Many were surprised and stunned after the Guthrie city council voted unanimously not to reinstate Lt. Mark Bruning back onto the police force after an arbitrator ruled to do so. Perhaps, none more shocked was Bruning’s attorney who thought it was a joke at first.
“I don’t know what they are doing,” Scott Adams said in a phone interview with Guthrie News Page.
“It’s totally unprecedented and makes no sense. They have absolutely zero authority to do what they are trying to do and I don’t even know what they are trying to do,” Adams said.
Bruning, who has been with the police department for 18 years, was accused of abusing his power when he had his wife’s ex-husband arrested at the Sept. 2013 Mumford & Sons concert.
On Nov. 18, arbitrator Mark Reed found fault in both parties. Reed said Bruning exercised poor judgment and abuse of power, and the City Manager (Sereniah Breland) and Human Resources Director (Jim Ahlgren) were influenced by allegations without any verification.
“The City of Guthrie has agreed to arbitration, they signed off on it, they agreed to binding arbitration, they did not like the result and now they are just saying screw it. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Adams said.
Scott Adams
The Guthrie city council voted 7-0 not to reinstate Bruning following an executive session on Tuesday evening.
Now, Adams says he will be filing a civil lawsuit in Logan County by the end of the week.
“When did the city council start making employment decisions for the police department?” Adams asked. “The truth is all it’s going to do is end up costing the taxpayers from Guthrie a whole bunch of money at the end of the day. All they are doing is funding my law firm,” Adams explained.
“Here’s the problem, they are not playing with their money. I truly believe if the city council was playing with their own pocket-money than they would be playing this differently. They don’t care and that’s the problem when you let dictatorships run a city like Guthrie.”
“I have been saying from day one – it’s a political mess. I am filing a (civil) lawsuit where I am going to disclose all this political stuff. They can’t bully people.”
Related story: City rejects arbitrator’s decision to reinstate Lt. Mark Bruning
Related story: Arbitrator finds fault in firing of police officer; Bruning cleared to go back to work
Related story: Guthrie police officer terminated on Monday
Related story: Fired police officer wants his job back; case going to arbitration
Related story: No decision made on the future of a Guthrie police officer
There is justice after all . Mark is a prick that abused his position once to many times . He thought he was better then the people he framed and had planted stuff on . I respect the police but not a man like him . He treats criminals like pieces of shit and judges them in his mind . I commend the city council and I’m sure they will have to pay for it . God knows the wrong he’s done to good people and he will face his judgement someday . He’s crooked and let it get to his head . Must have been picked on as a kid . Sorry mark maybe you can accept that the city off guthrie and it’s people don’t want you back . Go on down the road and find another place to work . Why would you want to work were your unwanted and take from a town that can’t afford the money you have already cost them . If you cared about our town you would drop it and take the money you got coming and leave . Our children need the money you will probably cost us for there schools .