PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
QUESTIONING FIRING … Resident and Chamber of Commerce President Kirsten Fruchey speaks to council in order to get answers regarding the firing of former Village Administrator Andy Glenn.
By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
The Delta Village Council held their meeting on Monday, June 10th. The meeting began at 5:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer.
Approval of minutes from the previous meeting held on May 20th and special meeting held on May 29th took place next before public wishing to address council were recognized.
First came Kirsten Fruchey who identified as both a member of the community and the Chamber of Commerce President. Fruchey read from a prepared statement that was approximately three and a half pages in length.
In this letter, she spoke about her positive interactions with previous Village Administrator Andy Glenn, who was let go by the village during the May 20th council meeting.
“Mr. Glenn’s dismissal raises grave concerns. To note, the firing was based on the at-will contract in place from Councilman Shirer’s document used in the executive session”, Fruchey’s statement began.
“After this, I had another council member reach out wanting to talk regarding the combined role I was proposing. I was open to this as I wanted to hear him out and I wanted to learn more about the reasoning if he was willing to share.”
“This member shared with me a few things leading to his firing such as paperwork discrepancies and handshake agreements, but with my human resources hat on, it still didn’t strike me as anything concrete supporting the decision.”
““In fact, when discussing the issues the council was having with Mr. Glenn and his work I had asked if they had ever communicated the issues to him or even discussed the potential to put him on a PIP (personal improvement plan).”
“This council member expressed he hadn’t heard of this before, and I explained the process and what it was. They then proceeded to explain to me that “They don’t feel a 60-year-old man should need to be put on a PIP”.
“I then explained to them a PIP is something you work with an employee on regardless of age, as that could be deemed discriminatory.”
“I asked if this was Mr. Glenn’s first time in an administrator role to which they stated, yes. First time in the role, no PIP put in place or many discussions around him not performing well.”
“Further to this, the administrator reports to the mayor, so was the mayor ever made aware of any of these issues prior to the meeting of firing him?”
“The lack of communication regarding performance issues and the absence of a fair and transparent process, such as a Personal Improvement Plan (PIP), call into question the motives behind his termination.”
Another section of the read statement was, “Moving into the document Mr. Shirer presented in the executive meeting to propose the firing of Mr. Glenn invokes many questions. Why was Councilman Dawson at the water treatment plant to begin with?”
“Based on Section 3.05 of the Charter, members of council shall interact with employees of the municipality in professional capacity only through the administrator in respect to the water treatment plant.”
“I understand council members having personal relationships with employees that may work for the village, but this is during working business hours and personal relationships should be limited at work.”
“From the April 19th discussion, as well as the meeting at the water plant, could it be reasonable to say Mr. Glenn had a point of feeling undermined if Mr. Dawson was interrupting the work of employees at the water plant when those discussions should have been through Mr. Glenn?”
Other topics were also touched on by Fruchey including the requested assistant administrator, allegations of misconduct, sharing of documents during an investigation, pre-94 abatements, and alleged criticism leveled against the Chamber of Commerce.
“In conclusion, I implore the council to uphold the principles of transparency, accountability, and fairness in all its actions. You owe it to the residents of our village to ensure that their voices are heard, and their concerns addressed.”
“So, I am asking that the council provides answers to the questions outlined in this reading to help mend the town and work toward a better future.”
It was then that resident Angela Riley spoke to council. Riley spoke about the budget and asked about spending.
“So, Lynn, you had said that we didn’t have any money in the budget, but yet we hired an interim administrator. Now we’re looking for another administrator we have to pay out the old administrator. So how are we able to do that in our budget?”
Councilor Lynn Frank responded with, “I’m not prepared to answer that at this time. But not that I didn’t say there wasn’t money in the budget.”
“What I said was that our general fund was short by $500,000 this year with the budget that was created by the previous administrator and finance director.”
Riley then asked, “I heard that Mr. Dawson had turned in his resignation to step down off the council and then withdrew. Is that true?”
Dawson answered “yes”, which was followed by Riley asking what made him decide to withdraw his resignation.
Dawson said, “I had a bunch of people in town tell me not to because I was one of the voices that will stand up to people.”
Next, Riley asked what the “actual” reason for Mr. Glenn’s firing. “Mr. Glenn was terminated at will. And I get that a lot of people here want us to impugn Mr. Glenn and stand up here and derive him and take shots and turn this into a giant mudslinging contest.”
“So do you I guess, my question is for everyone in this room, if you’re a terminated employee, do you want why your termination happened to be openly discussed in an open record setting, because I sure wouldn’t.”
The room grew loud with a majority of people stating that Mr. Glenn was a public employee working for the government and that they wanted to know. It was then that Law Director Heban stepped in and stated the following.
“I’m going to direct the mayor and council that, and I understand your question. It’s not a proper question to pose in this setting. As Shirer said, there’s two aspects to this. There’s Mr. Glenn’s privacy right.”
“There’s also the possibility of litigation in the future where this village could be sued by any alleged statements made for libel or slander in a public setting.”
“So, I’m going to direct council and the mayor that there’s to be no answering of any questions dealing with Mr. Glenn’s termination, or his performance here or anything.”
“I mean, based upon what I’ve seen in the media, just could end up turning into litigation and my I’m here to protect the village and the residence and the money of the village. And I’m going to direct there be no answers to those questions.”
Riley’s last questions was then asked. She stated that she had a concern, due to the park board not having a meeting, due to getting ready for an engineer who will assess what to do with the park.”
“Included in that question was her concern revolving around two members of council being on the park board. Councilor Johnson stated that, “as far as engineering services, were just seeking quotes for that service.”
Riley followed up with, “So then if you get the quote, what your plan from there?” Johnson answered with, “To propose to council.”
Johnson was asked what would be proposed but, with nothing being received yet from the engineers, there is no way to know as of yet.
It was then stated that members of council who are on the park board, one was recommended by the mayor at the time and the other was recommended by Mr. Glenn.
Next came Chris Bauer. Mr. Bauer asked for a copy of the recording that took place between the village administrator and the previous Finance Director Stephanie Mossing, a copy of the USB data that was turned over to the Auditor’s Office, a copy of the contract in place for technology services including Office 365 the village uses, a copy of the Ethics Training council and the mayor had attended, and lastly, a Charter amendment be made for council and the mayor to file financial disclosure agreements with the Ohio Ethics Commission.
Last to speak was Penny Strup. She stated she was hoping to get answers to why Andy Glenn was fired. She then went on to state her wish to describe her interactions as it pertained to previous Administrators Brad Peebles and Andy Glenn.
She described a situation where work had been done on her property. From then on, and for five years, water would come into her house.
Strup stated the issue was not found, even after numerous visits, but that Mr. Glenn came in one trip and found the issue.
The meeting then moved on to the Administrators report. Acting Administrator Ciecka stated he had been interviewing and talking with various members of staff.
He described the past week as being in a “listening mode”. Discussion then moved to the Love’s project on the corner of State Route 109 and County Road H. Ciecka stated the board of zoning and appeals had taken affirmative action on the proposal.
A traffic impact study by Love’s is being reviewed by ODOT. A meeting is scheduled for the end of this month where improvements to that intersection may be discussed.
“The impact study does involve a discussion of a roundabout, a single lane roundabout, and the question I have for the mayor and members of council, is that type of project one that the village is supporting and sees as an improvement that should be made at that intersection. I’m just asking because I understand that the roundabout was proposed because it’s the village’s position.”
Mr. Ciecka was asked if the roundabout was the only option looked at in the study. Mr. Ciecka responded with, “It was the only alternative looked at to meet the impacts at that intersection.”
Ciecka also stated he could share the whole impact study with council for them to go over, as well as the summary version of it.
Shirer stated he thought that sharing the study would be a good idea and that there may be concerns from businesses if a roundabout is looked at going forward. The idea of a traffic signal being put in instead was also brought up.
Next, a concern was addressed involving the Assistant Finance Director Marlena Allwood. According to Mr. Ciecka, due to finance director personnel changes, Marlena had become the signatory to the checking account held by the recreation board.
The board is a non-profit corporation and not part of the Village of Delta. Further discussion followed before council moved to approve the presented invoices.
Following additional comments, Councilor Frank brought up minutes from the Finance Committee meeting held on May 20th. These minutes were approved before moving on to new business. The following items were then approved.
CROWDED … Village of Delta residents filled council chambers during the June 10th meeting. Not much was left in the way of seating, with some opting to stand on both sides of the room.
The first reading of Ordinance 13-2024 accepting the application for annexation of certain property to the Village of Delta, Fulton County, Ohio, as petitioned in annexation petition No. 2024-2 by Delta Acres, LLC., and declaring an emergency. This Ordinance was however only approved as a first reading.
The first reading of Ordinance 14-2024 accepting the application for annexation of certain property to the Village of Delta, Fulton County, Ohio, as petitioned in annexation petition No. 2024-3 by Delta Acres, LLC., and declaring an emergency. This Ordinance was also only approved as a first reading.
It was then asked if anyone had questions related to the day’s council meeting. Angela Riley asked to speak again saying, “After listening to not sure on how to handle going forward with the nonprofit. The village has nothing to do with the nonprofit.”
“Technically, she cannot, I ran a nonprofit for five years. Marlena cannot write a check from that because she’s not on the state website that she’s on the nonprofit.”
“So at this point, I’m willing to take on the position so it’s handled correctly and not through the Village of Delta. So, I would like that stated in the minutes and I will be taking over the nonprofit.”
It was then that the meeting was adjourned at 6:18 p.m. The next council meeting will be held on Monday, June 17th at 5:30 p.m.