ATHENS, Ohio — The plaintiffs in a local court case to determine who’s rightfully serving on Nelsonville City Council have dismissed their fight in favor of a higher court.
On Friday, May 3 plaintiffs Rita Nguyen and Sue Powell voluntarily dismissed their civil case in the Athens County Court of Common Pleas against members of Nelsonville City Council. The duo had sought a decision declaring Nguyen and Powell to be rightful members of the council.
Nguyen and Powell’s Hilliard-based attorney Josh Brown said in an email that the case “was dismissed because the appellate court is the appropriate venue.”
The dismissal means that the temporary restraining order issued by Judge George McCarthy declaring that Nguyen and Powell are indeed on council – and Nguyen is council president – is no longer effective. It was set to expire May 13. The order also prohibited the city from preventing Nguyen and Powell from acting as council members and from allowing Dunfee and Lawson to act as council members.
The temporary restraining order provided a brief moment of clarity in a convoluted and chaotic year for Nelsonville City Council. The question of who’s legally on council has been hanging since mid-February, when Nguyen resigned from the body, then quickly rescinded. Dueling appointments to replace her as president, and to fill a vacant seat, followed.
Same play, different case
Also on May 3, Brown submitted a motion to disqualify City Attorney Jonathan Robe from representing Nelsonville as an intervening defendant in Nguyen and Powell’s Fourth District Court of Appeals case.
On April 26, Nguyen and Powell filed a petition for a writ of quo warranto against Gregg Clement, Tony Dunfee and Opha Lawson (as individuals) in the appeals court. An individual who believes that their position in a public office has been unlawfully taken by another files a petition for a writ of quo warranto to regain the seat.
The plaintiffs also moved to disqualify Robe in the court of common pleas case based on the same reasoning: that the city council never formally hired him and that he is a witness.
On April 8, council members Justin Booth, Gregg Clement (acting as president), Johnny Flowers, Nancy Sonick and Cory Taylor — as well as Dunfee and Lawson acting as members of council — appointed Robe as city attorney from April 1 through Dec. 31. Flowers abstained.
Nguyen and Powell argue that the vote was invalid because Clement, Dunfee and Lawson (who Nguyen and Powell say aren’t rightfully council president or council members, respectively) voted on the proposal. The plaintiffs also argue that the city already had an attorney — Mathew Voltolini, of Circleville — although at the same meeting, the council voted 6-1 to discontinue its services with him.
As of Wednesday morning, the city had yet to respond to the motion to disqualify Robe.
The court of appeals case may not only answer once and for all the question of who’s on council, but also establish legal precedent and procedure for the city’s resignation (and resignation-rescission) process, another question that has lingered for at least a year.
Nelsonville City Council’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 13.
Disclosure: Robe completed and filed incorporation papers for Southeast Ohio Independent News, the nonprofit that publishes the Athens County Independent. He also has provided the Independent with legal advice.
