WARREN — Former Warren Police Chief Eric Merkel hand delivered a letter Tuesday to the Warren Civil Service Commission asking that the commission restore him to his position as chief and “investigate whether city officials procured and enforced (his) resignation through threats, coercion, political considerations and disparate treatment in violation of Ohio law.”
Civil Service Commission member Dan Letson, an attorney, confirmed Tuesday that Merkel did drop off the letter Tuesday at the civil service commission meeting held that day. Letson also confirmed that Merkel also notified the city on Aug. 23 that he was withdrawing his resignation and that the city refused to reinstate him.
Merkel’s letter asks that the civil service commission “recognize and give effect to my timely withdrawal of my resignation … and restore my position and civil-service rights.”
The letter alleges that his resignation, “which the city authored, was not voluntary. On July 8, 2026, I was given an ultimatum to resign or be terminated almost immediately after a complaint was made against me (less than 24 hours earlier).”
Merkel was referring to a July 7, 2026, complaint filed by an officer under his command, Frank Tempesta, that alleged Merkel made an expression of racial hatred to Tempesta in June of 2025 and that Merkel claimed pay for hours he did not work. The city referred the matter to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, but the agency declined to investigate the matter.
Merkel stated in his Tuesday letter that at the time of the “ultimatum” he had not been provided with with a copy of the complaint from Tempesta, “no meaningful investigation had been completed, no administrative or criminal charges had been filed and I had not been afforded the civil service process that would accompany an attempted removal.”
Merkel said he resigned as chief “because I was given no choice and was forced to do so. The city was well aware that I was six weeks away short of a crucial five-year point in the Ohio Police & Fire DROP (retirement) Program.”
He said a “separation of service before Aug. 22, 2026, would have resulted in a financial loss of approximately $75,000.” He said the city “expressed a willingness to extend my service to this critical date only if I offered my resignation immediately.”
He stated that the Tempesta complaint was from a “disgruntled, former detective who was upset over my lack of unconditional support for a grievance he filed in January of 2026, which could have a significant financial impact to the city when the arbitrator delivers his ruling in the coming weeks.”
The letter alleges that the city administration forced Merkel’s resignation “despite their awareness that the allegations in the (Tempesta) complaint did not warrant termination, as evidenced by their admission that it was accepted ‘solely to avoid costly and lengthy litigation.’”
The letter gives examples of other top Warren police officials receiving lesser punishment than him for incidents in which a police captain made a racial remark and a lieutenant “admitted to being intoxicated while driving around the southeast side of Warren in an unmarked police vehicle, armed, and using racial slurs.” The officer was promoted to captain several months later, the letter noted.
Merkel stated that he was “threatened almost immediately with termination before allegations were meaningfully investigated, despite his 31-year career with the department. The letter alleges that the city administration “has openly admitted to another employee that I was forced to resign because failing to remove me would be ‘political suicide.’”
When Warren Mayor Doug Franklin was asked Wednesday about Merkel’s allegations in the letter, he said he would like to comment but declined because the matter might end up in litigation.
“Civil Service has to hear it, so I will have more to say,” Franklin said, noting that the letter was written to the civil service commission.
The Tribune Chronicle obtained the email Merkel wrote to Franklin Aug. 23, 2026. It stated that “Effective immediately, I am withdrawing the letter of resignation signed by me on Oct 9, 2026. I will continue to use accrued vacation time until further notice.”
A letter the next day to Merkel from Franklin and Warren Safety Service Director Eddie Colbert stated that Merkel’s July 9, 2026, resignation letter as police chief was “accepted by the city under the terms and conditions set forth in your July 9, 2026, letter.
“Your request to withdraw your resignation is hereby declined. Accordingly, your resignation remains in effect., and your separation from employment will be effective at the close of business on Aug. 24, 2026, as provided in your resignation letter and the city’s acceptance thereto.”
STATE LAW
Merkel’s letter to the civil service commission cites state law that he says “expressly prohibits the use of ‘threats or coercion’ to induce a person in the classified service to resign.” Another statue “further provides that when a municipal civil service commission has reason to believe removal authority has been abused … the commission ‘shall make in investigation,’ including (of) conduct contrary to the ‘intent and spirit’ of the civil-service laws.”
The letter asks to be reinstated to police chief, back pay and benefits to Aug. 25, 2026, and restoration of his “civil-service rights.” It asks commission to obtain records concerning the comparative punishment for others and determine whether the city administration violated state law in the way it obtained and enforced Merkel’s resignation.
Letson said Tuesday the civil service commission is expected to take up Merkel’s letter at next month’s meeting, which is scheduled for 8 a.m. Oct. 6. One of the three civil service commission members was not present at Tuesday’s meeting, so the Merkel matter was “tabled” until the next meeting, Letson noted.
Letson said the city administration has requested that the civil service commission schedule a civil service test to fill the chief’s position. Letson said that also will be addressed at the Oct. 6 meeting.
WHY RESIGN?
At the time of Merkel’s resignation, the city released two letters in response to a Tribune Chronicle public-records request — one was from Merkel saying his departure was “in the best interests of the (police) department to move forward without controversy.”
Another was a letter from Safety Service Director Eddie Colbert to Merkel, accepting Merkel’s resignation. It stated Merkel’s resignation was being accepted “solely to avoid the potential of costly and lengthy litigation.”
A press release from Warren Mayor Doug Franklin stated that Merkel’s resignation was effective Aug. 24 because Merkel was going to use accrued vacation time beginning July 9 through Aug. 24, and the vacation leave would be “deducted from any separation pay to which he is entitled.”
Documents and information from attorney David Daugherty, the city’s personnel supervisor, indicated that Merkel was paid his usual two-week pay from the date of his resignation until the effective date of his resignation Aug. 24 — 32 days. That totaled $13,094.
Merkel is also set to be paid $42,966 on Sept. 21 to compensate him for the 840 unused vacation days Merkel was allowed to cash in as spelled out in the city’s policies and procedures manual that covers positions such as police chief, Daugherty said. The total of the two amounts is $56,060. That is the total of Merkel’s separation pay, Daugherty said. There is no separate document that details Merkel’s separation agreement with the city, Daugherty said.
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