Support for chief swells

February 8, 2012

A majority of speakers at last night’s Paso Robles City Council meeting voiced  support for Police Chief Lisa Solomon amidst allegations of retaliation and sexual misconduct leveled by a half dozen current and former employees.

Prior to opening the council chamber meeting room doors, city staffers placed reserved signs on the first four rows of public seats which were then primarily occupied by city employees and Solomon supporters. A half an hour before the meeting was slated to begin, the council room was filled to capacity and city staffers began telling people attempting to attend that they needed to listen to the meeting in a hallway or reception area.

While more than 200 people chose to stay, many others left before or shortly after the meeting began. Of those who remained, nine spoke in favor of the chief while only three questioned her service to the community. No one mentioned the allegation of sexual misconduct or retaliation.

Several of the speakers seemed ill prepared with one man saying, “I do not know what I am supposed to say,” while looking at an audience member behind him. Shortly afterwards, he left the podium, but first stopped to tell the audience member, “I am sorry.”

While most of the speakers praised the chief as a good friend and neighbor, several attendees  standing outside the meeting room questioned her ethics. One former friend of Solomon’s, who said she dated a member of a band Solomon sang with, voiced concerns about Solomon’s behavior while entertaining in the evenings and serving as a police commander during the day.

“She would end her show by strutting across the bar top at the Paso Robles Inn singing “Let’s give them something to talk about,” Wendy McIntire said. “At that time she was a police lieutenant.”