The Mobile City Council continued with a similar position on Tuesday about the dizzying dispute between the city’s suspended police chief and Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s Administration: We’re waiting for a report.

That report, which focuses on the police department’s policies and procedures over the use of force, is expected to come next Tuesday.

Until then, council members had little to say during Tuesday’s meeting about a rare public spat that has rattled the upper tiers of city management over the past week ever since Police Chief Paul Prine was placed on paid administrative leave.

“It’s been a difficult week, I think for everyone,” said Councilwoman Gina Gregory, the council’s longest-serving member. “Public safety remains our No. 1 priority. We look forward to the report.”

Said Councilman Ben Reynolds, “I think for the entire council, we are in a fact-finding stage on all of this. We look forward to receiving the report soon.”

The report by former federal prosecutor Kenyen Brown is expected to be released next Tuesday. Prine has called it a “sham” report, aimed at removing him from his chief’s position that is based on a dispute over an intelligence-led policing initiative.

Brown’s report comes after a series of deadly incidences in Mobile last year in which multiple Black men were killed following an encounter with a Mobile police officer. The most high-profile incident involved 36-year-old Jawan Dallas in July, which led to his family filing a $36 million federal lawsuit against the city in December.

The council scheduled its meeting next week for 3 p.m. to accommodate the time that might be needed to address the report, and Police Chief Paul Prine’s status with the city, during what is expected to be a closed-door executive session meeting.

Council President C.J. Small declined to say what the council might do regarding Prine, who was placed on paid administrative leave last week. Assistant Police Chief Randy “William” Jackson was appointed as interim chief.

“I’m waiting for the report next week,” Small told the media after the council meeting. “The report might give us some light on what the administration and police have going on. Right now, nothing is before us and won’t be until next Tuesday.”

The council met for little over an hour on Tuesday during a closed-door executive session that Small said had to do with “questions and statements on potential lawsuits.”

Asked if the council could consider dismissing Prine outright on Tuesday, Small said he wasn’t sure.

“We have to see exactly what the report states and … the administration has not shown us anything in writing,” said Small.

Small’s comments come after a document from City Attorney Ricardo Woods date on March 27 is circulating on social media showing two options on separating from Prine. The first option included retiring with his reputation intact and supporting a nondisclosure agreement that would allow the city to mitigate Brown’s public report. The second option called for a “removal from office,” that relieves Prine of his duties with pay pending council action and does not include a non-disparaging agreement. The second option includes a press conference to release the findings of Brown’s report.

Concerns have been raised on social media whether the document illustrates an effort for the Stimpson administration to collude with Brown to get Prine removed as chief. Stimpson, during his interview with AL.com on Friday, said he was unaware of the contents of Brown’s report that has been described as a third-party review of the agency’s procedures.

“Paul Prine was not the focus, nor within the scope of Kenyen Brown’s letter of engagement,” Candace Cooksey, spokesperson with the City of Mobile, said. “Once he began conducting interviews, concerns surfaced around culture and Prine’s leadership and general attitude towards the public.”

In a statement from the mayor last week, preliminary findings of Brown’s review uncovered disturbing instances of Prine’s authoritarian style, irreconcilable differences between Prine and other public safety officials, and a series of “frivolous” complaints, which Stimpson said were “demonstrably false.”

“I was shocked and disappointed to hear that at one open roll call in the first precinct, several officers who were present at the time confirmed that Prine said something to the effect of ‘Don’t pay attention to what I say in the media, f— the public,’” Stimpson said in his statement.

Stimpson said the information uncovered led him to make a change. But a dispute has occurred over Prine’s severance package, which remains unresolved.

“Out of respect for Prine’s 27 years of service to our community, we offered an amicable retirement with a reasonable severance package, which was in line with his current salary,” Stimpson said. “We further advised him we would need an answer quickly.”

Prine, 53, is a Prichard native and has been Mobile’s chief since 2021. Prine was seeking $600,000, while the mayor said he was attempting to assemble a more competitive separation agreement that was more in line with his existing salary. Prine currently earns $146,208 as police chief.

Prine said he believes Brown’s review of the department is not entirely objective, since it’s the city that is paying for the review. The city has spent $79,000, so far, to produce the report. Prine also suggested the incident involving his use of profanity in an open roll call was fabricated.

“Under no circumstances would the city manipulate a public report from Kenyen Brown,” said Candace Cooksey, the city spokesperson. “We wanted to offer Prine an option that would not damage his reputation by choosing to retire amicably. Had he chosen to take the separation agreement, both parties would have signed a standard non-disparagement agreement. With that agreement in place, Kenyen would have not been able to name Prine in his executive summary, which will be made public That would not have had any material impact on the findings or the outcome of the port.”

Prine has described himself in TV media interviews as a “whistleblower” after what he said were two grievances he filed with the administration. Only one of those grievances, an email to Stimpson, was uncovered by the administration forwarded to media outlets late last week, alleging improper communication disparaging Prine before a subordinate that was initiated by Rob Lasky, the executive director of public safety.

Prine was not available for immediate comment Tuesday afternoon.