Great Bend City Council member Dana Dawson says a special city council meeting will be held Friday, August 18 to discuss personnel issues with the City of Great Bend. The meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. at the Great Bend Events Center. The City of Great Bend released the notice of the meeting shortly after Eagle Media Center’s conversation with Dawson.

Dawson sent a letter addressed to Great Bend Mayor Mike Allison Thursday expressing his public safety concerns following the recent resignations of administrative and executive positions. Dawson urged the mayor to convene a special session to deal with the vacancies.

Great Bend Fire Chief Mike Napolitano is still technically on staff but announcing his resignation effective September 1, and with weeks of vacation left, there are questions to his involvement with the department.

City Administrator Howard Partington announced his retirement Wednesday that went into effect at 5 p.m. that same day.

Great Bend Police Chief Cliff Couch remains suspended with pay following a 5-3 vote after a special council meeting on July 24.

Council member Wayne Henneke announced his resignation from the board Thursday morning. Henneke served as the council’s president. Due to his resignation, the council members need to elect a new president of the council, an item on Friday’s agenda.

Dawson was not overly surprised by the resignations, but was taken back from how quickly and close together they were all announced.

Dana Dawson Audio

Dawson says he still believes an investigation needs to take place on the city, but is waiting for the right time to address the matter. The forensic audit is on Friday’s agenda for discussion. The council member expects to revisit Couch’s suspension and possible reinstatement at Friday’s special meeting.

Larned, KS – Following a bench trial Wednesday morning, Pawnee County District Judge Bruce Gatterman found Jacob Ohnmacht, 27 of Larned, Kansas, Guilty of Criminal Threat, a severity level 9 person felony.

The charge stems from an incident on the evening of February 9, 2017 in Larned. Testimony at trial reflected that Ohnmacht texted his former mother-in-law around 6 p.m. indicating that he had just spit in a Larned Police Officer’s pizza because Ohnmacht knew she did not like the officer in question. She testified she immediately forwarded the text to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Officer Dusty Snodgrass of the Larned Police Department testified that through viewing store surveillance footage at Ohnmacht’s place of employment he verified the officer in question had in fact purchased a pizza made by Ohnmacht on the date and relevant time frame the text was sent.

Ohnmacht’s employer testified at trial they fully cooperated with the investigation and immediately terminated the defendant upon hearing the allegation.

Under Kansas law it is a felony to threaten to adulterate or contaminate any food, raw agricultural commodity, beverage, drug, animal feed, plant or public water supply.

Judge Gatterman was not asked to determine if the defendant had in fact spit in the pizza. Rather, the State only asked the Court to determine if Ohnmacht had made a statement he had adulterated or contaminated food.

Sentencing was scheduled for September. Depending on his criminal history, Ohnmacht could be sentenced to between 5 and 17 months with the Kansas Department of Corrections.
The defendant remains in the custody of the Ford County Jail on unrelated charges.

Names keep getting added to the list of resignations for the City of Great Bend. Thursday morning, Great Bend City Council member Wayne Henneke announced he was resigning his position on the city council.

Henneke has been working in city government since 1974, and served as Finance Director / City Clerk for Great Bend from 1996-2012. Following his retirement as city clerk, Henneke was elected to the city council in the spring of 2013 to represent Ward 2.

Henneke voted in favor of suspending Great Bend Police Chief Cliff Couch at the special meeting held on July 24, 2017. Couch was suspended following discussion regarding the police chief’s statements of possible misconduct with city administration.

At the city council meeting on August 7, in front of over 400 citizens, Henneke stated he wanted to hear it out of Couch’s mouth that the police chief could work with City Administrator Howard Partington to do what is best for the City of Great Bend. Henneke noted if he heard it from Couch’s mouth, then he would reconsider his vote to uphold the suspension with possible termination. After Couch addressed the council and mentioned he was willing to work with whoever, Henneke declined to change his vote, causing many frustrated citizens to question Henneke for going back on his word. The voted eventually ended in a 4-4 tie, with Mayor Mike Allison breaking the tie to keep the suspension. With Henneke’s resignation, that would leave four votes in favor of reinstating Couch (Dana Dawson, Cory Zimmerman, Brock McPherson, Mike Boys) and three votes to keep the suspension (Vicki Berryman, Joel Jackson, and Allene Owen).

Henneke’s status on the city council over the past four years was also questioned at the August 7 meeting. Although retired, Henneke was still being paid by the city to help with the budget and other consulting work. Public record shows Henneke was paid over $17,000 from August 2016 to August 2017. Being on the city council while employed with the City of Great Bend goes against the Great Bend Ethics Policy.

In a brief written statement, Henneke said, “With the turmoil in the City such as it is, and the City Administrator resigning, I do not need or want the stress. I am resigning my position effective immediately.”

Partington resigned his position August 16 after 36 years in the position. Great Bend Fire Chief Mike Napolitano announced his retirement August 11 and will be effective September 1, 2017.

City Attorney Bob Suelter has agreed to serve as the interim city administrator for a short period of time. Addressing the city administrator position has been placed on the next city council meeting agenda for August 21. Allison has been in contact with the Kansas League of Municipalities in hopes of getting another interim city administrator until the beginning of the year.

At the August 7 city council meeting, Dawson requested that a forensic audit be completed on the city. In the aftermath of these resignations, Dawson asked to have the agenda item removed.

The meeting Monday will be held at the Great Bend Events Center, 3111 10th Street, beginning at 7:30 p.m.