Wright said the city violated his first amendment rights and did not follow the Missouri Sunshine Law during a city council meeting. Wright said this started when the mayor ordered him to stop arresting drunk drivers.

Bill Wright wrote three letters to the Salisbury City Council detailing his conflict with the mayor.

"The council hasn't responded to me either," Wright said. "I wrote two letters in reference to this and no response to them."

His final letter read:

"I wish to appeal the decision of the City Council, made October 11, 2007. I do not believe the full-time police officer position was eliminated due to budget restraints, but rather it was an act of retaliation by the city for me having raised concerns about Mayor Joe Fehling's meetings with me on September 21, 2007, during which he gave me grave concerns for the safety of the citizens of Salisbury. My legal counsel has advised that I have the right to have the case heard by a judge, who would have the authority to reverse the City Council's decision."

Wright said he spoke out on a matter of public concern in a reasonable manner. "I had every right to do so," he said. "They retaliated against me for doing that by eliminating my full-time position with the city."

The mayor claims the job was cut for budget reasons.

"We are starting to make changes," said Mayor Joe Fehling. "We are looking at the whole picture. Every city has the same problem.   We got different areas in the town I cannot disclose at this time, that's got some problems that we've got to look at. Our library for one."

A few weeks later, Fehling wrote an article for the local paper, citing the downtown beautification project as one of the main reasons for the lean budget.

"The city's budget was one of the main concerns of the last city meeting," Fehling said in the article.

However, the budget was not even on the agenda for that meeting. It only stated a closed session at the end of the meeting. The council asked everyone to leave without giving reasons for the close session.

The Missouri Sunshine Law reads, "The members of a public governmental body must cite in open session the specific statute and subsection allowing closure. The body must close only that portion of the facility necessary for its members to conduct the closed meeting, allowing space for the public to remain and attend any later open session."

"I do not know if there's a violation," Fehling said.

The police department is having difficulties reorganizing its workload. Paige Harmon, Salisbury police secretary, said the department is especially having trouble filling swing shifts.

"There just really wouldn't be a swing shift," she said. "There would just be an A shift, a B shift, and a C shift."

Because of this, the Salisbury police force no longer provides 24 hour protection.

"The officers don't know what their schedules are going to be. The citizens won't know whether or not they even have police on the roads," Wright said.

Officer Don Mitchell said he wonders about the security of his own job.

"Even though I follow policy and procedures in what I do, I can be terminated at any time," said Mitchell.

Another issue is that police Chief Jim Blackwell is months away from retirement. This will leave only two full time officers on the Salisbury Police force.