Sparks City Council members on Monday will vote on whether to pay out $525,000 to settle a lawsuit brought against the city and several senior staffers by retired Sparks police officer George Forbush. The settlement would resolve more than two years of court proceedings after Forbush filed the lawsuit in May 2021, alleging the city and staff violated his First Amendment rights.
Forbush came under fire in August 2020 after posting what many considered vile and threatening tweets. His comments, which included threats to modify guns and shoot protesters, came in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police and a summer punctuated by protests nationwide, including in Reno and Sparks.
Following an investigation, Forbush received a four-day suspension, one day for each of the offending tweets. In response, he sued, claiming that the city didn’t have a clear policy on social media use and he’d posted the tweets while he was off-duty and as a private citizen, and nowhere in the posts or on the Twitter feed (now known as X) did he identify himself as a Sparks police officer.
His four days of suspension, his attorneys said, amounted to $1 million in damages for “psychological and emotional harms,” lost wages and future employment prospects. They added, “Officer Forbush is a good cop” whose beliefs “are mainstream views held by millions of people, including a majority of the citizens of Sparks.”
In addition to the lump settlement, which would be paid by the city’s insurer, if approved, the city would also have to pay—from its own funds—a post-retirement health insurance stipend. The stipend was added to the city’s contract with the Sparks Police Protective Association in Feb. 2023 and applies to those employed on or after July 1, 2023. Forbush retired from the Sparks Police Department on Jan. 3, 2022, but included the stipend in the settlement offer.
Forbush is also requesting all references to the discipline handed down over the matter be removed from his personnel file, that he receive a letter from the city manager confirming the removal, and that the city “shall proceed in all respects as though the discipline, and all the related documents [related to the discipline], never occurred and never existed.”
Council also to consider new city manager
Council members will also direct staff on their pick for city manager to fill the vacancy left by Neil Krutz, who was fired in September 2023. The two candidates identified by a search firm are Aaron Cubic, the city manager of Grants Pass, Oregon, and Dion Louthan, the assistant city manager of Roseville, California.
During candidate interviews on March 20, Council member Charlene Bybee said this was the first in a long time that the city was hiring a city manager from outside the organization. In the past, they’ve always hired from within.
Cubic said the opportunity to manage Sparks was a great personal and professional opportunity and he’d looked for a city like Sparks to work in. He cited quality of life and the council’s professionalism as refreshing and inspiring.
Louthan also said he was excited about working for Sparks and discussed his priority of engaging with the community and staff to get a “lay of the land.” Like Cubic, he noted the professionalism of council members and staff and the quality of life in the community.
