A lawsuit settled by the city is not the reason the Lincoln police chief is on paid leave, according to acting police Chief Paul Shelgren.

Both Lincoln Police Chief Brian Vizzusi and Lt. Shelgren were named in this lawsuit, along with the city of Lincoln.

One rumor being called into The News Messenger office is that the lawsuit is related to Vizzusi’s current leave of absence. Vizzusi has not been at work for a few weeks.

The lawsuit filed in November 2008 is about the wrongful termination of a city employee. The case was settled in July, 2009.

The city manager has not returned calls and e-mails asking how much was paid out by the city in the settlement. The News Messenger has requested the settlement records from the Placer County records office and will put the amount online as soon as it is released.

When asked about the lawsuit Monday, City Manager Jim Estep responded in an e-mail that he was “personally not aware of the details of the lawsuit you (the News Messenger) are referring to.”

In this e-mail, Estep responded when asked whether the lawsuit had anything to do with Chief Vizzusi being fired, that he wasn’t sure what “the inference is to the connection between this lawsuit and our Police Chief, Brian Vizzusi who is still on leave as stated previously.” Estep also wrote that The News Messenger “seem to have received some bad information as Chief Vizzusi is still our Police Chief.”

The News Messenger also asked Mayor Tom Cosgrove on Monday if the lawsuit had anything to do with Vizzusi’s leave of absence and he also said no.

“I’m always going to be honest with you. I will always be honest and upfront with you,” he replied, in reference to comments he made last week regarding Vizzusi’s leave of absence.

Jill Thompson, the city of Lincoln’s public information officer, released a statement Jan. 22, stating that Vizzusi requested some additional leave time starting Monday, Jan. 25, “in order to attend to some difficult family issues which have affected his relationship with his staff.”

In Thompson’s e-mail, Estep “granted his request for two weeks paid leave so Chief Vizzusi can tend to these personal matters, and will meet with him again in two weeks.”

Vizzusi and Estep met Monday but it is unknown what was discussed as Vizzusi would not comment and Estep has not returned four phone calls left by The News Messenger since Monday.

Cosgrove said Tuesday he was not aware of Monday’s meeting between Vizzusi and Estep.

“When something unusual or extraordinary occurs, the city manager is in contact with me to give me a heads up,” Cosgrove said. “Simply the fact that he didn’t means that nothing extraordinary is going on.”

Is it common for a lawsuit filed against a city to get lost in the shuffle?

“At least in my case, I would expect our city clerk or city attorney to notify me (because of Nevada City’s size),” said Gene Albaugh, Nevada City’s city manager, when asked if it is common for a city manager not to know the details of a lawsuit against the city.

Jim Datzman, president of Lincoln’s Police Activities League and a former police chief for South San Francisco, gave The News Messenger some insight into how readers might react about the lack of information on the police chief’s status.

“As a resident, I can understand how people might be confused when you have some kind of negative interaction involving a police chief, police association, city manager and city council, and nobody wants to comment,” Datzman said. “That leaves the average resident with a lot of questions concerning what’s going on and it’s a difficult situation because it does create problems with confidence in city government.”

When it comes to lawsuits filed against law enforcement agencies, Jim Datzman said it is “not uncommon for them to be settled.

“A suit against a law enforcement agency doesn’t necessarily mean anybody was at fault. That’s what the process is for,” Datzman said. “Sometimes those things get settled financially. They get settled for financial reasons rather than determining right or wrong.”

In reference to the city manager’s responses to questions asked by The News Messenger about both the chief of police and the recent lawsuit, Wardrobe owner Kathy Dorsey had a response to Estep’s recent behavior.

“If the city manager was being coy, was he irresponsible? If he didn’t know, was he derelict in his duty? If he was ignoring your questions, was he trying to hide something?,” said Dorsey. “If so, what? As a minimum, it would seem to me that the city manager was putting up barriers and that suggests he may have something to hide.”