An effort to require Cincinnati City Council approval for hiring and firing the police and fire chiefs is ongoing, but will not make it to the November ballot.
Former Council member Christopher Smitherman declined an interview but tells WVXU he is still collecting signatures for his proposed charter amendment. He explained his motivation for the proposal on WVXU’s Cincinnati Edition in June.
"It's very similar to how the mayor would terminate the city manager. The mayor would say, 'I'm submitting the manager to the council for that decision,'" Smitherman said. "I believe that the police chief and the fire chief are at such a high level that they deserve the same level of consideration and protection."
Smitherman points to City Manager Sheryl Long's firing of former Police Chief Teresa Theetge earlier this year, for which her attorney with the Finney Law Firm has promised a lawsuit. In 2023, Long fired then-Fire Chief Michael Washington; a judge recently ruled his wrongful termination lawsuit can go to trial. Finney Law Firm is also representing Washington, and filed the paperwork for Smitherman's charter amendment petition.
Some city officials have denounced the idea, including Council member Scotty Johnson, a retired Cincinnati Police officer and current chair of Council's Public Safety Committee.
"Most politicians don't have a clue what the fire or police chief do," Johnson said on Cincinnati Edition. "There are too many politicians that don't know what happens at that level on a daily basis, and it would add fuel to the fire."
The deadline for a ballot measure in November has passed. The next election will be in May.
The petition needs nearly 6,900 valid signatures from city voters. It’s not clear how many signatures have been collected so far. Two other people affiliated with the effort did not respond to multiple requests for comment over the past few weeks.
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