Former police chief Andy Harvey defends his actions inside city hall

Within a span of six days – Sept. 6 thru Sept. 12 -- former Pharr Police Chief/City Manager Andy Harvey resigned from both positions, first as city manager, and then as police chief, telling KURV radio (710 AM) Sept. 14 that disagreements with the city over his leadership style prompted the move.

In another news interview, Harvey told The Monitor (daily newspaper) that he and Pharr Deputy City Manager Ed Wylie had got into a heated disagreement Aug. 2. That incident created too much tension, Harvey said, so much so that he felt the need to leave the city that he had come to love.

Harvey was hired as police chief July 13, 2020, based on Wylie’s recommendation, who was serving as interim city manager at the time. Harvey was named city manager April 22, 2022, serving in those dual capacities until his final break with the city Sept. 12.

The Advance News filed a public information request recently with the city for a copy of the complaint that Wylie filed with the human resources department following the Aug. 2 incident. The Advance also filed a public information request for a police body cam video that captured approximately a minute of that Aug. 2 exchange.

At some point that August afternoon, apparently the exchange between Harvey and Wylie grew so heated that a city employee felt compelled to call the Pharr police.

An officer arrived at the second-floor administrative office with his body cam switched in the on position.

In it, you can see the officer arrive, where he is told by a city employee that there is a disturbance, but that it involves city management, not someone from the outside. The side door then opens, and the officer enters the main-office reception area. Within a second or two, you can hear a man’s voice yelling, presumably at Wylie, “I’m your f****ng BOSS.” Then the sound of a door slamming.

The officer moves to the hallway that leads to the left, past a string of city executive offices, and at the end, City Manager/Police Chief Andy Harvey suddenly enters the frame. He looks directly at the police officer as he is walking toward him at a relatively fast clip.

“Who the f*** called you?”

“Chief..”

“Who called you?”

The officer tries to explain. “They called me from the..”

“Not now,” Harvey said. “Go back.”

“Yes, sir.”

The officer starts walking toward the exit door, but you can still hear Harvey’s voice on the audio feed.

“I don’t need your f****ng help.”

Then the former city manager/police chief wants to know who made the call to police.

“Who the f*** called (first name of officer)?”

Then, there is the sound of a woman’s voice trying to explain something, which can’t be made out via the body cam.

The officer then heads to the elevator and leaves the second floor.

What went on after that, isn’t open to public disclosure.

In his complaint filed with the city’s HR department, dated Aug. 2, Wylie wrote:

“PD Chief/City Manager Harvey barged into my office yelling at me about a check request for $5,000 to (a former city vendor). I explained what it was for and why it was being done and then he went ballistic mad.”

According to Wylie, Harvey “started yelling at the top of his lungs, slammed the door, continued to curse at me and (called) me stupid and cursing at me while yelling. (Said) I was ******* stupid and to not undermine him again.”

The city manager/police chief, said Wylie, also mishandled office furniture.

“Through all the yelling and screaming, he kicked my desk, knocked over the desk chair, and hovered over me waving his arms in a very threatening manner, ready to throw a punch at me. That tactic was to get me upset and stand up to stake a swing at him. I stayed in my chair the whole time and it made me even madder. When he backed off and I was trying to get up to exit my office, he blocked me in, and came back at me. He finally walked out of my office threatening me that I was under his control, he was my boss, and he was going to get me.”
In his written complaint made to HR, Wylie wrote that he feared for his safety, physical well-being and mental stability.

“Apart from being the city manager, Harvey also serves as a police chief. I'm afraid he will get PD to follow me and to try to pin something on me. This is by no means normal behavior for a co-worker, much less a city manager. I understand sometimes we get into get disagreements, but it should never come to (a) physical altercation, threats or violence.”

For his part, Harvey has said publicly that he did indeed raise his voice at Wylie, but he denied threatening him, and didn’t agree that he had gone ballistic Aug. 2. (Source: The Monitor.) He said that Wylie signing the $5,000 check to the vendor without his permission, undermined his position as city manager. According to a city source, as deputy city manager, Wylie, however, had that check-writing authority. Harvey also said that in his opinion, Wylie had embellished what had actually happened inside city hall Aug. 2.

Harvey said that he came to learn that the support he needed to do the job of city manager was lacking, and so he resigned from that position Sept. 6, Six days later, Sept. 12, he also resigned as police chief.

During his Sept. 14 interview with KURV radio after he stepped down from both positions, Harvey said he wasn’t sure what he was going to do next. Maybe look for something in the private sector, even though he still loves law enforcement. In terms of why he stepped down as city manager, Harvey said, “I felt like a square peg in a round hole. It just didn’t work out the way we thought it would. I think my style of leadership is a little different than what they expected.”