The allegations that resulted in the Eugene City Council putting interim Police Auditor Dawn Reynolds on leave are “disturbing and disruptive” and lack merit, Eugene’s previous auditor Cris Beamud said in a written statement.

“I have had an opportunity to speak with Dawn Reynolds, and I do not believe that the allegations against her are meritorious,” wrote Beamud, who left Eugene last summer to head the police oversight system in Atlanta.

Interim deputy auditor Elizabeth Southworth accused Reynolds of disclosing confidential information and the city council met in a session closed to the public on Saturday and put Reynolds on administrative leave while investigating the complaint.

“It doesn’t sit well that the auditor would be exposed to such scrutiny for so little,” said Beamud in an interview.

“The information that she [Reynolds] disclosed to the lawyer representing a complainant was not privileged or private or even investigatory in nature,” Beamud wrote in her statement. “You cannot take otherwise public information and transform it into privileged information by putting it in a file. That is exactly what some members of the police department would like to do.”

Beamud continued, “No human being can withstand the twisted scrutiny that the police would like to impose on the auditor. This is a very difficult position, and I do not believe that any person can do this type of work without the support of the city council. The city council needs to examine the nature of the allegation, including the Auditor’s perspective before doing anything that undermines her authority and ability to do her work.”

Munir Katul a physician who resigned three months ago after serving on the Civilian Review Board said he agreed with Beamud. He said the council should not have put the auditor on administrative leave before hearing from Reynolds, who he said is recovering from surgery. “It’s not like a cop shooting and killing somebody,” Katul said of the leave. “I think this is ridiculous. This is implying far greater guilt for the auditor.”

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