THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 2, 1995 TAG: 9505020256
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
The city revoked medical insurance for fired police Sgt. Ed Lewis last week, 2 1/2 months after agreeing to violate its own policy by granting him health benefits.
In a letter sent to Lewis on Friday, the city's Personnel Department said it was pulling the package it had offered to the former police sergeant and his family, worth about $65,000 over 18 years.
Lewis, who was fired in December 1993 for lying about a domestic dispute, gained the health benefits after a Feb. 14 closed-door session of the City Council.
In that meeting, former Vice Mayor Arthur L. Dwyer persuaded fellow council members and top city officials to grant Lewis the benefits, even though the city's own rules forbid extending the policy to fired employees.
Dwyer's negotiations for those benefits caused residents and fellow council members to question his conduct after a series of secretly recorded conversations revealed that Dwyer had pursued the benefits while developing a personal relationship with Sandra R. Lewis, Ed Lewis' wife.
Sandra Lewis, 30, has since accused the former vice mayor of pressuring her to have sex with him in exchange for his exerting influence with the city. Dwyer denied ever pressuring Lewis and maintained that he never violated the public's trust.
Responding to mounting pressure, Dwyer resigned on April 15.
The contents of the taped phone calls, recorded by Sandra Lewis, also led council members on April 13 to ask for a state police investigation.
City officials refused to comment on why they revoked the benefits in a closed session last week. The letter to Ed Lewis also didn't elaborate on the action, and simply said ``the city manager has reversed the previous policy change which provided you with benefits . . . ''
Vice Mayor Robert T. Nance, once Dwyer's closest ally, and Councilman John M. de Triquet, the council's most outspoken critic of Dwyer's actions, did not respond to repeated telephone calls and faxes.
Mayor William E. Ward, who two weeks ago cited Dwyer's push for the benefits as a key reason he sought legal review of the charges, said he would not comment on any personnel matter discussed in executive session.
In the midst of the allegations against Dwyer, Ward publicly voiced concern that the former vice mayor had pressured the city manager to renew Lewis' health benefits.
In one of the taped conversations, Dwyer painted a portrait of himself as a vice mayor who enabled City Manager James W. Rein to keep his job against the wishes of other council members because he knew Rein would come through with the benefits.
Council members in the past have given different versions of how Lewis received the benefits at the Feb. 14 meeting.
Some said Dwyer introduced the package as a done deal that Rein would implement. But Rein said he simply informed council members of their options. Others said they did not realize Dwyer's request was an exception to city policy.
City policy prohibits fired employees and workers under 50 from receiving medical coverage.
Lewis, 47, began receiving the benefits on March 1.
Carolyn W. Darden, the city's director of personnel, said it was the first time the 6-year-old benefits policy had been exempted for an employee.
Sandra Lewis said that by revoking her family's health benefits, the city is admitting that the council allowed Dwyer to push through his agenda without considering the merits of the case.
``Either they approved it on its own merits, or they did it for Dwyer,'' Sandra Lewis said. ``If they did it for Dwyer and not for its own merits, then what are we saying about our City Council? Are we saying that if one councilman who is in the majority wants something, then he gets what he wants?''
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE CITY COUNCIL HEALTH INSURANCE by CNB