Attorney Michael Bivens is the mayor of Whitehall.
Whitehall now finds itself in the middle of a recall election supported, in part, by some leaders of the local police union.
It’s an ironic scenario given that this is a community that is making measurable progress.
Crime is at historic lows. Violent crime fell nearly 29 percent over the past year, while robberies dropped by more than 40 percent. The number of police officers will soon be the largest force in city history.
In 2025, the independent National Law Enforcement Survey found that Whitehall residents rated their police department above national benchmarks across virtually every major category measured. Seventy-five percent rated the overall quality of police services as good or excellent.
Those accomplishments belong to the residents, businesses, elected officials who have supported public safety initiatives, and the dedicated officers and staff of the Whitehall Division of Police who serve the community every day.
Residents reported strong confidence in officer fairness, professionalism, accountability, responsiveness and integrity.
Among residents who had direct interactions with officers, ratings exceeded national averages in every major service category, including fairness, responsiveness, timeliness, officer knowledge and respectful treatment.
The confidence was echoed by employees in a 2025 anonymous, independent survey.
An increasingly aggressive campaign
Inside the organization, employee surveys found similarly strong levels of job satisfaction and trust in leadership.
Recruitment efforts have been successful, staffing continues to grow, and six new officers are expected to join the department, bringing staffing to the highest level—and most diverse group—in Whitehall’s history.
These are the indicators of an organization moving forward and acting responsively and responsibly to community needs.
That distinction matters because this recall effort is not about the officers of the Whitehall Division of Police whose professionalism, dedication and commitment to public service are reflected in those results.
Nor is this controversy necessarily about the rank-and-file membership of the Fraternal Order of Police. Union members hold a variety of views and likely have varying levels of involvement in the political disputes that have unfolded in recent years.
Instead, the issue facing Whitehall today has been driven by a handful of leaders from the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9. They have publicly owned that role and reinforced it through their support of the recall campaign.
For several years, these top-ranking union officials have pursued an increasingly aggressive campaign against Whitehall’s police leadership and any elected official who dared to say no to their demands. Complaints were filed. Public attacks followed. Misleading narratives were promoted, especially on social media. Pressure campaigns expanded. When one effort failed, another quickly emerged.
Disagreement is healthy.
Every organization and every government benefits from honest debate. However, disagreement becomes something else when the goal is no longer persuasion, but submission.
Six complaints filed by FOP since 2024 with the State Employment Relations Board were reviewed and dismissed with findings of no probable cause.
At that point, most people would have accepted the outcome, disagreed if they wished, and moved forward.
Instead, the campaign intensified. Social posts were made, and lobbying ensued.
Banging their chest
The same leaders of Capital City Lodge #9 who unsuccessfully sought to remove police leadership through administrative complaints, misleading social posts and other pressure tactics are now pushing to remove elected officials who refused to buckle to their demands.
That is how Whitehall arrived at this recall election.
Not because crime is rising. Not because residents lost confidence in their police department. And not because independent investigations uncovered wrongdoing.
The recall is occurring because a small group of FOP leaders refused to accept outcomes they did not like and continued escalating their campaign after every other avenue failed.
Whitehall residents should ask some tough questions: If crime is down, staffing is up, residents support the department, employee morale is strong, and independent agencies repeatedly rejected allegations of wrongdoing, why are FOP Lodge #9 leaders still trying to remove the very people who helped guide that progress?
And why are those same union officials seeking to remove elected officials who supported that direction, while aligning themselves with public figures whose own conduct and judgment have generated serious concern within the community?
When does accountability dissolve into intimidation? When does advocacy degrade to bullying?
Residents should recognize bullying for what it is: an attempt to obtain through pressure what could not be obtained through persuasion, evidence, independent review or public support.
This recall election is not fundamentally about public safety, the administration and performance of the Whitehall Police Department, or even Whitehall governance overall.
It is about whether a small group of individuals should be allowed to create instability and division after repeatedly failing to achieve their objectives through every other avenue available to them.
Whitehall is moving forward. Will voters protect that progress or allow themselves to be pulled backward by a meritless takeover?
Attorney Michael Bivens is the mayor of Whitehall.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Whitehall mayor: Recall is FOP’s revenge on officials it couldn’t bully into submission
Reporting by Michael Bivens, Guest columnist / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Michael Bivens, Guest columnist | USA TODAY Network
