Fired City Manager Settles Suit With Police Union

A former city manager has settled his lawsuit against the local police union, which he said conspired with the City Council to have him ousted from his job four years ago.

Attorneys for former City Manager Bill Kirchhoff said the fired administrator filed a motion to dismiss the case on May 5. Attorneys for both sides declined to reveal the terms of the settlement.

The civil rights lawsuit, which was filed in August 1997, alleged that police union officials offered City Council members valuable election endorsements in exchange for Kirchhoff’s ouster. Union officials wanted the city manager out of the picture because he was investigating police overtime abuses, said Chuck Greaves, Kirchhoff’s attorney.

Mayor Greg Hill adamantly denied those charges, and said the council fired Kirchhoff because he was “incompetent and insubordinate.”

In March, the City Council agreed to pay Kirchhoff more than $850,000 to settle a separate civil rights lawsuit he filed against the city he had managed for six years. Hill said city officials settled the case, not because it had merit, but because it was cheaper than taking it to trial and because the city’s insurance company insisted on a settlement.