By: Jacob Kessler
In a letter emailed to The Village Reporter, Fayette Village Administrator Ric Beals, who previously worked for the villages of Montpelier and West Unity, submitted the following letter of resignation.
“Dear Mayor and Elected Officials, I am writing to notify you that I am resigning from my position as Village Administrator with the Village of Fayette.”
“My last day of employment will be April 14, 2023. However, I will be taking vacation on April 14, 2023. I appreciate the opportunity I have been given to serve the village in this capacity, but must admit, the dysfunction in the village government was too much for me to overcome at this stage of my career.”
“I didn’t expect to inherit a split council and not be allowed or trusted to do the job I was appointed to do.”
“Most of the dysfunction, in my opinion, comes from the volatility of the mayor. In my short time here, he has called everyone in this office a liar, had shouting matches with the VFO and Police Chief, and talked down to and insulted the Office Manager and myself.”
“Accusing everyone here of being non-communicative, while he manipulates things behind the scenes with no communication.”
“In a village administrator type of government the mayor oversees the daily operation of the village through his direct reports; the police chief, fiscal officer and village administrator.”
“The mayor also determines the need for temporary or permanent committees, boards and commissions, filling the positions respectively with approval of council.”
“The mayor does not run all departments of the village, he “oversees through direct reports.” Our mayor is over-reaching and alienating our employees. The tension in this office is off the charts.”
“Quite honestly, I just don’t have the desire and/or energy to continue to deal with the dysfunction. The office staff here, your office manager, VFO, and police chief are top notch people who want nothing more than to make Fayette the best it can be, and I shared that vision.”
“Unfortunately, they also struggle with constant interference from the mayor, while trying to do the job they also have been appointed to do.”
“You have a hardworking DPW, although some of the dysfunction comes from there as well, as the supervisor is allowed to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, with the backing of the mayor.”
“I do plan to spend the rest of my life in Fayette and will be looking to perhaps serve the community in some other capacity at some point.”
“I wish nothing but the best for everyone here, and I hope the problems here in our village government can be rectified.”
“I am very willing to share my views with anyone who would like to discuss them with me prior to my last day.”
Fayette Mayor Dave Borer was contacted for comment about what was included in the letter. Mr. Borer stated that he refutes everything that was in the letter saying, “It all comes down to a serious lack of job performance.”
“I had hoped that he would be a good employee but almost from the get-go there were issues.”
“He had even made the comment to me that he hoped the job lasted for at least six months in order to get the las step in his OPERS retirement whatever that means.”
“He was just not working up to par whatsoever and almost cost us quite a few dollars in grant money he wasn’t going to apply for.”
“Now he is lashing out at me when I was trying to help him and make sure that things got done and he was fighting me every step of the way.”
“We almost missed out on a grant opportunity, and I only found out about it when there were only two days left until the deadline.”
“I refute everything that he has put into his resignation. It really saddens me for someone to come in and try to do this to the village.”
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com