Seward seaport record., 1954-03-19
Cifv Officials Refufe Claims Of Former Police Chief

Speaking for the City, Ray mond O'Hara, city manager, re- flutes the signed statement of former police chief Don Balmat in which he claims to have re- signed as of March Is and to have been paid to April 1. The statement was made to Anchor age newspapers and published by them. No statement was of fered the local press.
 Tt is a matter of record" O,Hara states, "that the City Council met with MT. Balmat on February 27 and that he resigned that day. Official announcement of the resignation was made to the City Council in regular ses- sion on March 1, and at the same time, announcement was made to the council that Michael J. Burke had taken the oath of of flee as chief of police, admin istered by acting magistrate R. E. Baumgartner on the evening of February 27." This was re- ported by~Frank Roberts in his radio brief on council doings on March B.
 By agreement with the city manager, Balmat accepted two weeks pay in lieu of two weeks notice and his severance check, dated March 1, included that pay, as well as accrued annual leave pay, overtime pay and reg ular wages. He picked up his check on March 2 or 3, turned in his. uniforms March 4, from which time he was absolutely not on the city payroll, the city manager said.
 As for the charge that Balmat was forced to hire Burke, O'Hara offers the report of Balmat him. self on the application, which reads, Officer application ap- proved for six months probation ary assignment, examination to be given at a later date"
 "As for the incident of Feb ruary 27, which MT. Balmat treats as insignificant, and a purely civil matter" O'Hara states, officer Burke did no breaking in to a private house, but arrested Jimmy Hayes for confronting him and a woman with a gun in his hand. Hayes was subsequently, bound over for grand jury action on this charge. MT. Balmat was volun- tary witness on his behalf at the preliminary hearing in Commis- sioner's Court, according to the records of that court. y
 It was after this incident and his replacement as chief of po- lice that MT. Balmat placed charges against the city on 'legalized prostitution" in Sew ard and tolerating operation of the line' here.
 "The City Council pledged CO., operation with the District As. torney's office in abatement of the line," the city manager says. Talking to District Attorney Hummer last Wednesday, he in formed us that abatement papers would be here in a day or two" he went on to say. When they did not arrive after two days, Chief Burke was not willing to take responsibility for condi- ton that existed before his ap- pointment to office and moved in to close the line on Friday. He had no time since his recent appointment to conduct investi- gations for evidence to substan- tiate arrests, but proceeded on the grounds of common know ledge.
 There was on intent to white wash alleged prostitution in Seward in any given area, nor was it our intention to deliber- ately thwart any move by fed eral law enforcement agencies or the District Attorneys office by moving ahead of them. We were not given any specific date nor time for the agents visit. MT. Balmat's statements as given in Anchorage papers contain some definite errors, if not down right falsehoods," O'Hara re- marked today.
 What action, if any, the city will take has not been indicated, and little will be done until the hearing on the abatement order,