
Church watchdogs said Shelton’s pending removal was retaliation for standing up to Stika in recent years.

Shelton is one of two priests who had documents subpoenaed for the lawsuit brought by a former church employee who has accused a former seminarian of raping him.
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“This request came as part of the annual review of all parish needs and how to address many of our parishes that don’t have pastors.” “On Monday, a few days after I asked Father Brent Shelton to consider a new assignment, he asked me for permission to take a leave of absence from his role as pastor of St. Shelton left “without my knowledge and permission,” Stika wrote. Mary Oak Ridge left April 25, Bishop Richard Stika announced in a letter to the parish this week. Subscribe online at /subscribe.Oak Ridge pastor is a witness in assault suitĪ priest who is a witness in the lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville suddenly left his Oak Ridge parish earlier this week after he was told he was likely to be transferred to another parish, Knox News has learned. Make our community, our society and our republic stronger by supporting robust local journalism. Tyler Whetstone is a Knox News politics reporter focusing on Knoxville and Knox County.
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“A leadership team must have the confidence and ability to function with full trust and that won’t necessarily be the case if someone is in a leadership position just because they’re in a career path,” he said. Having a chief be able to hand-pick his or her own team will ensure deputies are supportive.

Lyons said he supported the change because a department head, particularly one like police chief, should have trust among the executives. Vice chair Stephanie Taylor was absent and the fifth position was recently vacated. Board member Amanda Busby voted against it. Lyons and board member Scott Schimmel voted for it. The board, chaired by former mayor deputy Bill Lyons, discussed the proposed changes briefly and voted 2-1 to approve them. Instead, Kenney suggested, the city should modify the process and requirements for how a deputy chief is hired but keep the positions within civil service protection. Noel would potentially have to guard against that. Two, Kenney said, while the desire for control of the department and its management is natural, it could lead to a top-down leadership style.

“When you start introducing the possibility of instability into that high of a rung it could be (cause problems),” he said. It's similar to how an offensive and defensive coordinator often follow a coaching change in football. If Noel were to leave in the next few years, the deputy chiefs he brought in, particularly from outside the department, might also be more apt to leave. One, the average police chief, he said, only lasts in a job for 2.5 years. While it makes it easier for a new chief to surround themselves with like-minded people, Kenney said, it could lead to instability in the department for two reasons. Reconstructing the department’s leadership this way could be a double-edged sword, however, said Dennis Kenney, a former police officer and a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. They asked the board, at the very least, to postpone the vote. The officers also complained they didn't learn about the potential change until last week. Tony Willis said the change would scare officers away from taking the necessary training to become deputy chief candidates since they won't have civil service protections, such as the requirement the chief prove cause to fire anyone under the civil service shield.
