Ardmore City Government in Turmoil

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

ARDMORE, Oklahoma -- It's been a month of upheaval and turmoil in the Ardmore city government. The police chief is gone, the city manager is gone, and now the mayor hopes things will settle down. Ardmore Mayor Martin Dyer hopes the stresses of the last month are over.

"When I became mayor there was nothing going on, to tell you the truth," Dyer said.

But then Ardmore's police officers voted no confidence in Chief David Leonardo. Shortly after that, Leonardo retired and was replaced by interim chief Gary Adams, a former Highway Patrol officer.

"We are very pleased to have a man of his caliber, his qualifications and his knowledge here at the Ardmore Police Department," Eric Hamblin, Ardmore F.O.P., said.

Shortly after that, former police chief John Beene led a petition drive to oust city manager Dan Parrott.

"I understood they were being signed by both, actually by both sides, but to tell you the truth I have not seen a petition from either side," Dyer said.

In any event, last week, the City Commission removed Parrott and named Fire Chief J.D. Spohn as interim city Manager.

The city manager may be gone, but his supporters and opponents will still have a chance to speak their peace at Monday's City Commission meeting. The mayor hopes that ventilating the issue publicly will be the first step toward restoring harmony in city government.

"I'm not looking back at all," said Dyer. "What's happened before right now is past history with me. I'm looking to the future."