Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey speaks after resignation of Christopher Ragland, "He deserved to be treated better."
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey defended the man whom he nominated to be the city's next chief of police even after his sudden decision to not only take his name out of consideration but retire altogether.
The mayor was at a public safety forum in Carrick on Tuesday night and residents brought up the sudden resignation of Christopher Ragland.
"He deserved to be treated better," Mayor Gainey said. "When he came to me and told me this, this is having an impact on my family, this is having an impact on my mom, it meant something. I think it just got too much. To be honest, we wanted him, but going through that whole process, he had to answer this question and do this, no other chief had to go through that. He shouldn't have to go through that. No other chief coming through had to go through that."
Ragland said he grew frustrated with the process when city council delayed his confirmation and community groups called for six neighborhood meetings. City council also would interview Ragland and that interview process would have been under oath, something that had never happened before.
The city council made that change after the last chief, Larry Scirotto, decided to pursue refereeing college basketball. Scirotto was on the job for just 14 months.
"What happened was the process kept switching up, they kept putting on more demands, they kept trying to make situations they wanted," said Gainey. "He was just uncomfortable with the process."
Ragland also suggested a member or members of the council wanted him to promote certain people for their approval to make him chief. He said while the process was playing out, he didn't think he could lead the bureau morally or ethically.
Ragland added that he believed his nomination had become a "political football" that wouldn't get decided before the primary election for Pittsburgh mayor in May.
We also spoke with the other three candidates about Ragland's decision to retire.
"He wanted the job and now he just doesn't and this is one of those things we're used to in Pittsburgh," said Republican candidate Thomas West. "There's no transparency in city government whatsoever."
"How the mayor was portraying it is this individual wanted the job," said Democratic challenger and current Allegheny County Controller Corey O'Connor. "This individual was his choice and now his choice is bailing out on the city of Pittsburgh."
"I feel bad for the police officers because there is disarray in our department," added Republican candidate Tony Moreno. "They now feel like they're being ridiculed. We can't keep a chief. Our leadership can't make a decision."
Mayor Gainey did not say when Ragland told him he was pulling himself out of the running and now, Assistant Chief Marty Devine will take over as acting chief.
