Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl won some praise on Monday for his decision to let his successor choose a new police chief. “I’m not going to go through that process,â€? Ravenstahl told reporters at Bakery Square in Larimer. “It wouldn’t be fair to the next mayor.â€? City Councilman Ricky Burgess and Tim Stevens, who chairs the Black Political Empowerment Project, had urged Ravenstahl to delay the hiring upon dropping out of the mayor’s race 10 days ago. Ravenstahl ousted Chief Nate Harper last month amid an FBI investigation. “I’m happy to hear that he agrees with our logic and has complied with our request,â€? Stevens said. In his first public appearance since quitting his re-election bid, Ravenstahl said he learned on Valentine’s Day about the FBI investigation into secret accounts that Harper apparently established at the Greater Pittsburgh Police Federal Credit Union. Harper has remained silent. According to her attorney, police finance manager Sandy Ganster said the accounts contained public money that was diverted into them on Harper’s orders. Ganster told her attorney she advised Public Safety Director Mike Huss about the accounts on Feb. 9. Huss waited five days to brief the mayor as FBI agents carted boxes of documents from police headquarters. “I don’t know if at that point he felt it was important to report that to me, or if he felt there was something wrong,â€? Ravenstahl said of Huss. “I feel he did what he felt needed to be done. My sense is the director has always been a professional.â€? Huss, who could not be reached, and the Law Department have been talking to the FBI almost daily since the Feb. 14 raid, Ravenstahl said. “We’ve been as open as we can with them, and we will continue to do that,â€? Ravenstahl said. In an email, Deputy Chief Paul Donaldson said he ordered a credit union account closed upon learning of its existence in January. Donaldson declined to identify the person he told to close the account. It’s unclear what happened to any money in the account. “My instructions to close the account were based on information that I received supporting the existence of such an account,â€? Donaldson said. A memo dated Jan. 18 by Officer Christie A. Gasiorowski, who worked in the police Special Events Office, raised concern about city checks being diverted to a credit union account. The checks were fees that businesses paid to use off-duty police officers for security or traffic control. Gasiorowski said Karen Palmer, an accountant in the police Personnel and Finance Office, documented the diversion of $31,000 worth of checks. Gasiorowski sent the memo to her superior, Sgt. Carol Ehlinger. Neither Palmer nor Ehlinger could be reached for comment. Ravenstahl said he was unaware of the memo. “There were obviously people within the police bureau who were aware of the account,â€? he said. “The chief never told us these accounts existed and how they were being used.â€? He said Huss is talking to officials in other cities about how they handle police moonlighting and may move supervision of off-duty security details out of the police bureau. Ravenstahl last month said he hired former Washington County District Attorney Steven Toprani to investigate police policies and procedures relating to moonlighting and officers’ owning outside businesses. Toprani said he expects to meet next week with Ravenstahl. “Whatever the best practices we find in other cities is probably what we will do,â€? Ravenstahl said. Ravenstahl said he discovered in early February that Harper last year formed a private security consulting business with three subordinate officers and a civilian police employee. Attorney Patrick Thomassey, who represents Cmdr. Eric Holmes, one of the officers, said Monday that the company will dissolve this year. Ravenstahl said he has not decided whether he’ll support someone in the mayor’s race. He said the person he wanted to run — former County Executive Dan Onorato, a Highmark Inc. executive — opted out of the campaign. “If there are five, six, seven candidates, I’ll probably stay out of it,â€? Ravenstahl said. Bob Bauder is a Trib Total Media staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312 or bbauder@tribweb.com. Staff writers Jeremy Boren and Bobby Kerlik contributed. Email Newsletters TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.