Residents petitioned to fire him as police chief. Now he's village administrator

The Village Council of Cleves voted to hire a new administrator Wednesday night. He’s the same man activists asked the village to fire from the Cleves police department in 2020, citing a “history of excessive force.”

There was no public debate of the action before five members of council voted unanimously for an emergency ordinance to hire Justin Habig as village administrator, effective Sept. 1.

Mayor Chuck Birkholtz said he’s confident council made the right choice.

“What made him stand out? Very articulate, has a lot of good ideas about bringing economic development into Cleves and that’s exactly what we need,” Birkholtz said. “He’s been consistently trying to make Cleves a better place for a long, long time. As I said in the meeting, I did not know him in 2020, but I have certainly known him since.”

Habig said he’s looking forward to leading the village into the future.

“I’ve established great relationships with this community,” Habig said. “I’m extremely passionate about our success. And I look forward to working with the residents and the council to achieve those goals and make Cleves a wonderful place to live.”

Habig was the focus of a WCPO 9 I-Team investigation of police officers who found new jobs in law enforcement after resigning or being fired due to disciplinary action. The 2018 report detailed complaints against Habig before he was fired by Elmwood Place in 2016.

One of those complaints was filed by Candice Roper, who alleged Habig, while out of uniform, repeatedly kicked her in the leg and shoved her into a police car after another officer arrested her in November 2015.

"He was arrogant and he told me nothing was going to happen," Roper said about her complaint at the time. "And it didn't."

In 2020, Roper joined 1,227 activists on Change.org, in support of a “ Petition to Remove Interim Chief of Police Justin Habig from the Cleves, Ohio Force .”

In July 2020, the I-Team reported that Habig had no written complaints about his conduct in nearly four years of service in Cleves. His personnel file included several letters from residents complimenting his demeanor and professionalism.

By October, the Change.org petition was irrelevant because Cleves Village Council voted to disband its police department, citing budget concerns. Birkholtz tried to invalidate that vote with a lawsuit, alleging it “resulted from deliberations conducted in executive session” in violation of the Ohio Open Meetings Act.

The lawsuit failed to reverse the decision to replace the Cleves department with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. But it led to an agreed judgment entry that awarded Birkholtz $11,000 and a commitment by the village to engage in more public disclosure. Birkholtz was elected mayor of Cleves in November, 2023 and led the search process that resulted in Habig’s selection.

“I did not ask Justin Habig to apply,” Birkholtz told the council. “In fact, quite frankly, I’m not sure why he really wanted to do so, because he wasn’t treated very well within this village.”

In passing the ordinance as an emergency measure, Cleves avoided three public readings that would have allowed time for additional public comment.

“We really don’t have the time,” Birkholz told his colleagues. “We’ve been without a village administrator for five months.”

In an interview, Birkholtz said he asked Habig about his law enforcement history in job interviews that were held in executive session. He declined to reveal details of those discussions. He said an attorney for the village is doing an extensive background check on Habig to determine whether past allegations should prevent him from starting on Sept. 1.

“Reports can be made by anybody. Doesn’t mean they’re true,” Birkholtz said. “If there’s things that are in the background, and they haven’t been adjudicated, you can’t go on hearsay.”

In the meantime, Habig looks forward to improvements he can make with his new job.

“We need to improve our infrastructure,” Habig said. “We’re working towards the possibility of bringing our mayor’s court back to address quality of life issues in the village. We’re also looking to establish some revitalization and development in the area to make us more sustainable.”