State ex rel. Lynch v. City of Cleveland

Fortunately the operative facts are not in dispute.

Nor is this court concerned with the relative qualifications of the relator and Frank W. Story, the present appointee, or with the relative merits of the statutory and the charter methods of appointing a chief of police.

The sole question before the court is one of law. Did the people of the city of Cleveland possess the political power to amend their charter and choose their own method for selecting their own chief of police other than from a civil service eligible list?

The respondents rely on the following provisions of Sections 3 and 7 of…