Police union leaders say a revised retire-rehire plan for Deputy Chief Robert Chabali, which was introduced to Dayton City Commission on Wednesday, is a compromise they can support.

Chabali, a 34-year Dayton police veteran, must retire Feb. 15. The ordinance would trim Chabali’s rehire period from the originally proposed two years to one year. Dayton FOP President Mike Galbraith said the compromise is fair, and City Commission will vote on the ordinance next Wednesday.

Galbraith, who criticized the initial plan, said he remains opposed to retire-rehire practices in principle, saying cities should always be doing succession planning that allows experienced employees to move up.

Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said rehiring Chabali is necessary because after a slew of retirements, most of the police command staff have only moved into their current positions in the past two years.

City commissioners and police officials emphasized the argument was not about Chabali himself, but rather the rehire-retire principle.

A 2006 Dayton ordinance allowed the city to rehire retired city employees through March 1, 2008, but prohibited such rehirings after that date. Galbraith said the city was “ahead of the game” to enact that ordinance and urged commissioners to keep it in place.

Dayton city attorney John Danish said the ordinance approving Chabali’s rehire would be an exception to the 2006 ordinance, not an amendment opening the door to other retire-rehires.

Danish said he is comfortable with the legality of the Chabali ordinance, but he said if the city considered more retire-rehires, it should probably repeal the 2006 ordinance, rather than make exception after exception.

Comments this week from City Commissioners made further rehires seem unlikely. Joey Williams said he “reluctantly” agreed the rehire is best for the city, adding, “It’s very important to try our best to promote from within, and this extra time will grant us that.”

Nan Whaley called the 2006 ordinance limiting retire-rehires “my favorite ordinance that we’ve written to date.”

“I expect that management will do everything in its power (in the next year) to make sure that those majors are competent and ready to stand for assistant chief,” she said.