By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati Manager Valerie Lemmie is interviewing four candidates to head the city's new police watchdog agency.

But there's no guarantee the executive director of the Citizen Complaint Authority will come from that list, or that someone will be hired by the time the agency starts up Jan. 6, she said.

The candidates come from Columbus, Cleveland, Washington, and New York City. They are:

Ted Almay of the Columbus suburb of Dublin, Ohio. He has been the superintendent of the Ohio Bureau of Identification and Investigation since 1995. BCI serves as the state's top crime lab and criminal history database. He joined BCI in 1983.

Cassandra Bledsoe works for the Cleveland Department of Community Relations, heading a program that monitors hate crimes and works to improve police-community relations. Her previous experience is as a homeless counselor and conflict resolution consultant.

Stephanie Y. Moore, of Washington, is the minority counsel for the House Judiciary Committee. She has experience in the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights and the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

Carl B. Stoll Sr. is the investigative manager for New York City's Civilian Complaint Review Board. There, he manages investigations into allegations of police misconduct, from offensive language to excessive force. A lawyer and former police detective, he also has investigated fraud and mismanagement in the Chicago Board of Education.

Mr. Almay and Mr. Stoll are coming to Cincinnati for their second interviews. Ms. Bledsoe and Ms. Moore are recent applicants getting a first interview. Ms. Lemmie has kept the application deadline open, and could interview other candidates if lawyers for the Black United Front and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio raise objections.

Those two groups brought a lawsuit in 2000 claiming that police discriminate against African-Americans in their arrests. The creation of the Citizen Complaint Authority was one of the police reforms that led to a settlement of that lawsuit.

"It doesn't require their approval, but this is one of the most important elements of the agreement. Buy-in and consensus now could save us a lot of problems in the future," Ms. Lemmie said.

The job pays $86,952 to $117,385 a year.

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com