Gaylord Faces Trial June 20 in Solicitation Case

Former Planning Commission Chairman Richard Gaylord, charged last year with allegedly soliciting an undercover police officer to commit a sex act, is scheduled to receive a jury trial in Municipal Court on June 20.

Gaylord, who has pleaded innocent, has already won a legal battle before the state Supreme Court over his arrest.

Last month, the court let stand a lower court ruling that the city’s complaint against Gaylord was insufficient because it failed to show anything more than agreement to commit an act of prostitution. A new law requires that “some act” occur besides a simple agreement.

City Prosecutor John A. VanderLans said this week that he has petitioned the court to ask that the Gaylord case not stand as a precedent. Meanwhile, prosecutors plan to amend their original complaint to meet the new law’s criteria as they prepare for the Municipal Court trial.

Noting the prosecutor’s persistence in pursuing the misdemeanor case, Vice Mayor Warren Harwood questioned at Tuesday’s City Council meeting how much public money has been spent on the complaint stemming from Gaylord’s arrest in April, 1987. But some of Harwood’s colleagues took him to task for making the inquiry.

“I am not only uncomfortable by this process, I am embarrassed,” said Councilman Ray Grabinski. Saying that he did not want to “pick over (the prosecutor) over this issue,” Grabinski asked: “So what’s the point?”

The point, Harwood responded, is that the council in about five weeks will vote on the prosecutor’s $2.13-million annual budget. This one case, he continued, could “give a little insight into the efforts of such a large budget.”

VanderLans told the council that his budget is slightly lower than last year’s. He also said this was the first time a councilman has publicly inquired about the cost of one particular case. Although VanderLans said he does not keep a breakdown of individual cases, he estimated that the Gaylord complaint has cost the city about $5,000.

Grabinski said an inquiry by a councilman on one case sends out an “indirect message.”

“We want an independent prosecutor’s office,” Grabinski said. Councilman Tom Clark called Harwood’s inquiry “entirely out of order.” Councilwoman Jan Hall said it was “totally inappropriate.”

Gaylord, who was not present at the meeting, said later: “I think Warren’s intentions were very legitimate. I think his intent was to find out how much this costs.”

VanderLans said, “This case has nothing to do with Dick Gaylord.” VanderLans said he would have pursued the issue regardless of who was involved as the defendant.