NELSONVILLE, Ohio — A Nelsonville City Council special meeting for an executive session Tuesday night ended with the body placing the city manager on administrative leave — indefinitely — pending an external legal investigation, “based on allegations of misconduct.”
After a 40-minute executive session — brief, for Nelsonville — the body returned and unanimously voted to place City Manager Tom Cangemi on leave.
The council’s next regular meeting has not yet been announced. It typically meets on the second and fourth Mondays each month, often with exceptions in July and August.
The council voted 6-1 to designate Nelsonville Police Chief Devon Tolliver as active city manager, with councilman Opha Lawson voting no. The council also voted 6-1 to hire a special counsel for the investigation into the alleged misconduct, with Councilman Jonathan Flowers the lone no vote.
Cangemi started as city manager on Oct. 6, 2023 — the sixth city manager that year. Tolliver had served as interim manager intermittently from January 2023 until Cangemi’s hire.
Councilman Cory Taylor asked council to compensate Tolliver at the city manager’s pay rate, a change from his previous stints as city manager. The council has to approve paying Tolliver at a different rate, Tolliver confirmed via email.
“Stepping in as City Manager is always a difficult task, but I do my best to continue to serve the City in both [roles] simultaneously,” Tolliver said in an email. “I’m fortunate that the City has amazing staff that keep everything going.”
Neither Cangemi, city Auditor Taylor Sappington nor Law Director Jonathan Robe responded in time for publication.
An automated email reply from Cangemi’s city email address reads: “As of 7:40PM July 29, 2024 the City Council announced that I am on Administrative leave.”
