By Dan Horn
Enquirer staff writer

The former court-appointed monitor for the Cincinnati Police Department claims his reputation and finances have been damaged because the city has balked at paying him another $37,000.

Alan Kalmanoff asked a federal judge this week to order the payment, saying the $91,597 he's already been paid is not enough.

Kalmanoff, of the California-based Institute for Law & Policy Planning, worked as monitor for about three weeks before the city's complaints about his billing practices led to his resignation in 2002.

City officials and others associated with Cincinnati's police reforms say Kalmanoff has been paid too much already. "If I was him, I'd leave well enough alone," Mayor Charlie Luken said Friday. "He's had his hand out since Day One, and I guess it will continue until he bleeds us."

Kalmanoff submitted more than $130,000 in bills for himself and his staff after his resignation, a total that shocked city officials who questioned how he could have run up so many expenses in just three weeks.

Kalmanoff said the bills covered significant overhead costs that are part of any "ramp up" of a major monitoring effort.

He also billed for travel expenses for his staff, running errands, planning trips and working 16-hour days, including some days before he was officially hired.

He and his staff agreed to a five-year contract in 2002 to oversee the federally mandated reforms of the police department following the city's riots in 2001.

The city later hired Saul Green, a former U.S. attorney in Detroit, to oversee the police reforms.

The most recent bill from Green, whose fees have not been challenged by the city, was about $200,000 for three months' work.

Kalmanoff declined comment Friday, but the request for payment he filed this week in U.S. District Court claims the city's failure to pay has caused him and his staff to "suffer serious economic detriment and damage to their character and reputation."

He argued that the city's refusal to pay implies "improper or unwarranted billing," which he said reflects poorly on him and makes it difficult to operate his non-profit organization.

Judge Susan Dlott authorized payment of $91,597 to Kalmanoff but denied payment of another $41,000 he had requested.

The latest request has been pending since December. In his court filing this week, Kalmanoff said the failure of the city to formally object to his request means the judge should immediately grant his request.

Luken, however, said he would object to any further payments.

Scott Greenwood, who represented the American Civil Liberties Union in the case, said he also would oppose additional payments.

"I wish he had not been awarded a dime," Greenwood said. "His billing was abusive."