2016: keep the chiefs under Council
Measure CA proposed moving appointing authority and reporting responsibility for the Police Chief and Fire Chief from the City Council to the City Manager. Thomas Small signed the official argument against the measure with Meghan Sahli-Wells, Alex Fisch, Kelly Kent and Deborah Wallace.
2017–2019: direct oversight becomes visible in the record
Separate Police Chief and Fire Chief performance evaluations appeared before the City Council in closed session on October 9, 2017. In 2018 the City created an Ad Hoc Police Liaison Subcommittee to discuss and review Police Department initiatives and provide Council-member feedback and direction.
2020: Small enters the Police Liaison structure
A May 11, 2020 staff report listed Meghan Sahli-Wells and Goran Eriksson as Police Liaison Subcommittee members. By June 22, an official staff report identified Goran Eriksson and Thomas Small as the subcommittee. The exact appointment motion is still being recovered; the membership change itself is documented.
Verified roll calls: Small, Lee, Fisch and Sahli-Wells
This table is intentionally incomplete. It shows only public-safety-related votes that have been recovered from an official roll call so far. A blank or unresolved historical record is not converted into an inferred vote.
| Matter | Small | Lee | Fisch | Sahli-Wells | Eriksson |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 5, 2020 emergency + curfew ordersSmall moved; Fisch seconded. Passed 4-0-1. | AYE | ABSTAIN | AYE | AYE | AYE |
| June 22, 2020 FY2020/21 City budgetFile 20-1066. Fisch moved; Small seconded. Passed 4-1. | AYE | NO | AYE | AYE | AYE |
The June 22 vote was on the full City budget package; it does not establish each member’s position on every Police or Fire line item.
Votes still being recovered
The next useful rows are matters where the official agenda or policy outcome is already clear but the individual roll call is not yet exposed cleanly in the public record.
June–July 2020: the policy hinge
The City says the entire Council supported authorizing the Mayor to sign Barack Obama’s Mayor’s Pledge in June 2020. On July 13 the Council then launched a broader review of use-of-force policy and public-safety services, resources and responsibilities. The City later described the 90-day review as examining ways to shift resources and reduce reliance on law enforcement.
This establishes the Council-wide policy direction and Small’s presence on the Police Liaison Subcommittee. It does not make every later staffing or Mobile Crisis decision Small’s personal vote.