Firing of Mattawa police chief stirs strong reactions

MATTAWA — Some decisions by Mattawa’s mayor and the direction of the western Grant County community are drawing poignant comments from individuals who say they live in the community or previously lived or worked there. Transparency and a wish for more information are common threads.

Mayor Maggie Celaya put Mattawa Police Chief Joe Harris on administrative leave March 30 then later fired him, without giving the public a reason.

Within the next few days, Mattawa residents began objecting to the mayor’s action via a Facebook page and two anonymous letters addressed to various community agencies.

Celaya was appointed mayor on Nov. 25, 2020, after the resignation of former mayor Scott Hyndman.

Since the beginning of her administration, Celaya criticized and threatened to discipline Harris to the point Harris said in an email to Celaya on Dec. 2, 2020, her “comments and actions feel personal and without cause,” and he felt he was not being treated fairly.

Celaya fired Harris last week. She did not respond to requests for comment on her action.

An anonymous person began the “Save Mattawa” page on Facebook, and the page has amassed more than 450 friends. Posts on the page encourage residents to attend Mattawa City Council meetings, post information on what the mayor is doing and interact with page comments.

Most comments on the page demand more information from Celaya and express support for Harris. Many commenters on the page have stated Celaya and the city need to provide more information about the reason Harris was placed on administrative leave and terminated, citing a lack of response from Celaya to the public’s attempts to get information.

Multiple people voiced their support for Harris, talking about how the crime rate in Mattawa has fallen since he became police chief in 2016.

A commenter saying he was a former officer of the Mattawa Police Department commented in an April 1 post he personally saw what Mattawa was like 15 to 20 years ago and had firsthand knowledge of the efforts to make Mattawa the safe town it is today. He also spoke of how Harris has been building up the Mattawa Police Department and the quality of the officers in the department.

A few comments have supported Celaya, saying “she is the perfect person to be the mayor of Mattawa.” This same commenter also cited the lack of police coverage during night hours and described the solutions implemented to deal with emergencies as a “joke.” She also cited the mayor’s gender and ethnicity as the reason people were “bashing” Celaya.

Others gave similar perspectives.

A couple of commenters speculated perhaps Celaya, with her dismissal of Harris, was attempting to bring her brother, a police officer in Sunnyside, back to Mattawa.

A request for a Spanish translator during city council meetings was also expressed.

Two anonymous letters were sent to several community organizations about Celaya and a council member. Representatives of those organizations responded to the Herald about the letters but did not comment on their contents.

Celaya and the council member did not respond to questions from the Columbia Basin Herald about the letters and the Facebook page.

Other city council members either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.