New London — At its meeting tonight, the City Council will be asked to appropriate $20,000 to hire a lawyer to investigate the alleged misconduct of suspended Police Chief Margaret Ackley.

The proposal, put forth by the city administration, calls for spending $20,000 to hire attorney Kathleen Eldergill of the Manchester-based law firm Beck Eldergill to begin an "independent personnel investigation" of Ackley's alleged misconduct as police chief.

Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio was not made available to comment Monday, though Chief Administrative Officer Laura Natusch said Finizio "will not be commenting on a pending investigation."

Earlier this month, the City Council met with the mayor, the city attorney and the city risk manager behind closed doors to discuss its strategy to move forward with both the investigation of Ackley and the pending lawsuit Ackley has filed against the city.

Risk Manager Paul Gills had made a recommendation "relative to how the city is proceeding in relation to the investigation," Finizio said, and wanted to discuss it with the City Council in executive session.

The City Council took no formal action after returning from its executive session.

On July 31, Finizio suspended Ackley, with pay, "pending the outcome of an investigation into her conduct as chief." Finizio said he suspended Ackley because of allegations that she selectively targeted union leaders for discipline, withheld information about the public safety requirements for the Sailfest festival and deliberately failed to assign officers to Ocean Beach Park on the weekend of July 4 "in order to make a political budgetary point."

Ackley's suspension came one day after she filed a request for an injunction against the mayor as part of a pending lawsuit against the mayor and the city that she filed in 2013 in which she claims the Finizio reneged on terms of a new contract he signed with her.

In September, Finizio requested that the City Council move $92,500 from an economic development fund to pay 90-year-old William H. Webster - a former federal judge who also served as director of both the CIA and the FBI - to conduct the Ackley investigation.

After the council unanimously rejected Finizio's request, the mayor instead appointed Personnel Administrator Tina Collins to head the investigation in addition to her normal work duties.

In court, a hearing on Ackley's request for an injunction was placed on hold late last year as the two sides considered mediation. Finizio's attorney, Richard Burturla, and Ackley's attorney, Leon Rosenblatt, each had filed a request for a judicial alternate dispute resolution. The process is a voluntary and nonbinding process before a judge intended to resolve outstanding issues short of trial. The process is confidential.

Court records show a meeting between the two sides is scheduled for March 12 before Judge Michael Sheldon.

Deputy Chief Peter Reichard has served as acting chief since Ackley's suspension.

In December, the city confirmed Ackley was taking college classes as part of the city's scholarship and tuition program. The program is available to city employees "in good standing" and Board of Education members and awards up to $15,000 a year in tuition costs to a pool of applicants.

Ackley earned a salary of about $111,000 in the last fiscal year, according to city records.

Rosenblatt said the proposed change in investigators was "puzzling."

"First there are these phantom charges against Ackley. Then the assignment of a city official to do an investigation that either never occurred or the results were not what the mayor wanted," Rosenblatt said.

Rosenblatt contends Ackley's suspension was "payback" for the lawsuit. Of Eldergill, Rosenblatt said, "she's very smart, honest and a good lawyer."

Staff Writer Greg Smith contibuted to this report

c.young@theday.com

Twitter: @ColinAYoung