic diversity counseling, and the town has given him a written reprimand in response to an officer’s harassment complaint stemming from an incident in late June.
According to a grievance filed by the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association, Mattox made a “racially derogatory comment” to Officer Jose Fernandez that another officer, Steven Basinger, witnessed.
Mattox has acknowledged that, while telling the two officers an anecdote about his service in the military, he used an offensive term for Hispanic. Fernandez complained about the remark to the union a month later.
The town hired the West Palm Beach law firm Ward Damon to investigate the incident, and an investigator’s report filed in August recommended diversity training and the written reprimand for Mattox.
“While you may not have intended to offend Officer Fernandez,” Town Manager Linda Stumpf wrote in the reprimand, “it did offend him, especially because you are his superior officer.”
Stumpf said the investigator, Sally Still, found no evidence of a pattern of discriminatory behavior, and no probable cause to support violation of federal civil rights laws.
“Whether or not these comments violated the law,” Stumpf wrote, “they were wrong.”
“At no time did I intend to insult or make Officer Fernandez feel uncomfortable,” Mattox said. “I now understand that the discussion did make him feel uncomfortable. The incident has been investigated, and I have apologized to Officer Fernandez. I intend to move forward and maintain a positive relationship with Officer Fernandez and all members of the department. I believe the matter was handled fairly, and I recognize my responsibility.”
Over the last two years, town resident Kersen De Jong has filed several discrimination complaints to state and federal officials, charging Mattox and the department with profiling and racism. At least three officers have filed grievances over work conditions.
Outside investigations, some commissioned by the town, have not found evidence to substantiate a pattern of misconduct.
Mayor David Cheifetz says the Town Commission and town residents are standing behind their police chief. He said commissioners are “completely satisfied” with the findings of the investigations.
“Our chief is not a racist — this has been proven,” Cheifetz said during the Sept. 23 commission meeting. “Our town is not racist. That is obvious. Our residents overwhelmingly support our police chief, town manager, our fine staff and elected officials.”
In July, the commissioners presented Mattox with a plaque, honoring him for “a job well done.”
A group of residents is preparing to launch a campaign in October to raise donations for the Police Department to buy new equipment.
Cheifetz said that, unless new evidence surfaces that substantiates discrimination charges, the town is ready to move on: “We’re finished with this issue.”
In other business:
• Commissioner Peter Isaac, who leads the Audubon Bridge task force, said the panel believes the design for the new bridge should “be simple and not too ornate.”
Isaac said engineers think the project should come in close to its $760,000 budget. He said the town will put it out for bid in early December and then choose a contractor in January 2015.
The town is hoping for an April 1 start date on construction and is shooting to have the new span completed by Thanksgiving. “So far, so good,” Isaac said of the preliminary permitting and design work of the last two months.
• Commissioners voted 5-0 to take $5,000 from their contingency fund to give to a $45,000 campaign for private donations to renovate the landscaping at Town Hall.
• Commissioners decided to ask Town Attorney Keith Davis to rewrite a proposed ordinance that would restrict residential special events after concerns surfaced about a possible loophole allowing multiple-day fundraisers. A new version is expected in October.
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