Phoenix City Council Squabble: Name-Calling Follows Alleged Push for Police Chief's Dismissal

Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio says fellow Councilman Mike Nowakowski committed an "illegal act" by suggesting to a city official that the police chief be fired.Nowakowski has responded by calling DiCiccio a "liar."The Arizona Republic's Scott Wong covers the city soap opera today in an article that suggests Nowakowski could...

By Ray Stern

May 13, 2009

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Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio says fellow Councilman Mike Nowakowski committed an "illegal act" by suggesting to a city official that the police chief be fired.
Nowakowski has responded by calling DiCiccio a "liar."

The Arizona Republic's Scott Wong covers the city soap opera today in an article that suggests Nowakowski could be in trouble:

Assistant City Manager Alton Washington told DiCiccio and at least one other councilman that Nowakowski had urged him to fire Harris, DiCiccio said. Washington declined to comment.

If the allegations are true, it would be a violation of the city charter, which prohibits the council from directing anyone in the City Manager's Office to appoint, remove or discipline city employees, including the police chief.

The mess stems from the police union's tiff with the police chief, Jack Harris, in which Nowakowski appears to have taken sides.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.