Nick Silva returned to the Pawhuska Police Dept. Wednesday night, moments after the city rehired him. Several supporters were there to greet him.
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Rex Wikel, the man who may have masterminded the overthrow of the Police Chief, in Pawhuska, Oklahoma; is now resigned from the city's most powerful office.
On Wednesday, after an emergency city council meeting, Wikel was out as city manager, and a new interim manager was swiftly hired. That interim manager was an administrative assistant last week. Tonya Bright now has vast authority to set the city back to order. She directed the city attorney to resolve the police chief matter. Within minutes Silva emerged from a private meeting an announced his return to the helm of the police dept. Just last Friday morning, Wikel was preparing to take over as city manager for the retired bank executive who was serving in the role for the past couple years. Larry Eulert's term was ending at the end of June, but his replacement was former Police Chief, Rex Wikel. When Eulert hired the younger former Tulsa Police officer, & former Osage Nation police chief; Wikel was evidently not a fan of the changes made to Wikel's former dept. |
 Rex Wikel - Former Police Chief & City Manager.
The narratives on the drama are vastly conflicting and depending on who you ask, Silva is either a racist, or a civil rights reformer. Some of the harshest critics of Pawhuska law enforcement are among Silva's greatest supporters.
Some say Silva (an Osage Tribal member) was aggressively removing cops from his force who are not tribal members, and then recruiting Osage Tribal citizens to fill those slots. If that has merit, then Silva may be a dangerous racist who will embroil the city in labor & civil rights lawsuits. |
But others say Silva is adding a new threshold of professionalism and refusing 'good 'ol boy' favoritism.
Tjuana Kelly Boulanger says she has been singled out for terrible abuse by the police dept. when she helped secure the signatures for SQ780. Boulanger joined the effort this week to circulate a petition of recall, for several current city council members.
Pawhuska, like most Oklahoma cities, delegates the administrative functions to a hired career professional. Usually the title is 'City Manager' or City Administrator'.
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