Saturday, February 06, 1999
Settlement offered for chief's resignation
BY KRISTINA GOETZ
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FLORENCE — City officials have made a settlement offer to Police Chief Paul Buelterman in return for his resignation.
The chief's lawyer, Joe Condit confirmed the offer Friday.
“I'm going to send a reply back to (city attorney) Hugh Skees before the city council meets next Tuesday,” Mr. Condit said.
He would not reveal any details about the offer or whether the chief would accept.
Mr. Skees had no comment.
Mayor Diane Ewing Whalen asked the chief to resign in January, citing low morale in the 51-member department.
She said she has heard complaints that the chief doesn't listen and that he doesn't trust his officers' judgment. Nine officers have retired since July 1996.
She has gained unanimous support from council and the Florence Fraternal Order of Police.
It wasn't until last week that the chief considered leaving when he made a deal with his wife, telling her that if the city came up with a dollar figure she was happy with, he would go.
“If I didn't have her to worry about, and her feelings, I'd say fire me,” he said then.
The chief had said he would stay as a matter of principle, saying that if he resigned if would set a dangerous precedent, allowing the mayor to pressure chiefs into resigning because of departmental complaints.
Chief Buelterman has been with the department since 1995. He said he had planned to stay at least five years, at which time he would have been vested in his pension.
“If we are going to set an amount, if they're going to give us anything ... they can either give us our entire financial loss or we're staying,” he said last week.
The chief did not return repeated calls Friday.
Mr. Buelterman cannot be removed without cause because he is protected under state law. Police chiefs in second- and third-class cities are protected under a law that was designed in 1990 to prevent their political removal.
If Mr. Buelterman does not resign, the city will have to bring charges against him before council.
If council finds against the chief, he can appeal to circuit court.
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