The City of Jacksonville has formally reached an agreement on the two federal lawsuits filed by (Bill) Gerald Wineman. On November 12, 2021 an order extended the deadline for mediation to be completed on or before January 25, 2022. The Calhoun County Journal had the chance to speak to Mayor Smith and he did confirm that the City of Jacksonville has reached an agreement with Bill Wineman. He went on to explain that the city was facing two federal lawsuits and it was his job as Mayor to make fiscally sound decisions for the city. It was more cost effective to reach an agreement in this case then face the costs of two, potentially long, federal court cases. “We feel we had a strong case, but the cost of litigating the matter would be more expensive than reaching an agreement so this was the path we choose”. Mayor Smith also wanted to state that this agreement was not an admission of guilt or wrongdoing on behalf of the City or any board members. He also wanted to stress the pride he has in the Jacksonville Police Department and the job they are doing for the city. “The City is safe and we are glad to have this matter settled”.
As previously reported by the Calhoun Journal, the cases being settled stemmed from suits filed in 2019. (Bill) Gerald Wineman filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the City of Jacksonville after he was not given the position of police chief when Police Chief Tommy Thompson retired. Wineman had been the Assistant Chief for the Jacksonville Police Department since 2004 and was directly under Tommy Thompson during that time. When Chief Thompson announced his retirement in September of 2018 Wineman indicated he would be interested in taking over the position of chief. When the Jacksonville Civil Service Board issued an official job listing for the open position of chief of police, Wineman submitted his application to be considered. When the open application process closed, the following people were placed on the candidate list for consideration: Bill Wineman, Allen George, Scott Hodge, Neil Fetner, Falon Hurst, and Marcus Wood. Marcus Wood was ultimately selected by the city and named as the new Chief of Police for the City of Jacksonville Police Department. He was officially sworn into the chief’s position on December 17, 2018.
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