An investigation that, at least in part, led to the resignation of Keizer City Manager Chris Eppley cost the city more than $7,900.
Eppley negligently fired a gun inside his city hall office in early March prompting the Keizer City Council to call for an investigation less than a week later.
Jim Ferraris, a recently retired police chief, conducting the inquiry into the incident.
Keizertimes requested a copy of the invoice the city received from Ferraris Investigations & Consulting. The request was promptly fulfilled and the invoice includes an itemized list of expenses. Keizertimes has also requested a copy of the investigation report.
The city was charged $5,750 for the investigation, prep, report writing, interviews, transcript review and phone call. Reimbursement for travel time and mileage (the invoice states 876 miles were logged during the investigation) amounted to $1,425. Transcription services were billed at $786.10.
The total billed to the city was $7, 961.70.
It was announced Thursday, April 1, that Eppley had offered his resignation, which the council accepted. Eppley will receive six months salary and a year’s worth of insurance coverage in exchange for not filing a lawsuit against the city.
A statement read by Mayor Cathy Clark implied that Eppley’s due process rights might have been violated when a portion of his incident report on the matter was made public.