By Jane Prendergast
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnatians who wanted city leaders to be able to hire assistant police chiefs from outside the department lost another round Wednesday when a state labor agency ruled that voters cannot supersede an existing union contract.

The State Employment Relations Board decision is the latest step in the Fraternal Order of Police union's fight against Issue 5, the referendum approved by voters in 2001. The measure removed the positions of police and fire chiefs, as well as some other city department leaders, from civil-service protection, which would have allowed them to be hired from anywhere.

The union argued that the ballot issue violated its contract and that the assistant police chief's job vacated last year when Ronald Twitty left the force should go to the next best test-taker on the list. The Sentinel Police Association, a group made up mostly of black officers, supported the measure, saying the department would be better off if its future chiefs and assistant chiefs were the most qualified people hired after national searches.

The state board agreed with the union, ordering the city to "cease and desist" trying to unilaterally change the terms of the contract. It also ordered the city to give the vacant assistant chief's job to Capt. Stephen Gregoire, a 33-year veteran who recently returned to the department after being called to active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard.

"This is good news," said Steve Lazarus, attorney for the FOP. "Issue 5 was flawed from the beginning because they had a contract in place, which gave certain rights. And they ignored it."

The city has 20 days to object. City Solicitor J. Rita McNeil said she plans to recommend that council do so for a variety of reasons, including that the city still disagrees with the union and that she sees some inconsistencies in the decision.

"Just on the grounds that the decision nullified Issue 5," she said, "that's enough for us to object."

Councilman Pat DeWine, leader of the law and public safety committee, spearheaded council's defense of Issue 5. He said Wednesday night that he had not yet read the decision.

"I continue to believe that the will of the voters should be supreme," he said, adding that he was sorry "some bureaucrats" didn't agree.

But Keith Fangman, the police union's vice president, blamed the ongoing dispute on DeWine and said it was time for the councilman to take the high road.

"At some point, Mr. DeWine needs to be a man and apologize to Capt. Steve Gregoire for trying to derail the last years of his career and prevent him from becoming an assistant chief," Fangman said.

Capt. Gregoire, 56, is now the commander for the youth services section, which handles school resource officers, the Police Activities League and DARE classes. He has been a member of the department since 1970.

Twitty, the first African-American officer to attain the rank of assistant chief, agreed in September 2002 to retire from the force after 29 years. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of attempted obstruction of justice after he was accused of lying about how his city-owned Ford Taurus sustained $3,300 damage. He was convicted and ordered to pay a $1 fine.

The job has been filled temporarily by Capt. Vince Demasi.

The battle over Issue 5 is among several reasons cited by police union leaders for a dues increase that members will vote on Monday. The increased legal work with that issue, meetings during the U .S. Department of Justice investigation last year and an increasing number of civil lawsuits against officers has been depleting the union's spare legal funds, President Roger Webster said.

The number of civil suits filed against officers used to hover around 40 a year, he said, but jumped to about 88 in 2002. It has slacked off some since, he said, but not to pre-2002 levels.

The union is asking for an increase of about $10 on top of the about $60 a month officers pay now.

E-mail jprendergast@enquirer.com