Ogden police chief Jon Greiner fired over Hatch Act

OGDEN — Police Chief Jon Greiner was fired Wednesday in an action city officials called "unwanted," "involuntary" and "unfair."

City officials said the termination was necessary in order for Ogden to continue receiving future federal grants and loans from the Federal Merit Systems Protection Board, pursuant to the Hatch Act.

Earlier this month, a federal panel ruled that the longtime police chief was in violation of the Hatch Act when he launched his candidacy for the state Senate in 2006. He subsequently went on to serve in the Utah Senate but did not seek re-election.

The Hatch Act prohibits the involvement of certain government employees in a partisan, political race if the entity they work for receives federal funding. The panel gave Greiner 60 days to resign following their ruling.

"We think (the Hatch Act) is a real antiquated, ridiculous law that has been inconsistently and unfairly applied to different people," Ogden Mayor-elect Mike Caldwell said.

Caldwell said the city has committed "a tremendous number of resources and time and energy" over the past five years to make sure Greiner had a fair, thorough hearing on the matter.

"He didn't, in our opinion, get a fair hearing at all," the mayor-elect said. "We don't feel due process was followed."

The federal government put a strict timeline on the issue, Caldwell said, giving Ogden until Dec. 30 to comply with the ruling.

"We didn't feel we had an opportunity to present all of our information," he said.

A news release from Ogden states that Greiner leaves his post in good standing and has an excellent record of success.

"If a law had been broken, it would have been much easier to jump in and make decisions with this," Caldwell said. "But no laws were broken. It was the federal government being a bully, and that's the most frustrating part."

Greiner began his time as a law enforcer in Ogden in 1973. He was named Utah Chief of the Year in 2005.

The city intends to fill the post internally, if possible, Caldwell said.

Contributing: Paul Nelson

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