The Killing of a Warrior
Volume 44- No. 24
by lyle e davis
We send our warriors, well trained, full of experience, out onto the battlefields to do battle with the bad guys and to slay the dragons.
They return, covered with honor and glory.
And then we kill them.
By most accounts, Jim Maher was an ideal Chief of Police.
A veteran cop who had come up through the ranks; a “cop’s cop,” a cop who enjoyed the support of his troops . . . and who supported his troops - to the point of declining a pay raise until such time as they had received a pay raise. He was a cop who enjoyed broad support from the people he was hired to protect.
Jim Maher had just one little problem.
His boss didn’t like him.
His leader.
His supervisor.
Several of his subordinate officers apparently didn’t either.
Events leading up to the “retirement” of Chief Maher:
Chief Maher showed strong support for the police labor union during tense negotiations in 2011 and early 2012, which did not endear him to City Manager, Clay Phillips.
On March 4, 2012, Lieutenant Craig Carter prepared a Supervisor’s Report commending five Escondido police officers for an operation that was being recognized for “Performance under pressure.” The Paper - 760.747.7119
website:www.thecommunitypaper.com
email: thepaper@cox.net
June 13, 2013
Lieutentant Craig Carter was, and is, an amiable sort. Great sense of humor, is comfortable socializing with all levels of society, and with the men who serve him.
Carter injected some humor into his “commendation” - the type of humor one is likely to find within a military barrack . . . or within the very private confines of a police headquarters but the type of humor probably not intended for public consumption.
The commendation was approved by Captain Bob Benton. When a copy of the commendation reached Chief Maher, he ordered the commendation shredded as being “totally inappropriate.”
The document was duly shredded. However, an electronic copy had already been sent. We have a copy of that commendation and its image is printed at the end of this story.
The story continuesd and appears to follow this general time line . . . and has been confirmed by witnesses to the events, all of whom must remain confidential.
Chief Maher’s boss, Escondido City Manager Clay Phillips, awarded nearly $200,000 in raises to his departmental heads. Jim Maher was scheduled for a pay raise but he turned the raise down saying he did not want a pay raise until his officers got theirs. He stood up for his men and women . . but in so doing, he angered and embarrassed Phillips.
In March of 2012, after Maher had turned down his raise, reliably informed sources advise us that Escondido City Manager Clay Phillips confronted Chief
Escondido Chief of Police, Jim Maher (Retired)
of Police Jim Maher and said, “Your services are no longer needed. You are terminated.” or words to that effect.
Within a few days Mayor Sam Abed learned of the firing and was enraged. He confronted Phillips, asking him how dare he fire our Chief of Police without consulting him.
Maher retained his position but Phillips had been badly chastised and, again, embarrassed. A grudge had begun.
Mayor Sam Abed would not comment on the allegations of the above incident other than to re-affirm the City Manager, not the Council, is responsible for all but two employee decisions (the City Manager and City
Attorney).
Phillips had been stung because within the same month, after his granting of raises to his departmental heads became known, a hue and cry arose from the general public as well as many city staffers, calling for Phillip’s head.
They said the city had closed a branch library, had cut off funding for essential services for the elderly, had insisted on concessions from employees . . . and yet Phillips had the audacity to quietly hand out raises of between 9 and 24 percent to top management staff. Phillips defended the raises given to 11 managers totaling more than $173,000. They ranged from a low of $4,800 for the director of
“The Killing of a Warrior” Continued on Page 2