Council hears mixed comments regarding officer who has been placed on leave

During citizen participation at the November 7 Thermopolis Town Council meeting, Mayor Adam Estenson recognized concerned citizen Jason Bowman, who had asked to be on the agenda to present to the council. Bowman started out by referring to information in an article about his petition and protest regarding Officer Mascorro that appeared on an online news source on Oct. 16.

He then stated the following, “I had been protesting at the stoplight every day for a week and officer Mascorro has personally seen me there. However, within five minutes of that article being published, I received a Facebook friend request from him. I found the timing of this could not be a coincidence, since we have lived in the same community for years. I had already heard multiple stories of him trying to intimidate people in the past, and I view this as a way of him trying to intimidate me by letting me know he knows who I am.”

Bowman continued and said, “That concern was reaffirmed when the friend request remained up for 25 hours and wasn’t removed until after the release of the statement that placed Mascorro on leave. I took my concern to Chief Pat Cornwell.” Bowman then expressed his displeasure with how Cornwell dealt with his concern, but said Corwell did request screenshots. Bowman added that Cornwell told him he would look into it and then get back to him. Bowman then stated, “After a week and a half with no follow-up from Chief Cornwell, I took my concern to Mayor Estenson, who is currently looking at it, as well as if the public can see the policies and procedures that have been sent for review. I asked for a request for that.”

Bowman added, “The general public perception is that there is no use in filing a complaint because it won’t be taken seriously, and my experience has confirmed that view for me. There is also an overall lack of trust and confidence in the leadership of the PD and Town of Thermopolis.”

Bowman then asked, “How are people expected to feel comfortable in filing a complaint when the people in charge are publicly showing their support for this officer? The public has complained of a pattern of escalating behavior with this officer, which was confirmed by the article regarding the multiple complaints to [Peace Officer’s Standards and Training ] POST. How many times does a complaint have to be filed before the Town of Thermopolis sees a pattern of this behavior and takes action on their own by removing him and the liability he creates?”

Bowman continued and said, “There are multiple accounts regarding his behavior, but an overwhelming fear of retaliation if they report him. There is a fear of signing the petition because people believe that no action will be taken. He will be back on duty and able to retaliate. Personally, I find it disturbing that it has taken this level of community outrage to draw any attention from the leaders of this town. In closing, the community is asking for transparency from its leaders and accountability for those at fault, and for the leaders of this community quit looking the other way and condoning this officer’s behavior by not holding him accountable for his actions. The community won’t stop pushing for answers and change.”

Mayor Estenson and the council responded in discussion with Bowman. In the council’s packets, Bowman provided some articles and screenshots from some texts exchanged between him and Clair McFarland, the reporter from Cowboy State Daily, when she published the article about Bowman’s protesting. Bowman said that these “correlate” and “support” with his intimidation complaint and “cut to the heart” for the argument he is making.

Mayor Estenson asked Bowman if he had filed a formal complaint yet. Bowman replied, “No. The reason I haven’t filed a formal complaint yet is because I didn’t know if it was actually something that should go through the committee or not. I’ll file one tomorrow if need be.”

“I would say do that, there’s a line between personal and business related. I would go ahead and file a complaint. It’s on our radar, we

will review it,”said Mayor Estenson. He then asked Town Attorney Marshall Keller if the employee policies were privileged or something the public could see. Keller replied that interested parties would have to file an official policy request.

Additionally, Mayor Estenson said, “One comment about Facebook, and it’s not just directed at you, it’s in general. Facebook is not the end all, be all. It is not the appropriate means of communication to your elected officials. I personally in the last two weeks have found that face-to-face communication is the way that we should communicate with one another. I’ve stood on the street corner and talked with Mr. Bowman. That is how we, as human beings, are designed to communicate with one another. And in a small town, I think we can kind of get sucked into the social media vortex and lose the sense that we’re arguing on Facebook with our neighbor who we could just go as easy to talk to and figure things out.”

Mayor Estenson thanked Bowman for sharing his thoughts and opened the meeting to the public to make comments.

The first question from concerned citizen Rocky Yetter asked if Officer Mascorro had a fitness for duty and psychological evaluation before he was put back on duty. Mayor Estenson replied, “That’s a fair question, but we would not be at liberty to answer that.”

The second question from concerned citizen Debra Davenport was about when someone makes a criminal complaint to the police department. Is that confidential? Town Attorney Keller said that the one who was complained about would end up knowing who made the complaint because of their right to face their accuser.

Concerned citizen Harvey Seidel spoke up and said, “I did talk to Mr. Bowman one day on the street. He was at the corner there at the stoplight, and I visited with him and heard some of the things that he had to say. I wish to remind Mr. Bowman, as well as those who signed the petition, as well as those who are quick to remind us of the Fourth Amendment to the Bill of Rights, which also states that a home or a house can be breached if there is a probable cause. Let us not forget that the subject, in the case of all that we’re dealing with, is involved in the distribution of meth in our community. Controlling illegal drugs is part and parcel of our law officer duties. Action in the case before us was supported by affirmation, as the officer did declare why he was at the house and declared what he was going to do, which is part of the amendment we are so careful to claim and wish to support. Particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. Let’s not be too quick to throw stones without consideration of what damage those stones do to individuals and communities. Laws and those who enforce them are important to our state and our community, and, I might add, our nation. Without enforcement, we are opening our doors to those who will hurt our community and tear down our walls of separation and security. Thank you.”

Caleb Howe, assistant pastor of First Baptist Church, said, “I just want to say that I stand with Sergeant Mascorro in all of this. I’ve been praying with him and his family through all this. In just a short amount of time, being in leadership, I’ve learned to understand that you can do everything right and still be hated or disliked or disagreed with. I would like to say that the position that these law enforcement officers hold is not one I envy or want, and I’m thankful people are willing to do that job because I know I couldn’t. I do wish that or I hope that people can learn to have some grace towards leaders. I appreciate and I want to commend the Mayor for how you’ve handled this meeting and the things that have been said and how you handled this whole situation. Also, I do understand the quarrelsome of what goes on inside you when something is leveled against you, even if it’s falsely or in some kind of way, whether it’s with Mascorro or whether it’s with the chief of police or whether it’s with the town council and them not caring. The truth is, I think you guys are doing it right and I support you, and I think a majority of people stand in this case in support of what you guys are doing.”

Concerned citizen Sampuran Khalsa asked what the process is for filing a complaint with the police department. Mayor Estenson replied, “Presently there’s a form that is filled out and then that form is notarized because the formal complaint being lodged needs to be investigated and potentially could have ramifications. It’s a sworn and attested statement. That is the mechanism that we have.”

Regarding what happens next, Mayor Estenson said, “For any town department, that complaint would go to the department head and then they investigate that and, based on their findings, do what any manager/boss would see fit based on town policy. Mr. Keller would also be involved if there was disciplinary action needed as the town attorney. Then from there, there are other mechanisms too, where the council eventually might get involved. The main reason why we want complaints to go to the department head, it’s not that we don’t care, it’s that if it rises to the level where the council needs to be involved in decision making. Our town policy clearly states that if, like I, the mayor, get involved in a complaint early on, I would have to recuse myself from anything at this level. We want to avoid that because these are the representatives in your republic here. And so not having us to have the ability to weigh in on a final vote undermines the process. So that’s the main reason we always go through the department heads.”

Mike Chimenti addressed the Mayor and council and said, “I’m speaking as a citizen, and also as a former mayor of this community, but I’m impressed by the turnout here. For the four years that I was mayor here, I’ve never had a turnout like this whenever there was a complaint about an officer. Nobody ever turned out to come into this council chamber and complain about an officer until after the incident with Mike Mascorro. I would just like to know why, if all these complaints have been generated, why didn’t they come forward prior to this incident with Mike Mascorro? The incident was unfortunate because a life was lost, but we could have lost two lives out of this community. I would like to know why these complaints weren’t brought forward prior to that incident, to this council chambers and to the public before that incident with Mike Mascorro? Thank you.”

Concerned citizen Jenny Sorensen said, “I grew up in Thermopolis. I graduated from here and I’m excited to see community members holding people accountable for nepotism and incompetency that I’ve seen growing up here in key positions. It’s about accountability and the ability to do your job. If you can’t do that with the public’s confidence then you shouldn’t have it. Thank you.”

Concerned citizen Jim Wilcox said, “I support getting rid of Sergeant Mascorro. He’s a bully. He has been for years. I was hunting in the Owl Creek Mountains for years, you know, with grizzly bears. Once a grizzly bear kills as a predator, they will never stop. Same thing with this guy.”

Concerned citizen Tony Newhouse said, “I rise to support Mike Mascorro. I’ve heard nothing but rumors and innuendo, and it’s not right. The job is a thankless job. And from what I’ve read, this individual had drugs and was selling drugs and our children need to have a safe environment.I appreciate our officers who don’t get the support a lot of times because people don’t like them. I just would like to stand in support of Sergeant Macorro.”

Former Mayor Mike Chimenti made an additional comment and said, “I served this community for 43 years as a policeman. I never saw as many write-ups or arrests for drugs in this community in 43 years as I have since Mike Mascorro went to work for the police department. He put his nose to the grindstone and he searches out the drugs. He makes the drug busts. It’s unfortunate the last situation occurred and from what I read, he was exonerated from the criminal side of it, so that left the civil side of it and I don’t have any idea how that’s going to turn out. But I have not seen the drug trafficking and druggers scared of this community like they have been since Mike Mascorro went to work for this police department. I support our police department. I support our administration. Thank you.”

Mayor Estenson closed the public comments and said, “I appreciate everyone’s comments and I appreciate the decorum tonight greatly. To have a little bit of skepticism towards your government, I think it is extremely American. I think it’s good to question and to weigh in your debates. I think in the end, it will all be beneficial. I really appreciate it. I know it’s not easy to get up and talk about these sorts of things. Thank you all.”

Also during citizen participation, accountant James Seckman of Seckman and Thomas from Powell presented the results of their town audit from June 30, 2023. Seckman said they have a clean audit and explained the importance of segregated duties, acknowledging that since the town’s staff is small in number that segregated duties are not always possible. Seckman said the town’s cash reserves are on the high side and that “the general fund is healthy”. They have almost 28 months in reserve. However, the enterprise fund is down about $10,000 and has about 47.9 months in reserve, which is still good.

Seckman noted that all categories of the enterprise fund have a positive cash flow, except the water fund, which is not meeting its 100% depreciation. Therefore, Seckman proposed that the town raise its water rates to meet this need. Additionally, Seckman said the town’s debt of $317,000 is very low and has “a good trend line”. Only Worland in the Big Horn Basin has less debt, which is $0.

Town Engineer Anthony Barnett reported that the boiler in the water plant was repaired and there is still one more repair that they should address in the spring. Regarding the Buffalo Ridge subdivision, Barnett said things are “moving forward.” Also, the state engineer’s report on water use shows water use is down. Barnett said the possible reason for this is, “changes in population density probably more than anything” and that the past year was a “wet year” also contributing to less water usage.

Mayor Estenson also brought up an item that wasn’t on the agenda. He said that the organizers of the Farmer’s Market want to have an ordinance made to have official signs and times of the year for no parking for their use.

Assistant to the Mayor Jim Jeunehomme discussed with the council his update on the TextMyGov service. There were some disagreements between various council members and the Mayor about whether to have the Town of Thermopolis join Hot Springs County to combine services. Two motions failed in the voting and they were at a standstill. Jeunehomme said that if they were to combine both entities with the service, it would be the same cost as being independent. However, if they combine, the developers of the service may have difficulties on their end and might “muddy the waters”. Mayor Estenson requested further clarification from TextMy Gov on the matters Jeunehomme brought up.

The council voted and passed the approval of a fence right-of-way request on Warren Street.