Ithaca’s Community Police Board — which investigates complaints of police misconduct — is suspending its meetings in protest of a City Hall move that members say cripples its independence and jeopardizes whistleblower confidentiality.
The Ithaca City Manager’s Office, which oversees the city’s police department, has recently assumed a role in managing the civilian board’s administrative duties, according to a Wednesday letter the board members sent to the mayor and members of Common Council.
“The City Manager’s Office, which is responsible for the budget and oversight of the Ithaca Police Department, now has direct access to CPB records, scheduling, and communications,” the board members wrote in the letter, which was copied to City Manager Deb Mohlenhoff and obtained exclusively by The Sun.
The board members blasted the move as a “clear conflict of interest” and vowed to “not meet until our independence is assured.” They demanded that the City Clerk’s Office, which they described as “neutral,” once again manage the board’s administrative tasks.
Among the concerns outlined in the letter, the board members are now worried that those looking to report police misconduct may no longer come forward, knowing that the board is now “administratively tied to” an office that oversees the police.
They also complained that Mohlenhoff had not met directly with them to discuss a resolution.
Instead, according to the letter, Deputy City Manager Dominick Recckio “interrupted” the planned agenda at the Community Police Board’s February meeting without prior notice and announced the plan to place the board under the administrative scope of the City Manager’s Office.
Mohlenhoff wrote in an email statement to The Sun that she had offered to meet with the chair of the Community Police Board before the letter was sent out to “clear up” what she called “factual misunderstandings” reflected in the letter.
Mohlenhoff did not elaborate on what aspects of the letter she thought were incorrect.
She added that she had met earlier this week with Alderperson David Shapiro (D-Third Ward), who serves as the Common Council’s liaison to the Community Police Board, to “clarify these misunderstandings,” and had “offered to meet again with the [board] Chair.”
“I remain happy to sit down with them at their convenience,” Mohlenhoff wrote, referring to the Community Police Board.
Shapiro declined to comment for this article.
The Community Police Board and Mayor Robert Cantelmo M.A. ’20, who appoints the board’s members, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
