Mayor appoints liaison to work out differences with police chief and union

(7/28/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- It's shaping up to be a good old Texas showdown. On one side is Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt, and on the other is Police Union President Hans Marticiuc. The union head says many officers don't have confidence in the chief and want him to step down. But Hurtt says he's not going anywhere. Now an independent voice has been named to work out differences between the two.

Earlier this month, the police union released results of a survey about the chief. In the survey, one officer said, "He's making changes that aren't necessary."

Another officer comments, "He leads by threats and punishment."

There's been a lot of finger pointing between both sides over the past few weeks. Now Mayor Bill White has stepped in to try to get Hurtt and the union to work things out. Some city leaders are calling the ongoing battle between the chief and the union a growing distraction. So in a move to try to bring both sides together Mayor White has appointed an independent liaison, hoping to find some middle ground.

"Mayor White called me, and asked me if I would help bringing a better understanding between Chief Hurtt and the Houston police officer's union," said Mike Nichols.

Nichols last worked on the police pension problem. The corporate executive says he believes he can effectively bring both sides to some sort of an agreement. The union is skeptical, but willing to try.

Marticuic said, "It's not about the union, it's about officers on the street. This is what we've heard about for a year now. Chief Hurtt's not going to listen to us, and I'm not sure he's going to listen to a third party. But we're willing work this out if we can."

Other city leaders hope Nichols can work some magic, because they would rather see a police department focused on fighting crime, instead of fighting each other.

"If Mr. Nichols gets to a point of building a bridge, that's a good thing," said Houston city councilmember Adrian Garcia. "People don't want to be distracted with the issue."

Nichols just agreed to volunteer as a liaison on Friday. He hasn't formulated his exact plans on when both sides will meet yet. But he expects it to be sooner, rather than later.
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)

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