Colfax Chief returns to duty after city civil service ruling

Colfax Police Chief Rick McNannay returned to duty Aug. 1 after being out of action for close to 10 months. McNannay was ordered to report for duty Aug. 1 by the Colfax Civil Service Commission after a two-hour session July 2. The board ruled in favor of McNannay’s appeal of his firing in January.

McNannay returned to a corner office in city hall which has been unused since he was placed on administrative leave with pay by Mayor Todd Vanek last October. He was subsequently fired Jan. 17, and he filed an appeal with the Civil Service Commission.

McNannay appealed, and the commission ruled in his favor at its July 2 session in city hall. The three-member board made the decision before conducting a formal hearing which had been scheduled to start last Monday.

Board members ruled pre-hearing filings and motions showed McNannay did not commit perjury and was not dishonest when he hired officers without following state requirements which had been updated.

Commission members decided they had received enough information in advance of the formal hearing to make a decision without going ahead with the hearing which was projected to take up to a week.

McNannay’s absence from the lineup of officers proved to be a setback in the city’s effort to have a full roster of officers. The police department operated with three officers during most of his absence. Some of the coverage for Colfax was done under an arrangement with the Sheriff’s Office to fill duty shifts for the city.

The Civil Service Panel ordered the city to restore McNannay to the chief’s position and pay him for duty time back to January when he was improperly dismissed. McNannay will receive the check when the city issues its next payroll at the middle of the month.

McNannay’s long-vacant office was cleaned, and officers arranged for the uniform left at the office to be cleaned and pressed ready for his arrival.

Last Thursday McNannay said one of his first projects will be to review the status of the department’s budget which was passed during his absence.

Before the civil service ruling, McNannay’s Spokane attorneys announced plans to launch a civil suit against the city for damages allegedly sustained by McNanny and his wife from the erroneous firing.

A notice of a claim related to McNannay’s firing was received by the city July 15. The notice was sent by Robert Dunn and Alexandria Drake who represented McNannay in the civil service sessions during his appeal.

One claim alleges $5.2 million damages sustained by McNannay, and a second claim alleges $250,000 sustained by his wife. The notices have been turned over to the city’s liability insurance carrier.

Since his return to office Thursday, McNannay has been off-duty to assist his wife with out-of-town cancer treatment sessions.