My notes from last night's meeting:
The Planning and Zoning Commission, among other duties, addresses the relocation of property lines, proposed subdivisions and major projects, proposed changes in land usage, and zoning matters. The Architectural Board of Review examines and comments on proposed buildings to ensure the community’s standards are maintained. There are seven officers. One seat is vacant. Contact me or the Mayor if you would like to be a member. This group meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of a month if there is business to discuss. The member serves without pay. One Council member (me) and the Mayor are two of the seven voting members. The board met Thursday to review several items. Two new homes were approved to be built; one on Chardon Road and one on Milann. A new steel building was approved to be built and attached behind the old Office Max to allow for a basketball court for the new Aspire Fitness facility. The cell tower plan proposed at West Miller next to the freeway has been granted a 12-month extension of time. The subject of some concern among residents present was an application for a blood plasma donation center. The business is considering the building now shared with LaSalle furniture and Marc's. The public may speak at these and all public meetings to voice opinions and concerns, within a 3 minute limit. I had encouraged people to come speak and I was interested to hear their thoughts, and to hear from the company. One resident spoke in favor of the business and six spoke against it. We then listened to a presentation from the applicant. There were numerous questions and concerns raised from the public and from the board, in addition to my own. Finally, I asked that we refer this for further study and when asked, suggested the planning committee of council. The type of business does not seem to fit the current definitions in our zoning. It is more like an employer than retail. More discussion is needed. Council calls for a Special meeting whenever an urgent matter comes to its attention, with a minimum of 24 hours notice. Council moved to an executive session to address the legal position of the City on pending litigation matters. There have been writings and a threat by the Mayor that a lawsuit by a city union is imminent. A recent court decision of Weger vs. the City of Willoughby Hills that the temporary appointment of a law director cannot be made by the Mayor nor Council alone, and the ruling that the City won over the former law director and current prosecutor. The courts held that Council and the Mayor are separate, distinct and of equal importance. Information from an executive session behind closed doors to discuss pending or imminent litigation are issues that should not be discussed in public. If this discussion were to be held in public, it could compromise the position of the City and of the Taxpayer's best interest. It would be irresponsible to share confidential discussions, documents or letters meant for these types of legal matters. This puts at risk the position a City may or may not take in dealing with Attorneys or Unions and could compromise Taxpayer's best interest. There is also an Attorney/Client privilege issue. There were three items of legislation. First was a motion to address the Mayor's veto of certain items in our 2018 budget. The Council needed to vote to have a compete budget to submit by law. The motion to set aside the veto was passed 6-1. This budget primarily allows for more funds allocated to firefighters and paramedics and more road projects while reducing the administrative support staffing. There were other items that have been cut, mostly administrative, memberships, travel, and discretionary. The city has funded police, fire, and road work as well as the customary requirements of our community. We still have work to do but participating and voting on the city budget is the most important decisions that a city council makes. I have been clear about those priorities from my experience and from listening to my constituents; roads, police, fire and rescue come first. Another item was for a road salt purchase, that has an impending deadline. I'd like to buy more salt next year to make our roads safer for travel. That passed unanimously. Next was to appoint a specific other employee for Council to defend the City against a labor or employment lawsuit or controversy related to the implementation of the 2018 budget. That motion passed 6-1. I believe the court ruling on how neither the Council nor the Mayor having the ability to appoint a department head or a law director allowed for the council to employ a clerk or other employee it deems necessary for a specific reason. To protect the city from a lawsuit is s crucial reason. Council acted to protect the City. The legislation to employ an attorney to represent the Taxpayer's interests in the appeal of the Weger vs the City of Willoughby Hills was left on first reading. When a taxpayer has sued the city, the right and obligation to protect the City becomes difficult when the person who sued is also the Mayor of the city. The award to the taxpayer – the Mayor – for attorney fees and costs will come from the Willoughby Hills general fund, from taxpayer's dollars. The defense of the case of Weger vs the City of Willoughby Hills was paid for by the City's insurance provider. Council meets again on Thursday, April 12th in a Regular meeting. Here is a link to the audio: http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0405.18-Pt-1.MP3 Part two is about 47 minutes: http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0405.18-Pt-2.MP3 If you have been following the city news lately, there has been no Mayor's veto of the 2018 budget presented to our Council clerk and city hall is open. Operations continue as normal, as far as I can tell.
In other news, today the court ruled in favor of the defendant, City Council and the City of Willoughby Hills, on most of the cases filed against us by the Mayor and Bob Weger as a taxpayer, the former law director Lobe and the current prosecutor Germano. Dismissed were demands of indemnification of the former law director, to derail the process to decide on the prosecutor's position, and if there was a violation of open meetings act, All ruled in favor of your Council. and the City The legislative authority plays no role in the appointment of a law director, the court ruled. Therefore, the City currently has no law director. Court agreed that what I and most all of Council has saying since September; the Mayor needs to produce a person as a law director and department head in which four members will confirm. We followed legal advice that Council could create the legislation to temporarily fill the role, and the legal minds are thinking about an appeal. However, for now, the City has no law director. The Court acknowledged there was a significant reason for Council to create the legislation in good faith, however our city Charter is the authority. Should we add something to the Charter to address this issue? For example now, if there is a vacancy on Council, if the Council doesn't fill the spot the Mayor can appoint in 30 days. It is simply irresponsible for the Mayor to sit on an appointment, hide resumes from council, and not work collaboratively with the legislative body. The visiting Judge ruled that neither the Mayor nor the Council has the sole authority to appoint an Acting Law Director or other Acting Department Head. The only way to appoint a Law Director is appointment by the Mayor with confirmation by a majority vote of Council. In denying the remaining claims by Germano and Lobe against Willoughby Hills, it is time for Mayor Weger to work with Council and stop these lawsuits. Council certainly could have sued the Mayor for his "appointments" but chose not too. Reasonable people try to work together in public bodies, they do not resort to lawsuits. Now Bob Weger, as a private citizen who filed the suit wants us, the taxpayers, to pay for his attorney and all the costs to file his lawsuit. I again asked - no implored him- at our last meeting to provide the names of credible candidates for Law Director who can have four votes to be confirmed. Work together, stop going to court for negative publicity of our city, and do your job. Most residents agree on these simple points. A Special Council meeting was held last night with only item for business was to pass the 2018 budget. Council was blessed with a devotional, a Holy Thursday prayer led by Pastor Dan Delembo from Willoughby Hills Calvary Assembly Church. This was a very fitting acknowledgment of the most Holy week for Christians. The date of our meeting was unavoidable as the city budget is due to state and county government laws to be filed by March 31st of each year.
Council moved to Executive Session for purposes that are allowed by state law; pending or imminent litigation. It is unfortunate that our city has to endure attacks from special interests but Council has a duty to protect you, our taxpayer's funds and keep the city moving forward. That meeting lasted about an hour. Audio link to the opening:http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0329.18-Pt-1.MP3 After returning from that session, Council held public portion to hear from residents. While a couple people seem to resort to political and personal attacks, most members of the public gave thoughtful comments on the budget. Roughly half the people spoke in favor of this compromise budget and thanked Council for their hard work half wanted to have it changed to fulfill other needs. Council Vice President Plecnik , Council woman Laura Pizmoht and I all made comments prior to voting regarding the budget. Good budgets are compromises that first and foremost are balanced; we cannot plan to spend more than we take in. Next is to assign priorities. I and others on council have been clear after listening to our residents and business owners that Roads, Police and Fire & Rescue safety are the City's top priorities. I commented that those are the things that only city government can provide therefore it is a mandate. Other services are nice to have and certainly desirable, but not imperative. The largest budget item in a large service organization like a city is salaries and benefits. Therefore, when significant cuts are required, unfortunately that impacts personnel. You cannot find enough saving by not buying equipment. Our city has had an increased population of seniors, and 911 calls for EMS have risen dramatically. Funding to our Fire and EMS have been reduced and that trend cannot continue or lives will be lost. Passing this budget redirects funds from administrative support staff to hiring firefighters and paramedics to increase staffing level in our department to six. As a community, we need to do more but that is a good first step in the right direction. Salting and plowing roads for driver's safety is another priority. If your son or daughter were to be seriously injured or worse, die after hitting a tree because their car slid off an un-salted, un-plowed road how would you feel? With this funding level adjustment, the city should be able to pave two additional roads, like Somrak and Jennie along with Red Fox and Kennelly this year. These are some of the worst roads in our city according to our city engineer. I will hold a Service meeting soon to discuss the exact plan for this year. Shifting about $300,000 to fund roads and firefighters not only this year but ongoing years will help keep the city on track to be the best it can be. Improving the quality of life for our residents and attracting good business to come here and to stay here will help us as residents to support our tax base that provide for these essential services. Economic development remains a problem that frustrates our Council. Having a massage parlor (now closed thankfully) and gambling storefronts this administration allows does nothing to help our image. A proposal to open a blood plasma donation center will be on the next Planning and Zoning meeting agenda next Thursday, April 5, at 7pm. I invited the public (and you my reader) to attend to voice your opinion. I do not believe that a center that preys on poor, desperate people to sell their blood is a positive in our community, and certainly does not support the kind of vision I see for our future. Audio link (42minutes) http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0329.18-Pt-2.MP3 City Budget is always the biggest and most important business a city council has to consider. Thursday March 22nd a finance meeting was held prior to the regularly scheduled council to discuss the 2018 spending in detail.
The acceptance of a business to move into Willoughby Hills through an incentive tax abatement was the first matter addressed. I am glad to announce that Hospice of the Western Reserve will locate as much as 4 million dollars in payroll here in our city. They will occupy a significant portion of the Chagrin North building on Chardon near SOM in a space long vacant. Council has the ability to attract this type of economic activity through our manner of exercise clause prescribed in our Charter, just like Council has the ability to create legislation when the Charter is silent on a particular matter. We welcome Hospice of the Western Reserve to Willoughby Hills! I am trying to work with our Mayor and Finance Director to close the gap the Mayor proposed that spend almost $300,000 more than we are projected to take in. Council asked for cuts or a plan to balance the budget. The administration returned a proposal that cut some areas. Regrettably, their only significant cut was to the position of law director. However, that is not possible until the Mayor proposes someone to fill the role that at least 4 members of Council will confirm. Our Charter’s requirement was changed by voters in 2008, under this current Mayor’s commission. He has failed to deliver. I strongly urged him to work with Council to create a consensus and stop suing the city so we can save on legal fees. Our city cannot operate effectively without legal advice. And competent advice is not free. Budget cuts There are some cuts for administrative niceties like travel and discretionary spending. I was surprised the Mayor wanted to table a new plow truck until next year. I will check into the need in more detail. Council refused to consider cuts for things like pool subsidy and the very small appropriations for a couple recreation programs. Our resident’s families and children don’t need to suffer because of administrative bloat. We need serious savings in administrative overhead so we can pave more roads, hire firefighters and paramedics to save lives, and keep police patrolling our streets working to fight crime. This is the clear and adamantly stated goals that I and the vast majority of Council have promised to deliver, and we will. The regular Council meeting had 6 pieces of legislation to consider. The acting city prosecutor ordinance will be held back due to the current Willoughby Hill city prosecutor suing the city in which he works. The next matter is a memorandum of understanding with the sports league. This was referred in January to the chair of our Recreation Committee of Council who has called two meetings but cancelled them both, and has failed to attend the last two council meetings, including last night. I was informed after the meeting the Councilman Hallum emailed our clerk that he will not attend the Special Meeting called for next Thursday to pass the budget, which is the most important business a city council has to do in a given year. I asked the Mayor if the signups for the baseball season have been impacted, or is there a problem without a current operating agreement. He could not answer the question. This is beyond frustrating for us. The budget ordinance was read a 3rd time. A routine ordinance to align city ordinances with Ohio Revised Code was passed in an urgent manner due to potential liability on income tax issues. We passed the earlier mentioned ordinance for the incentive to Hospice of the Western Reserve. A Resolution to recognize city resident Aiden Johnson on the attainment of Eagle Scout was passed. He is a bright young man who has a great future ahead of him. Safe meetings Council meetings need to be a place where residents feel safe and free to participate in civil discourse. A certain city employee seems to incite people to disrupt council meetings as well as speak out from the back row. I recognize that decisions like budget cuts affect city employee’s personal economy and their paycheck. However, decisions that council makes are for the betterment of the residents we serve, not to the betterment of excessive salaries and perks. I have heard back after the meeting that several residents were deeply concerned of the outbreak and disrespect that a certain employee and a resident displayed by acting out. When I am told that a resident went out to buy MACE today because she felt threatened it causes me great concern. I urge the Mayor to demand that a city employee must either restrain themselves and act civil or do not attend these meetings. Council passed unanimously, a motion to request the Mayor remove a member of the Recreation Commission duties due to his inappropriate behavior and language at the Mayor’s political event, a town hall, toward a resident, a mother with her family present, and public official. I witnessed this personally and was appalled. We can do so much better as a community than to have these issues. In other work... Today, along with Council President Fellows and Councilwoman Pizmoht, I met with a representative of the Cleveland Restoration Society at the Maplegrove Grange. We discussed the historic nature of the building and how our city can continue to preserve it and recognize other worthwhile property around our city. I walked the cemetery after they left and urge you to take a look as well. Please feel free to give me suggestions as to how we can improve the place we honor our city’s departed residents. We will meet again in Special session on Thursday March 29th at 7pm. The audio below is a large file, it was a two hour meeting, and did not include the preceeding hour-long Finance meeting. http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0322.18.MP3 We started the evening with three committee meetings. I was the Chairperson for Service and Safety. I opened the meeting for discussion with our our Road Superintendent, as it relates to this year's budget Council was presented that is a $270,000 General Fund deficit. We discussed replacing service garage 6 doors, raise headers and make down to 3 doors. Advised him to acquire multiple quotes. Add a plow truck for this year, to replace truck #2, one of the older ones. We should be in good shape for about 5 years then.
Spoke about 4-5 stormwater projects: Pleasant Valley, Dodd Rd “cage”, Rockefeller Rd and Graylock Rd SW repair and footbridge by Graylock and eliminate that footbridge. Lots of asphalt patching to do. 99% complete on Community Center being switched over to LED lights. The rest of the Police, City Hall, outside Service, all done. This summer for next year's budget, making the salt dome larger or build a new one. 1000 ton capacity, some issues with getting salt. Cargill supplied delays. 300 tons on hand, major event, needs 400-500 tons. We had to skimp. 3 snowstorm events, goes through fast. Had a couple situations Cargill could not supply, we could not store. Guesstimate was $125-150 with existing. Road Paving projects this year: Red Fox; Kenelley, May friars...was not exact but he will stick with the list. Signs for Pleasant Valley road bridge, hang PVC pipe to obstruct truck traffic, as a deterrent, like McDonald's has. Council President Nancy Fellows asked about new plow truck, it has an issue, it's done, but some delay for computerized issue. Will get back to us, next week for sure. (Since this was mentioned at the meeting, we heard we would have it Friday. It was delivered and is in our service garage! (see photo) WH uses 3200-3600 tons usual usage per year. WH can only hold 1000 tons in storage. Our neighbors Wickliffe and Kirtland can hold 4500 - would be looking for 2800-3000sf to house WH salt. Council Vice President Plecnik asked about a resident concern, stormwater, recurring Red Fox Pass, various grate sizes. Pipe size restrictions. Ran out of money to pave Red Fox last year, will use the Street Rating list. I asked “How are we on personnel?” Two eligible for retirement in 4 years, good for now. They work hard. Accomplish a lot. I extended compliments, and shared a few concerns that residents have had about snow events. Discussion about 4 truck routes that divide WH in quadrants midpoint at Rts 6&91. I talked about making adjustments to deal with weather changes within the city, and moving resources as weather permits. More drivers still wouldn't do it. Lack of salt was an issue. Feel free to call him, he said. Mayor had nothing to add. We were open to public comments and then adjourned. Starting just after 6p, I had a Safety Committee meeting - to discuss the budget proposed by the Mayor that is a $270,000 General Fund deficit. I thanked all, introduced and welcomed newly sworn in AFC Serazin and asked him about staffing levels, to help Council plan the budget for the upcoming year. Stable staffing, some overtime issues due to sickness and scheduling, has been cut down. Cutting down on overtime can be accomplished by adding part time personnel. We go to overtime when we staff at 5 because one call off we immediately go to overtime. Hiring full time offers continuity, a full time fire prevention officer, could eliminate half the overtime. We discussed fire equipment needs and then moved on to Police Chief Collins, who noted that adding full time officers was a great help. Some wish list going forward, 911 phone system, to be replaced, digital recording system and police phone system, all need to be changed. Still a little short on replacement plan for cars, should be 4 year. Now only 2-3. Radios need updated to digital countywide. I brought up how there have been some casual discussions about the Dispatch center in the past, communities are looking at a Central location, like Lake County. We should plan ahead, the cost of technology is “putting us out of business”. Forming a committee to explore, and to transition because there are full time people who need to plan ahead. Councilwoman Majka thanked Chief Collins for keeping Council in the loop on recent chase into Euclid and others issues, drug and theft, Mazda dealership, discussed a substation near her district. Collins working with owners of closed First Merit bank building to operate out of there daily, costs, negotiation this week. Operating computers, security alarms, call boxes, working with Mayor and owners to decide what costs involved. Also with our manpower and day shift are doing more checks, at the west side, more aggressively using automation license plate readers, patrol activity. A substation could help, with high presence. Adding two full time is the first increase in service that anyone can remember in a long, long time. Thanked them for being here and thanked them for their service to our community. Vice President Plecnik held a Finance meeting, I am a member along with President Fellows and Councilwoman Pizmoht. We reviewed the budget that has been presented to Council from the Mayor and it is in a deficit of $270,000 in the General Fund. The consensus was to not raise taxes to cover this but to find ways to balance the budget for this year. The budget is due to be passed at the last meeting in March. The regular council meeting began just after 7pm. We set aside 4 vetoes of the Mayor. The first was to hire a firm to investigate collusion between the former law director and Mayor with a newly formed “secretaries” union. Next was to clarify rules for email addresses and expending city funds for appropriate mass communications. Also set aside was the ordinance to engage the services of a firm to do a forensic audit of records to ensure funds are spent appropriately. Finally, the suspension of funds allocated from the WHISPER fund created by the Mayor and his secretary to give aid and personal service to senior citizens, without rules, regulations, and records that were acceptable to review. I asked our law director for legal guidance on the Mayor's objections, and he found them without merit. Council heard from the Lake County Engineer's office and Mr. Exley informed us that there is a proposed $5.00 license plate fee that would go to the Engineer's office for bridges and repair work. We thanked him for stopping by. Council left the Prosecutor hire on hold on third reading. There will be more clarity at the outcome of the Mayor's lawsuit against Willoughby Hills. A trial is set to begin on Monday March 5th. We again reiterated that all the conflict that has been created can be stopped, with the Mayor dropping his case against the city. A Mayor must follow laws that are passed by a Council. It's as simple as that. The budget is on first reading, the sports league contract on third reading was not able to be passed because the Council's Recreation Chairman Hallum has not held a meeting to review it. We also authorized gravel and asphalt purchases so our roads will be patched. Council recognized the heroic actions in the line of duty for two police officers. The entire Resolution was read and applauded by all. Council meeting audio link. It's about an hour. http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0222.18.MP3 You can listen to the full meeting audio at the link below, but here are the highlights...
Council continued work last night to address issues facing our community despite the adversarial posturing from the administration. It would be wise if the Mayor would drop his frivolous lawsuit against our city and the people's representatives. However, we continue to carry on despite these challenges. We welcomed newly appointed member Laura Lenz who received applause from the entire chamber. She was the unanimous pick to fill the vacancy after the resignation of a member who served three weeks. I was appointed the Chair of Planning & Zoning committee of Council, also to fill that vacancy. Law Director & Fire Chief Vacancy The Mayor reported that he placed an ad in the local paper for a law director and a fire chief. I believe our acting law director is doing a fine job to the best of his ability under these adverse conditions. We shall see if attorneys apply and will give that individual all due consideration. A fire chief should be brought to our city through a search committee, in my opinion, and with the cooperation of a larger network, with a task force of stakeholders, to find the best possible professional to lead this vital department. An ad in the local paper falls far short of the effort required. I disagreed on the points of contention with the Mayor's veto of a temporary solution for the position, which was to bring back our former chief. However, we let it stand for now since the Mayor swore in Council's original pick as acting chief after the debacle of the Mayor's first appointment, who lied on the application and to me, and to Council, and the civil service commission misinformed council. Lt. Tim Serazin, president of the Firefighter's Union will perform the duties of acting chief for the time being. He will remain a member of the union and I will support his efforts to guide the department. Our acting Law Director Steve Byron reported that the unfair labor practice complaint brought about by the efforts of the Mayor's secretary union formation, was dismissed. again. They filed a motion to reconsider. Frivolous lawsuits do not help Willoughby Hills move forward. Pleasant Valley bridge work will begin soon to get that reopened. A new Shell station will be built at Chardon and SOM mid summer. It will be a larger convenience store, without a car wash, and 5 new bays that should be easier to access. Legislation on 2nd reading includes the services of a city prosecutor (2018-4), and the agreement (2018-5) between the private sports league and the city. We passed the ordinance to hire a labor attorney to protect the city's interest in the case filed by the newly formed and possibly illegally formed, secretary's union. If municipal officials, namely the Mayor and former law director, colluded with the union, then a claim of legal malpractice may arise. We placed a cap on fees. Council adopted (2018-8) an updated administrative code in Chapter 167 for communication practices. This updates the use of email, website, mass mailings, mass communication, that is paid for from the general fund. The policy may be developed by the administration who, I would hope, will work with Council to agree on what is a best management practice. Council ratified (2018-9) the improper payment of funds to our former acting fire chief, when the Mayor failed to follow the law by coming to Council for the appropriate manner of compensation for this non-union employee. This matter was to set to prevent an innocent party from bearing the cost of the administration's error. Again, I thank Mr. Talcott for his service and wish him well in his retirement. Council voted (2018-10) to engage the services of a local firm to examine the city's financial books and audit city records. A small appropriation for this service will give our residents confidence that no disbursements of funds have been made outside of normal business practices. I am hopeful that we will welcome a clean report prior to passing the 2018 budget. Council will temporarily suspend (2018-11) the appropriation of funds from the WHISPER program to determine exactly what eligibility and requirements are in place. Legal liability is another concern. It was of serious concern that records requested last week were “not part of the program” when in my opinion and that of others, they should be. Councilwoman Pizmoht raised something like two dozen serious questions that need to be answered (listen at 1:15). Councilwoman Majka spoke as a “fairly new” two year council member, who had some questions and did comparison with other cities. She found that need-based senior residents who need help could receive it, but so were low income single parents. Also raising serious concerns over the volunteer screening, going into senior's homes, access to fiance records, medicine cabinets, etc. should need background checks especially for visiting a vulnerable senior. And we want volunteers to be safe. This is a “pause” button on the program, she said. (listen at 48:30). Lastly, we approved the purchase of three new police vehicles for this year (2018-12). Council President Fellows accepted the motion to move into executive session to discuss pending litigation and for consideration of a Complaint for the removal of the City Prosecutor. We returned from the session and voted to accept the Complaint and to serve it. Following the law of our city is paramount. No one is above the law. A hearing will be held in Council Chambers on Thursday, February 22nd at 8pm to consider the matter. http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0208.17-Pt-1.MP3 Finance
The Finance meeting started at 6:30. I brought up concerns about a $14,700 purchase order for an electrician to be on a retainer. We agreed we should look into the real need for retainer services versus pay by job. Councilwoman Laura Pizmoht questioned an expenditure of about $875 to a non-profit as a potential charitable donation out of city funds, authorized by the administration's whisper campaign. Also she questioned a P.O. for a law firm. The Mayor has refused to sign payment to our acting law director's firm. We directed the finance director to prepare the payments. Committee of the Whole was next. We had planned to address Councilwoman Grebenc's request for bringing back the Mayor's tree commission which has not met in 10 years. She was absent however. I updated all on my progress on communications and video of council meetings. (I also had an online meeting this morning for document sharing software that allows us to be more paperless and more efficient). There was discussion regarding the Mayor leaving the city for a two week vacation without informing department heads, the council president, nor council office. We also discussed the need for council oversight on a city newsletter or mailing that communicate with residents using taxpayer dollars. Abusing this means of communication to politicize positions and personal promotion is not appropriate. An ordinance will be referred to committee. Regular Business The regular meeting started with the announcement that newly elected Pat Grebenc tendered her resignation citing “personal reasons”. Council will accept resumes for her replacement. Council moved to set aside the Mayor's veto of both pieces of legislation from last meeting, The first, 2018-1, sets forth to not pay legal fees for bad behavior of city employees. This is the language that was added and council voted to override the veto of the Mayor: (b) Exclusions. In no event shall protection be offered under this Chapter by the City to: 1. Any dishonest, fraudulent, willful, intentional or malicious act or course of conduct of an official or employee; 2. Any act or course of conduct of an official or employee which is not performed on behalf of the City... I believe city resources are best not spent to defend dishonest or criminal behavior. The vote was 5-1 to set aside the veto (Hallum-no). The vote to set aside the 2018-2 because the acting Law Director will be moving to a new firm. Fire Chief Council voted to bring back our former Chief Harmon rather than confirm the Mayor's appointment. It was felt that Chief Harmon is the best man for the job at this time, to transition to new leadership, help with the search process, in my opinion has been very frustrating under this Mayor and civil service commission, and to bring our fire department budget under control. I expressed my thanks and respect to Tom Talcott for his many years of fire service. Other Business Council placed on first reading an ordinance to appoint a new city prosecutor, Bradley Hull who interviewed with Council for the acting law director position. I am impressed with Mr. Hull and feel a fresh start in the prosecutor's position will be a positive move forward. I made the motion to ask our Mayor to accept the resignation of the current prosecutor and to prepare charges for his actions that are not in the city's best interest and that violate his oath of office. Council needs to review the arrangement with the private sports group that handles recreation in our city. That was placed on first reading and referred to the recreation committee. Because of the questionable formation of a labor union for administrative staff at city hall, our city needs to engage the legal serves of an expert in labor law because of the actions of the former law director and our Mayor of potential collusion and legal malpractice to negotiate on the city's behalf. There will be a $25,000 cap. I hope less will be spent. I wish nothing had to be spent on this but we must protect the city's interest. Finally we passed legislation that puts our income tax collection laws in line with updated Ohio laws. Good News Two resolutions passed on recognizing the Willoughby Eastlake School of Innovation for the “All A Award”, and to Police Sergeant Matt Naegele on his achievement of graduation from the FBI National Academy. Excellent job and congrats to both! The meeting was 90 minutes long and there is a link to the audio below. http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0208.17-Pt-1.MP3 |
Dave's Notes from the MeetingsThis is an effort to keep my constituents informed, check this page for updates. Archives
January 2020
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