Shirey

        Cincinnati City Manager John Shirey has withdrawn his application for a job as chief executive of Fort Worth, Texas.

        Officials there said Mr. Shirey has taken himself out of a pool of eight finalists who have been interviewing with Fort Worth City Council members.

        “It was purely personal,” Fort Worth Councilman Jim Lane told the Enquirer. “He and his wife apparently spent most of the night talking about it and they decided to stay where they are, which is a compliment to y'all.''

        He said Mr. Shirey contacted Fort Worth officials Saturday before his interview was to begin.

        “We were very, very impressed with him and his credentials and we looked forward to interviewing him,” Mr. Lane said.

        Mr. Shirey, who is close friends with the outgoing Fort Worth city manager, could not be reached for comment. But his son in Cincinnati confirmed his father had withdrawn his name.

        This is the third time Mr. Shirey has been a finalist for another city manager post since being hired in 1993. He was rejected twice.

        Mr. Shirey, 51, said in an earlier interview he did not go looking for the job, but the tenuous nature of his employment in Cincinnati and City Council's rejection of a small raise last month weighed heavily in his decision to apply for it.

        He at times has seen himself as council's scapegoat, with members publicly questioning his performance.

        He also has been a central figure in some of the region's biggest developments and most controversial projects.

        As chief executive of Cincinnati, Mr. Shirey is paid $149,000 a year to oversee the daily operation of the city and its 7,000 employees.

Online and off the street
Computers give homeless a sense of connection
Shirey withdraws job candidacy
Eight arrested in OxyContin crackdown
Failed light clue to fatal train wreck
Officials ponder how to measure racial profiling
Investigations continue in 7 profiling complaints
PULFER: Chicken recipe 'sure tastes familiar'
WILKINSON: Just how far can the 'guy next door' go?
BRONSON: Council won't be the same without Winburn
Cheviot market offers taste of the Balkans
Hope, jitters mix at SCPA tryouts
Local Digest
Lockland buys brownfield site
Man's body found in cornfield
Statehouse delegation finds common ground
Teen arranges benefit concert for tiny patient
XU, UC pitch in for Crosstown Helpout
Black History Month events listed
CROWLEY: Fiscal court snoops out of line
PSC hopeful may be stymied
Handful of towns recycle in Ky.
Businessman got sour taste from recycling effort
Paddling still much in vogue in Ky. schools