.jpg)
WEIMAR — Mayor Carlton Tucker announced a new initiative to improve the city’s hiring and staffing policies after the discovery of now-resigned City Manager Donald Dixson having outstanding criminal charges in Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, out-of-state law enforcement officials said they are reviewing the decades-old misdemeanor charges involving a minor to determine whether to continue pursuing the case.
In Weimar, officials this week continued to grapple with a public outcry over the initial hiring of Dixson, including from critics who questioned whether a thorough background check was conducted.
The city screens applicants through the Texas Department of Public Safety’s website with the assistance of the County Attorney’s Office, according to a statement by Tucker. However, Dixson’s background check failed to reveal the offenses from the early 1990s due to a misspelling in the court documents that listed his last name as “Dixon.”
In the wake of the discovery, Tucker said the city will update the vetting process of candidates to include and expand searches for similarly spelled names, Social Security numbers, addresses and job history decades back in time. The mayor also announced the city started looking into hiring a third-party background investigation firm.
“Going forward, the effort will be to do everything we can possibly do to find a vetting system, whatever it might be, so something like this never happens again. It’s just unacceptable,” Tucker said.
In an emergency City Council meeting Nov. 17, the elected representatives discussed the situation for 45 minutes, then reconvened to accept Dixson’s resignation effective immediately. Director of Finance David Mason was then appointed interim city manager. Tucker said the ongoing work to improve the water lines would not be affected.
“We had a plan laid out which is what we are going to do, working with these loops and making sure that we are flushing the systems more regularly,” Tucker said. “We are looking at adding another well, Well No. 11, which will allow us some latitude that we haven’t had in the past to address some of those wells that are maybe not functioning as well as we would like them too.”
Residents have voiced concerns with City Hall across social media over how the offenses went undiscovered. Tucker said regaining the trust of the community is “the most important effort that faces the leadership of the community.” He said he hopes the immediate steps to improve the hiring process and his efforts to be transparent with public statements will affirm public trust.
The Colorado County Sheriff’s Office notified city leadership of Dixson’s status on Nov. 16, after receiving a tip with Dixson’s court documents from John Harrington, who runs the Facebook page Corruption Watch-Texas. In a press release sent to The Citizen, Sheriff Justin Lindemann wrote the District Attorney’s Office of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, where the case is filed, confirmed Dixson as the same individual in the documents despite the misspelling.
“The warrant proceedings are currently on hold, while Dauphin County conducts follow-up investigations,” Lindemann wrote. “Additionally, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office will maintain in direct contact with the Colorado County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers regarding this active investigation.”
According to court documents, Dixson was charged with the misdemeanors of corruption of minors and indecent assault stemming from offenses that occurred on Oct. 1, 1993. Pennsylvania statues define corruption of minors on a misdemeanor level as an act that “corrupts or tends to corrupt” a minor’s morals, helps or encourages the minor to commit a crime, or knowingly assists a minor violate a parole or court order. The criminal complaint was filed June 9, 1994, but court records show Dixson was declared a fugitive shortly afterwards, on Aug. 11, 1994.
The Citizen was unable to reach Dixson for comment.
Officials in the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that a bench warrant was issued for Dixson on Aug. 11, 1994. However, Dauphin County District Attorney Francis Chardo clarified that the warrant only exists in the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts system and does not appear in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. Police agencies across the country use NCIC to conduct routine checks on a daily basis.
Chardo said he intends to review the 31-year-old case before determining what future action his office will take. He said the case is unfamiliar to him because it predates a law requiring police to review possible charges with the District Attorney’s Office before the charges are approved. Chardo said he intends to locate the original complaint and the victim. The complaint was filed by the Williamstown Borough Police Department, which has not existed for decades.
“I’d talk to the victim first,” Chardo said. “I don’t know anything about the facts of this, and I’d like to know more.”
However, Chardo said the charges might be withdrawn or subject to judicial dismissal due to Rule 600 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure. This case would operate based on the 1994 version of the law, which was then titled Rule 1100. The law provides that trials must be held within 180 days of the filing of the complaint in order to protect the right to a speedy trial, ensure effective prosecution and prevent a backlog in criminal cases.
Chardo said the statute of limitations does not apply when a defendant is out of state, but Rule 600 includes an exception requiring law enforcement to exercise due diligence. Otherwise, the clock would continue ticking. Unless Williamstown Borough PD referred the case and the warrant to the Pennsylvania State Police when the department disbanded, the time runs against the state for purposes of speedy trial, according to the district attorney.
