Ferris Council approves police chief settlement

FERRIS – This week’s special city council meeting in Ferris lasted less than 15 minutes.

With Place 1 councilmember Clayton Hunter not in attendance, the city council voted three for – and one abstained to authorize the city manager to execute a settlement and release of claims between former police Chief Eddie Salazar and the city of Ferris.

Place 2 Councilmember Michael Martinez did not vote. Mayor Pro Tem Tommy Scott, Place 4 Jay Walsh and Place 5 Sherie Chapman voted to execute the settlement with Salazar.

The particulars of the final Salazar settlement were not discussed in open session Monday night. Sources said the amount Salazar asked for in his settlement offer letter several weeks ago and the amount that was accepted by council were not the same amount of money.

Mayor Pro Tem Scott said after the meeting he is happy it is all over. Scott also reiterated the council does not intend to hire anyone with ties to the City of Ferris to take over the open Police Chief position.

While the search begins for a new police chief, Patrol Sergeant DeLeon Young, who has been with the Ferris Police Department a little over two years, will be taking the reins as acting chief. With the retirement last week of long-time detective Walter Weiss, that position is being filled by Matt Mosley and Sara Stastny.

There are also two open positions that need to be filled within the police department in addition to the hiring of a new police chief.

With the departure of Salazar and Weiss, the two open cold cases that were at the forefront of the CID unit have now been assigned to the Texas Rangers.

Mosley said after the council meeting his department expects to continue the investigation and work with the Texas Rangers and Ellis County DA in a continued effort to solve both decade old murders in a timely manner.