Employees were targeted while others were favored. Officers feared reprisals.There was a lack of trust.

A memorandum that Oak Harbor Mayor Bob Severns sent to the department’s second in command last month provides added details about what he discovered during a four-month investigation into the department.

In the meantime, Severns said he plans to name an interim police chief this week and will also start advertising for a permanent chief.

Severns said he hopes that bringing in a new police chief to Oak Harbor will help solve the internal problems within the department.

Severns started the investigation after coming into office this year. He was aided by an outside attorney and the city clerk; they interviewed most members of the department and several others who had left the department.

As a result of the survey, Severns asked Police Chief Ed Green to leave; they worked out a separation agreement in which Green resigned and will receive severance payments, as well as a letter of reference from the mayor.

In announcing Green’s separation from the department, Severns told the Whidbey News-Times last month that the police department was “broken” due to divisions, morale issues and communication problems in management.

The memo that Severns sent to Capt. Teri Gardner, which the News-Times obtained through a records request, sheds additional light on the problems within the department, at least as viewed by a majority of officers.

It shows that the problems aren’t just related to Green.

The mayor sent the memo to Gardner the day after Green resigned. It addresses Gardner’s performance evaluation, completed by Green, but also describes perceived problems with her management of the police department.

Severns wrote that he was aware of the strained relationship between Green and Gardner — the first and second in command of the department, respectively.

Severns said earlier that Green and Gardner were barely communicating at all.

The “common themes” raised by “a clear majority of the officers” includes favoritism toward some, and the targeting of other employees for discipline, the mayor said in his letter to Gardner.

Officers said they feared reprisal if they questioned Gardner’s decisions, including critiques in front of others. Some also said they felt a lack of confidence in Gardner as a leader, and that they were being micromanaged.

“It is viewed by many officers within the department that you have not been working to eliminate that divisiveness, but instead are perpetuating the division,” Severns wrote.

Severns added that he was letting her know about the perceptions so that she can use the knowledge in a constructive manner and work to repair the broken trust.

Severns’ appointed City Supervisor Doug Merriman to supervise the police department. Severns said it will be up to the interim or permanent chief to evaluate Gardner’s performance.

Gardner did not return a call from the News-Times for comment on Severns’ memo.