Word: hongisto
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Money problems have aggravated friction between Kucinich and the police. Last December he replaced the department's chief with San Franciscan Richard Hongisto, a liberal defender of homosexuals' rights, who at first was widely disliked by the police but quickly gained the department's respect. Within months Kucinich fell out with the chief and fired him. Not until last week did Kucinich name a permanent successor. The mayor's choice: Jeffrey Fox, a 36-year-old former city personnel director with no previous police experience. The selection left the force seething in anger...
Cleveland had to decide whether or not to retain the mayor with the face of a clever schoolboy and the bite of a barracuda. The recall election was forced by Kucinich's enemies, who issued their challenge after he had fired popular Police Chief Richard Hongisto. Battling for his job, Kucinich claimed he was being hounded by "the bosses" because he fought for "the people." He won-barely. With fewer than half of the voters going to the polls, the mayor's strongholds among the white working-class ethnics, carried the day by 236 votes...
Kucinich's worst mistake probably was tangling with Chief Hongisto, whom he hired last December over the misgivings of Cleveland's conservative, 2,000-man police force. Hongisto, a liberal and former San Francisco county sheriff, is a staunch defender of gay rights and won national fame last year by going to jail rather than enforce a court order to evict elderly residents from a hotel. Hongisto quickly won the respect of his force by personally patrolling Cleveland's streets, making arrests and enlisting support for the police from citizens' groups...
...chief became more popular, the mayor grew increasingly unhappy with him. Finally, Hongisto touched off a public feud by charging that Mayor Kucinich was pressuring him to do "unethical things." Kucinich retaliated by giving the police chief 30 hours in which to prove his charges and then fired Hongisto when he missed the deadline. Two hours later, Hongisto described in detail six abuses, among them an allegation that the mayor had obstructed his efforts to clean up the vice squad. Cried Kucinich: "He's concocting these stories so he can exit as a hero." Hongisto then proposed that...
Kucinich and Hongisto have taken their battle to the public, appearing separately on TV talk shows and granting frequent interviews to reporters. The first wave of mail and phone calls to city hall ran heavily in Hongisto's favor. Indeed, if Kucinich's critics manage to collect the 37,000 signatures required for his recall, Hongisto has hinted that he might run against Kucinich in the new election...