Clarksville police officer files criminal charges against Mayor Rushing
Sergeant Jerry Goodson of the Clarksville Police Department recently filed criminal charges against Mayor Ann Rushing with the Red River County Sheriff’s Department. The charges cite Official Oppression in violation of Texas Penal Code 39.03(a)(2), a Class A Misdemeanor.
Goodson began working for the Clarksville Police Department on Oct. 6, 2021, and has been in law enforcement since October of 2010. Goodson also served in the National Guard and the Reserves with two tours to Iraq. He has been a volunteer firefighter and in 2013 he became a Mental Health Peace Officer after being certified through the Houston Police Department.
On March 14, 2023, Goodson made a post on his personal Facebook page stating “I went through a mental health crisis recently without seeking the help l needed. I feel small for that. My work and personal life were affected quite negatively. ”I was able to seek some counseling… or share my burden… with a local pastor, and that helped tremendously. I got through my crisis, but not without a lot of negative collateral damage. For those who can, and do, get the help they need, I commend you.”
According to Goodson, the social media post was made after having a discussion with his son who was sharing concerns about his girlfriend being in a mental health treatment facility. “ I’m a certified Mental Health Peace Officer, and I have worked with mental health consumers in the course of my profession as a police officer for a decade now. “ I was sharing my own personal experiences in dealing with mental and emotional stress with my son, reinforcing to him that getting the help needed was no longer “stigmatized”, but encouraged.”
On March 15, 2023, Goodson was called into the office of Mayor Ann Rushing. Goodson said, “that the mayor had stated she “received several calls” from citizens “concerned” about the safety of having me continue working as a police officer. “I explained to Mayor Rushing that I went through a critical incident, and it caused me some difficulties falling asleep for a few days, and I noticed I was irritable. I reinforced my mental health peace officer certification and experience and recognized I was experiencing more-than-usual mental and emotional stress, so I sought counseling. I reassured Mayor Rushing my mental and emotional stress was past and over with. I had recovered and moved on. I explained the reason for making the post on Facebook in regards to showing my son that seeking mental health treatment was no longer stigmatized.” At this time Goodson told eExtraNews that the mayor reduced his working hours to 83 hours per pay period.
At the March 21, 2023 city council meeting according to the agenda, the council went into Executive Session(Item 22) to discuss – Attorney/Client Privileges: (1) to receive advice from its attorney regarding fitness for duty, process, and overtime. After reconvening, according to Goodson who was in attendance at the meeting, the council’s decision was to take no action against Goodson. After contacting the city multiple times, eExtraNews was unable to obtain the minutes of this meeting.
The next day, March 22, Goodson, was called into Mayor Rushing’s office and was placed on administrative leave. According to the city of Clarksville’s Ordinance 2018-13 (Item 15) The city manager shall be responsible for the appointment and removal of city employees. Except for the city secretary, city attorney, chief of police, prosecutor and municipal judge, it shall be the duty of the city manager to manage, supervise, appoint, remove, demote, suspend, or dismiss officers and employees of the city. This ordinance was signed on Aug. 13, 2018, by Mayor Rushing and City Secretary Tammy Quick establishing a city manager form of government and amending a previous ordinance dating back to May 27, 1946. eExtraNews also asked for a copy of the city ordinances in their entirety but has not received anything at the time of publication.
Goodson went to his immediate supervisor, Police Chief Mark Gable and asked if he was suspended or not. Chief Gable told Goodson to keep doing what he was doing. According to Gable, “I am his direct supervisor and I never suspended Officer Goodson. I was told to stay out of it by Mayor Rushing and that I had no authority to interfere with Officer Goodson’s suspension.” Gable went on to say, “And that is suppression.”
We reached out to Mayor Rushing today and her comment about Officer Goodson’s matter stated, “ I understand Sergeant Goodson has made a lot of statements on social media and with media outlets, but I am not going to comment as it would not be appropriate for the city to comment on ongoing personnel matters.”
The city posted a special meeting agenda on its official Facebook page calling for a special meeting tonight, April 17, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. at city hall. On the agenda is; action pursuant to executive session: Deliberate regarding the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee, or to hear a complaint or charge against an officer or employee. Those employees include Chief Mark Gable and Sergeant Jerry Goodson.
“I am now in the same boat as Jerry,” said Gable. If Gable and Goodson are suspended, it will leave the city with only one active officer.
This is an ongoing story. A copy of the agenda is posted below.
There is nothing wrong with what Jerry had to say! It should be noted that April is Mental Health Awareness Month. He should be commended for speaking up and being a role model for anyone suffering.
Jerry is an amazing individual who has served his country well.
In fact, as he has been serving Clarksville for over a year, he is regularly away from his own family. He choose to serve this community. As a longtime childhood and family friend of his, I am extremely outraged at the way he is being treated. The citizens of Clarksville should be questioning this-not simply standing by and watching it go down. The City of Clarksville has now put more pressure on an already overly pressured department. The article states they “reduced his hours to 83 per pay period”. That means he was putting in well above the required amount of hours than he should have been in the first place. As a Red River county resident, I feel our towns need to pay our officers more and have more on duty. Working three or four people to a department is exhausting. I know for a fact they have answered calls as far away as Rosalie when there were no officers in duty in the area, and the only RRSO was across the county. Our officers are overworked and under payed. That alone can cause mental anguish and fatigue.
They all deserve better.
My God, what a mess. I am a retired Police Officer from a small department in Northeast Texas. I was in a similar situation, but instead of an out-of-control mayor, I had an out-of-control Chief. It is crystal clear that the mayor has overstepped her authority and has some kind of personal problem with the Sergeant. A few years ago, I was involved in a shooting while on duty. A nutjob in a stolen 18-wheeler tried to run over one of my Sergeants, and I was forced to shoot him. The Sergeant also fired on the guy. The psycho somehow managed to live despite my bullet hitting him in the head, and of course, he promptly sued both the Sergeant and me. This guy had a criminal history about a mile long. He had been arrested for building bombs, Theft, Assault, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, and on and on. We knew we were going to be fine because the shooting was 110% justified, and we were cleared of any wrongdoing quickly, but the city’s insurance STILL paid the guy to settle his suit. Little did I know how much that incident was going to affect me. I won’t go into all the details, but I have been diagnosed with PTSD and MDD. The city NEVER offered any mental health assistance for us, and I ended up retiring earlier than I had planned because of it. I want to commend Chief Gable for standing by and supporting his Sergeant. That is what good, honorable Chiefs do. Unlike the joke,I had for a Chief. I commend the Sergeant for teaching his son, and others, that there is no shame in seeking help. Most people are starting to understand that…most people, except for an out-of-control WANNABE mayor in Clarksville, Texas!