Quincy police chief: 'resignation not voluntary'

QUINCY — Former Quincy Police Chief Bob Heimbach wants to set the record straight.

He did not voluntarily resign as Quincy’s police chief.

“At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, they called me into the city administrator’s office, City Attorney Allan Galbraith was there and the mayor was on the phone, and they told me, ‘your employment here is done,’” Heimbach told the Columbia Basin Herald on Thursday.

Heimbach said that Mayor Jim Hemberry gave him the option of submitting his resignation instead of being fired.

“They gave me four hours to make a decision. I had no option, no choice,” Heimbach added. “I didn’t want a dismissal on my record. I took the option least damaging to my career.”

At a special meeting on Wednesday, the Quincy City Council approved a six-month severance package for Heimbach. Neither Heimbach nor Mayor Hemberry was at the meeting. City Attorney Allan Galbraith that the process was mutual and that the city and Heimbach agreed his leaving would be a resignation.

Galbraith also said the mayor and the police chief have been having regular conversations about the situation in the police department.

While Heimbach said he and the mayor have had regular conversations about the situation in the police department, he had no idea was job was at risk.

“I was caught completely unawares by this,” Heimbach said.

Heimbach said that as police chief, he was employed “at will,” and could be fired at any time without cause, a fact Galbraith emphasized at the Wednesday meeting.

The former chief, who retired from the Portland Police Department after more than 25 years, said he and his wife don’t know what will happen next, though he knows he’s in a much better position than many people who lose their jobs without notice.

“We have no plan for this,” he said. “I had hoped to spend 10 to 15 years and stay in Quincy for the rest of our lives.”