CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb on Thursday rejected the Community Police Commission’s nominee to be its executive director. He said the commission failed to use a transparent hiring process, and cited recent conflict among the 13-member body .
The move comes after several tense weeks for the commission, including a June 14 meeting that devolved into chaos as members sparred over rules and their eventual choice for the executive director job: current interim Executive Director Jason Goodrick, who also served in that role under the previous version of the commission.
“Issue 24 provided a clean slate for the CPC, and I am now concerned that the issues that plagued its previous iteration continue to do so today,” Bibb said in a Thursday letter to the commission. “Under Mr. Goodrick’s tenure as Interim Executive Director, there has been significant internal conflict, a loss of confidence, and insufficient progress. This is not the fresh start voters envisioned.”
Bibb supported the 2021 voter-approved charter amendment that established the new version of the commission and gave it vast new police oversight powers. But Bibb on Thursday criticized the commission for how it arrived at its decision to nominate Goodrick as the permanent director.
“Regrettably, it does not appear that the CPC followed through with its plans to conduct such an open and public process. Instead, the CPC has submitted a nomination of the current interim Executive Director. It is not clear what process the Commission followed to get to this nomination, which is to say that it could not have been transparent and inclusive of community input,” Bibb’s letter states.
The city charter states that the commission has the power to nominate its executive director, but the mayor is the one who appoints that person.
Bibb, in his letter, recommended the commission “follow through with the transparent and inclusive selection process it committed to earlier this year.” He suggested the commission eventually nominate two or three candidates, which would allow him a choice in selecting the executive director.
“By conducting a thorough vetting process for this crucial position, we will demonstrate to our residents and the entire nation that we are fully committed to the CPC’s essential mission,” the letter stated.
The city’s chief ethics officer, Delanté Spencer Thomas, told cleveland.com that a new hiring process for the executive director position shouldn’t delay the commission’s oversight work, because the interim position remains filled.
Cleveland.com has reached out to the commission’s co-chairs for comment.
