CALDWELL, Idaho — Caldwell’s mayor-elect is facing scrutiny after a personal voice memo surfaced in which he discussed his intentions toward the city’s police chief, stating he planned to "fire his a**."
Mayor-elect Eric Phillips, who campaigned on transparency, acknowledged in the recording that "...everyone wants him gone and so do I."
Idaho News 6 confirmed the voice memo belongs to mayor-elect Phillips after matching his phone number with the phone number that mistakenly texted the audio to Carlos Hernández, a former candidate for Caldwell City Council.
Hear the full voice memo below —
Phillips spoke with Idaho News 6 the day after the election and told Caldwell neighborhood reporter Leslie Solis he would review all the facts before deciding whether to replace Caldwell Police Chief Rex Ingram. Ingram has been involved in several high-profile lawsuits that resulted in more than half a million dollars in payouts from the city’s insurance provider.
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In the initial interview, Phillips said, “I have to get sworn in first … before decisions can be made,” adding that “people are gonna have to also make decisions themselves.”
But in the voice memo, Phillips described his public comments as “legalistic terms,” saying he wanted to avoid the risk of a wrongful-termination lawsuit. In the recording, he said he planned to “look at all the things and fire his a** anyways,” adding, “everyone wants him gone and so do I."
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He continued, saying he intended to “check all the boxes” to shield the city from litigation if he moved forward with firing Ingram.
Caldwell Police Chief Rex Ingram released a statement in response to the voice memo's release, saying, "In my opinion, the voice memo made by the Caldwell Mayor-Elect Eric Phillips, is troubling and speaks for itself. There is no excuse or amount of explanation that can temper the plain meaning of Mr. Phillips' voice memo or his follow-up statement he made to the media. Despite this, I will continue to lead the Caldwell Police Department to the best of my ability and look forward to working with Mr. Phillips as the Chief of Police."
City officials confirmed they are aware of the memo and said they will soon provide Idaho News 6 with a statement. Phillips is scheduled to be sworn in as mayor in January, replacing current Mayor Jarom Wagoner.
Senior Reporter Don Nelson and Caldwell Neighborhood Leslie Solis discuss the voice memo's contents
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This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.