City Council members in Cleveland, Tenn., decided Monday to postpone adapting the city's personnel rules and regulations in their regular meeting. Instead, they voted to award former police Chief Dennis Maddux — who resigned under controversy — his service weapon.

Maddux retired from the department in May after he was caught in an affair with a subordinate's wife. An internal affairs investigation coordinated by the district attorney's office after the incident found that the then-chief violated several department policies, meriting termination.

"I don't know what prompted our former chief Maddux's mistake, but it was documented and it brought embarrassment to the city and more than that it brought embarrassment to his force," Councilman Richard Banks said, stating why he thought Maddux should not be awarded the gun.

Banks pointed out that Maddux never apologized to the council or the city for his actions. He cited a previous chief, Wes Snyder, who apologized to the council after he also was caught in a highly publicized sex scandal.

Dennis Maddux, former police chief for the Cleveland Police Department

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Banks said the council should consider the example it is setting by awarding Maddux the gun — estimated to cost about $500 — and proposed that a policy be drafted to clarify when an officer should be honored with the gift of his service weapon.

Councilmen Avery Johnson and Bill Estes argued Maddux should be awarded the gun since the council had previously set that precedent with Snyder.

"If you do it for one, you've got to do it for others in order to be fair," Johnson said.

The council, besides Banks, voted to give the weapon to Maddux.

In Monday's meeting the council members voted unanimously to postpone adoption of new personnel rules and regulations that they were given on Friday. The members agreed they needed more time to review and discuss the proposed changes to the more-than-20-year-old guidelines. They decided to discuss their thoughts on the policies in two weeks and vote in a month to accept them in full.

"We need to get everything right before we do it," Banks said.

He and a few other councilmen highlighted some policies they wanted to be more clear or worded differently.

In a previous meeting, the council decided to consult a workplace law expert before making changes to the policies. Overall, a majority of the proposed guidelines are just tweaked.

More significant changes include removing the current appeal process, as city employees are able to appeal major disciplinary actions with the city manager, who also now serves as chief disciplinarian. Other key highlights include changing some disciplinary procedures, including the elimination of waiting periods for suspensions and terminations.

City Attorney John Kimball previously said the updated policies will apply the day they are adopted, meaning the city continues to operate under the existing policies.

Councilman Bill Estes confirmed with City Manager Janice Casteel that the city's staff has been able to review the proposed changes to policies. He recommended the new guidelines be displayed publicly so city employees have the opportunity to review them and offer suggestions to the council.

"I want [city employees] to be aware," Estes said. "If we're going to spend a month on this let's get it right."

Contact staff writer Kendi Anderson at kendi.anderson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592. Follow on twitter @kendi_and.