Smith returns to SPD

At a glance: Todd Smith's return• After a long legal battle, city officials reinstated Todd Smith as a full-time police officer this past week.• Smith was fired in 2012 for allegedly exchanging nude photos with a supervisor's significant other via text messaging and being dishonest about it.• Smith will also receive $62,000 as compensation for work time he missed because of the wrongful termination.ouriel@sanduskyregister.comAfter fighting for almost three years, and receiving support from two impartial legal experts, one man won his drawn-out battle against the city.His rewards?First and foremost, Todd Smith can once again call himself a full-time Sandusky police officer.This past week, city officials reinstated Smith, who resumed normal patroller duties.And second, Smith obtained $62,000 in taxpayer funds as compensation for work time he missed because of the wrongful termination.Smith's return concludes a tumultuous love-triangle saga, involving him, his former supervisor, Sandusky police Officer Stephen Ritterbach, and Ritterbach's significant other, Jennifer:• In fall 2011, Jennifer reportedly asked Smith if he wanted to have sex with her.• In the months following, allegations surfaced of Smith swapping nude photos with Jennifer and later being dishonest to another police commander about these interactions.• In spring 2012, former city manager Nicole Ard — fired earlier this year for failing to perform her job duties — terminated Smth and Ritterbach for a variety of reasons. Ritterbach, a sergeant before being fired, returned to Sandusky police in February 2013 and was demoted to an officer.During the past two years, a pair of outside rulings by an arbitrator and judge concluded the city improperly terminated Smith:• In 2013, an arbitrator supported Smith, writing off his indiscretions as something "comparable to any other officer's off-duty review of the content of 'Playboy' magazine or watching an X-rated film."• This fall, a judge also backed Smith, indicating "Sandusky has not argued and did not discharge Smith for violating any law."City officials could have kept fighting Smith's return, however, they decided to surrender."We believed that it made the most sense, based on where we were at in the appeals process," city manager Eric Wobser said.Ever since Smith's firing, police commanders stashed away money each pay period — the exact amount equaling what Smith would have earned had he worked.They did this to prepare for Smith's possible return — and to avoid scrambling to find one lump sum in the department's cash-strapped budget. All told, Smith banked $132,000 during his "time off." After taxes and pension payments, Smith's total amount dropped down to $62,000.No officer has or will lose his or her job because of Smith's reinstatement. If city officials didn't squirrel away funds during the past two-plus years, then to adequately pay off Smith they might have been forced to lay off a police officer.Smith will become the department's 46th active, full-time officer.Sandusky police Chief John Orzech said Smith and Ritterbach will work on different shifts to avoid conflict with one another.City fights Smith, not RitterbachThe tribulations of Stephen Ritterbach and Todd Smith mirror one another to a particular point.Both were fired for their alleged actions.Both received vindication from an arbitrator when, in separate cases, an official mandated each one return to work and receive back pay, compensating them for all the time they missed in between getting fired and restarting.But the similarities stop there.City officials never disputed Ritterbach's return, yet they protested Smith's comeback.Why they battled Smith's return for so long — but not Ritterbach's — remains a mystery. To this date, officials never answered why they fought Smith's case more aggressively than Ritterbach's.The city fired Ritterbach for conduct unbecoming of an officer, harassment, making inappropriate comments, gossip, spreading false information about staff, dishonesty and insubordination.Ritterbach, a former sergeant, returned to work in February 2013, although he was demoted to an officer.Smith, meanwhile, was dismissed for dishonesty, insubordination and conduct unbecoming of an officer. He returned to work this past week.Timeline of events involving Sandusky police officers Todd Smith and Stephen Ritterbach and Ritterbach's significant other, Jennifer:• Fall 2011: Jennifer asked Smith if he wanted to have sex with her.• Fall 2011: Jennifer, Stephen's fiancée at the time, told Smith that she and Stephen had an open relationship, and she said Stephen was OK with a possible sexual scenario involving all three.• March 2012: Smith told a supervisor he exchanged nude photos with Jennifer via text messages. The admission came days after Smith previously denied such actions to at least one police commander.• March 2012: When Stephen learned about the text messages, he told a lieutenant about his desire to shoot Smith.• April 2012: Former city manager Nicole Ard fired both Ritterbach and Smith.• February 2013: Ritterbach returned to the force after an arbitrator's ruling but was demoted from a sergeant to officer upon being reinstated. The decision to rehire Ritterbach came after an independent arbitrator sided with the officer's case. City officials didn't fight the arbitrator's ruling and paid Ritterbach about $22,000 in back pay for the time, and income, he missed out on.• April 2013: An arbitrator ruled Smith should be reinstated to the police force. The arbitrator rationalized Smith's indiscretions as seemingly something "comparable to any other officer's off-duty review of the content of 'Playboy' magazine or watching an X-rated film."• May 2013 through November 2014: The city continued contesting an arbitrator's ruling to reinstate Smith.• Early November 2014: Visiting common pleas court judge in Erie County ordered Sandusky administrators reinstate Smith.• This past week: Sandusky officials reinstate Smith and said he will receive $62,000 as compensation to offset work time he missed.Source: Register research