By Robert Anglen
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Kalmanoff

One tumultuous month after being tapped by a federal judge to oversee massive reforms in Cincinnati's police department, Dr. Alan Kalmanoff resigned Wednesday without explanation.

The Berkeley, Calif., lawyer, who clashed with the mayor and City Council over the scope and cost of his job, asked U.S. District Court Judge Susan Dlott to replace him as monitor of two historic legal settlements the city made to improve police-community relations.

The move came a week after city officials received a $55,000 bill from Dr. Kalmanoff and threatened to back out of the settlement agreements if Judge Dlott did not find a new monitor, saying the charges were outrageous and the relationship between the city and the monitor was spoiled beyond repair.

"We now need to focus our resources on finding a monitor that every member of the (settlement) has confidence in,'' City Manager Valerie Lemmie said. "The judge will decide how we proceed from here.''

The four parties in the settlement - the city, the police union, a group of African-American activists and the Department of Justice - vowed Wednesday not to let the monitor's resignation derail it.

But the setback delays oversight of the seven-month-old agreement at a time when citizens are supposed to be seeing an expansive new system to improve police-community relations.

"We remain committed to working with all parties involved in order to fill the monitor position expeditiously," Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights Ralph Boyd said Wednesday night. "We will continue our efforts at implementing the provisions of this important agreement."

Judge Dlott, who has refused to discuss issues involving Dr. Kalmanoff since she appointed him Oct. 10, would not talk about the monitor's resignation. She has scheduled a Nov. 22 conference with settlement representatives about appointing a new monitor.

Dr. Kalmanoff also refused to discuss his resignation.

But in an e-mail to the judge obtained by The Cincinnati Enquirer, Dr. Kalmanoff asked that his 20-member team of legal and law enforcement experts continue working.

"This team is already in place and has a solid work plan," he wrote. "They stand ready to move forward with this important work in earnest, as planned."

He said the team has leased an office in Cincinnati and started moving staff from other cities, including Akron.

One of those team members - Ohio Supreme Court Justice Andrew Douglas, who will retire from the bench at the end of this year - is already at the top of at least one list to become the next monitor.

The team concept didn't get much support from Mayor Charlie Luken.

"I think the problem was Dr. Kalmanoff and his understanding of his role," he said. "This 20-person team concept is nothing like I have in mind. ... My going-in thought is that 20 people is way, way too many."

But the idea resonated with Ken Lawson, lawyer for the Black United Front, one of the parties involved in the legal settlements with the city.

"Some of us have problems with (Dr. Kalmanoff's) attitude," he said. "But the members of his team are good, some of the best in the nation."

The monitor's job is to enforce deadlines in settlements that ended a federal civil rights investigation of the police department and suspended a Black United Front lawsuit alleging decades of discrimination against blacks in the city. The monitor will oversee the police department's overhaul of training, use-of-force policies and citizen complaint procedures, and will review efforts by community groups to improve community-police relations.

Dr. Kalmanoff heads the nonprofit Institute for Law and Policy Planning in Berkeley, founded in 1973. His background includes extensive work as a consultant to police departments and was appointed to make sure California state prisons complied with a federal settlement that required improvements in prison conditions.

But the differences over the monitor's responsibilities in Cincinnati cut to the heart of Dr. Kalmanoff's problems - and to concerns among some of the parties that the city overstepped its bounds in attempting to oust him.

Councilman David Pepper said Dr. Kalmanoff came in with a "boilerplate structure for what he was going to do here," but the city's problems are too unique for cookie-cutter solutions.

In a meeting three weeks ago - which Dr. Kalmanoff charged the city $200 to attend - City Council members questioned him about costs and his approach to the job. Time and again, Dr. Kalmanoff refused to answer, telling council members to read the two densely worded settlements.

Council members insisted that costs should be capped at $5 million, but Dr. Kalmanoff would not agree to any amount.

A week earlier, however, he told the Enquirer that costs could be more than $7 million over five years.

Mr. Lawson and ACLU lawyer Scott Greenwood said Dr. Kalmanoff's refusal to be pinned down by council showed the importance of having an independent monitor.

They said the city didn't have any authority over the monitor and officials were finding that a bitter pill.

Judge Dlott appointed Dr. Kalmanoff after becoming convinced the parties involved in the settlements could not agree on one of 11 candidates for the job.

But among the hundreds of counties and cities where Dr. Kalmanoff has been hired to streamline prison systems, conduct audits and head corruption probes, several agencies reported problems that aren't mentioned in his resume: Fights over bills, political firestorms, unfulfilled duties, exaggerated results.

In his e-mail to Judge Dlott, Dr. Kalmanoff said the monitor team is well-established and could continue under the leadership of two deputy monitors, Caroline Nicholl and Fred Crawford. He also said that his nonprofit firm could administer monitor activities until a new structure is created.

Ms. Nicholl, who runs a consulting firm on public safety in Virginia, could not be reached for comment. She is a former police chief in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom.

Mr. Crawford is a former police officer who has worked for years in Florida on reforms of prisons and police departments. He has also worked as a U.S. Department of Justice mediator.

Justice Douglas, who was one of the 11 applicants for the monitor job, was supposed to join Dr. Kalmanoff's team next year. But now, Mr. Lawson and the Black United Front say he could easily take over as monitor.

"We have always wanted Douglas," Mr. Lawson said. "I think he has the ability to bring people together."

Contacted Wednesday, Justice Douglas would not comment about his plans.

Some residents who have waited to help usher in a new system of community-police relations say it is sad to see the monitor go.

"We keep learning how to unmake any sign of progress," said Steve Sunderland, a University of Cincinnati professor and chair of a coalition of neighborhood groups, residents and businesses that have met repeatedly on implementing changes under the settlement. "When we do that, the city dies."

"They may have been victorious in getting rid of this monitor, but they may have lost the real battle," he said. "This is not a good day for peace and harmony in this city."

Reporters Marie McCain and Gregory Korte contributed.

E-mail: ranglen@enquirer.com