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 Comments are closed.
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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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