ATHENS, Ohio — The city of Athens spent a little over $2,000 to send Mayor Steve Patterson to Ukraine in February.
Patterson’s 10-day trip cost the city a total of $2,040.96, including $849.50 in airfare; $350.69 for checked baggage; $630.01 for accommodations; $110 for airport/hotel parking; and $100.49 in mileage, according to a record obtained by the Independent. Patterson paid for his own meals, City Auditor Kathy Hecht said.
In an email, Hecht said the funds came out of the mayor’s travel budget, which is part of the general fund — which is income tax revenue.
In April, Hecht warned the city that the general fund balance had fallen below its statutory minimum threshold of 7.5% of annual expenditures. She announced at a May 20 city council meeting that the fund balance was at 6%. The city is currently doing what it can to allocate money to the general budget and limit withdrawals from it until it can bring its reserve to at least 9%.
Patterson’s trip was not subject to approval by Athens City Council, according to Council President Sam Crowl in an email to the Independent; per Ohio Revised Code 731.05, council does not oversee administrative activity.
While Patterson was in Ukraine, Athens City Council approved a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. One of the main arguments raised against approval was that a local government should focus on local issues, rather than getting involved in international matters. Council passed the resolution 4-2 on Feb. 19.
Mayor Patterson said he believes that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “inverse” to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. He did not clearly explain what he meant and has not yet responded to the Independent’s request for quote clarification.
During his trip, Patterson visited Athens’s sister city, Ostroh, which is located in Rivne Oblast. Oblasts are Ukraine’s administrative divisions, similar to counties or provinces. In addition to Rivne Oblast, Patterson also visited Lviv Oblast; both are on Ukraine’s western border.
Patterson suggested that Athens seek a partnership with a Ukrainian city after he attended the 2022 National League of Cities Conference, where he learned that the U.S. Agency on International Development was interested in developing more partnerships between cities in Ukraine and the U.S.
Patterson said he was intrigued by the federal program because of its “multi-pronged” mission of establishing commerce relations, educational partnerships at the K-12 and university levels, connecting governments and connecting arts and culture.
In May 2023, Athens City Council adopted a resolution to establish a relationship between Athens and with Ostroh, Ukraine, making the two municipalities sister cities.
Patterson said he was “very specific” about planning his trip to Ostroh so he would be there Feb. 24 because the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022.
“I felt it was important to show solidarity and partnership during that time with our partner city,” said Patterson.
Patterson said his trip to Ostroh provided multiple benefits for the city — for example, a partnership between the Athens City School District and a lyceum in Ostroh.
In an email to the Independent, Athens City School District Superintendent Tom Gibbs described the partnership as a sort of “pen-pal situation” between students that is just getting started.
Patterson said he also spoke with a psychology faculty member at Ostroh Academy who was intrigued by Ohio University’s psychology clinic. So he contacted Julie Suhr, director of clinical training in Ohio University’s psychology department, to help the academy create their own psychology clinic. In an email to the Independent, Suhr said she contacted professors at Ostroh Academy, but that they have not yet responded.
Patterson said he has also been working with Tim Martin, the owner and designer of Ohio is Home — a Court Street shop that sells clothes and other merchandise related to Athens and Ohio — to find a similar business in Ostroh to connect with and “possibly have some commerce exchange between the two.”
In an email to the Independent, Martin said Patterson approached him before the trip to make a custom gift for someone in Ukraine and “to provide ideas of what items may be good to give/promote commerce between the two locations.”
“While I don’t expect any commerce exchange to happen from the project,” Martin wrote. “[It] was nice to design a gift that was made to show off what we can do in Athens, Ohio. I have not heard anything else from the trip other than it was a good trip and they really like the coaster set/box I made for them that had maps and symbols important to the area.”
Ostroh and Athens have “agreed with each other, on both sides of the pond, that these are different ways in which we can support each other; whether it’s education, whether it’s commerce, whether it’s arts and culture,” Patterson said.
