Brian Sharp | Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Sean Lahman, @SeanLahman

City Council expects to vote Tuesday on the appointments of the inaugural nine members of a Police Accountability Board.

The first appointees were announced Wednesday. The group, diverse in age, gender, race and ethnicity, is devoid of law enforcement experience but instead populated by clergy and residents with medical backgrounds.

That is likely to further concern the police officers union. And there remains disagreement between City Council and Mayor Lovely Warren over the board's authority to discipline officers.

In recent court filings, Warren, through the city's attorney, appeared to invite a ruling that would strip the board of that power.

Tina Yee/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

The volunteer board will comprise nine members. Four members are nominated by City Council, one from each Council district; one member is nominated by the mayor; and the remaining four come from names submitted by the grassroots Police Accountability Board Alliance. The first appointees are:

Dr. Robert Harrison III (east), a physician specializing in internal medicine with a sub-speciality in endocrinology and metabolism. He is a Navy veteran who has lived in Rochester since 1993.

Ida Perez (northeast), director of Ibero Children and Family Stability Services and longtime neighborhood and community volunteer. She is a mother, grandmother and Rochester native.

Rabbi Drorah Setel (northwest), leader of Temple Emanu-El, a Reform synagogue in Irondequoit and a trained mediator.

The Rev. Matthew Nickoloff (south), founding priest of the South Wedge Mission and a Rochester native who is married with three children.

Jonathan Dollhopf (PABA), a Korean-adoptee who serves as a deaf systems advocate who moved to Rochester six years ago.

Miquel Powell (PABA), a substance abuse therapist who founded The Reentry & Community Development Center.

Shani Wilson (PABA), a physician assistant with expertise in LGBTQ+ health and minority health disparities with an emphasis on mental health.

Dr. Celia McIntosh (PABA), a registered nurse with certifications in areas including advanced stroke, neuroscience, family and psychiatric mental health.

The Rev. Rickey B. Harvey (mayor), senior pastor at Mount Olivet Baptist Church the past 11 years, and the father of four, he has worked with communities and national leaders on issues racial profiling, discrimination and marginalizing.

{{props.notification}} {{props.tag}} {{props.expression}} {{props.linkSubscribe.text}} {{#modules.acquisition.inline}}{{/modules.acquisition.inline}} ... Our reporting. Your stories. Get unlimited digital access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now

All initial terms are until June 30, after which terms will be staggered.

The board, as proposed, also would have subpoena power as it investigates allegations of misconduct, and be charged with assessing RPD policies and practices.

Board membership was limited, by statute, to allow no more than one member with law enforcement background. RPD command staff will be made available to the board to answer questions.

Court to rule on board's legal standing

Warren raised concerns about the disciplinary authority early on, offering up a different model that would have left board findings on discipline as advisory opinions. City Council tabled her proposal last January, opting for a model in which the board could mandate discipline for officers up to and including the chief.

An overwhelming majority of city voters backed that model in November.

The Friday court filings relate to a lawsuit brought by the police officers union seeking to block the board, as proposed. Whether the board's authority runs afoul of state law is "not clear," according to city Deputy Corporation Counsel Patrick Beath, who resurrected Warren's earlier proposal and submitedt it to the court, seemingly as a conflict-free option.

State Supreme Court Justice John Ark is preparing to rule on the underpinnings of the board. In its lawsuit and subsequent filings, the union has maintained that the board is illegal and invalid, as proposed.

City Council, through its outside attorneys, countered that the mayor's earlier proposal is not up for consideration.

Ark had asked a series of questions, probing the extent of board authority and rights of police officers. Beath largely deferred to City Council, but where applicable sought to mute any assertion that existing case law or statutes allow for delegating disciplinary authority, while returning more than once to how the mayor's proposal avoided potential conflicts.

City Council is represented by a team of lawyers from New York City-based Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady. They provided a full-throated defense of the board, as approved. But, they added, should Ark strike down any portion of the local law establishing the board, City Council had included a "severability" clause in the underlying local law, so "the remaining portions of the law would remain in effect."

"If the Court were to find the provision requiring the Police Chief to impose the discipline decided by the PAB (Police Accountability Board) to be invalid," City Council's attorneys argued, "the other provisions, including the PAB’s investigation and reporting powers and ability to make findings of facts and recommend discipline, would remain in force."

Bylaws to be established after hirings

A total of 61 people submitted applications to City Council, and an additional 12 names were provided by the Police Accountability Board Alliance.

"I was impressed with the number of people who applied, and the depth of their interest in participating," said City Council President Loretta Scott, also noting the diversity among applicants.

The first step for the new board, once appointed, will be to hire an executive director and staff, and to establish bylaws, she said.

The city currently has an advisory board with limited authority that, along with the department's own internal review process, has sustained a fraction of citizen complaints resulting in scant disciplinary action, records show. That board will remain in place at least until the executive director is hired.

Warren included $350,000 in her 2019-20 budget proposal to cover the board's first partial year of the operations. A spokesman for the mayor had previously said she was supportive of the process playing out and would comply with the results of the referendum.