NELSONVILLE, Ohio – Nelsonville City Council members Tony Dunfee and Justin Booth resigned (again) at a Feb. 10 meeting, opening two seats on council.
Dunfee said his new job interferes with his ability to contribute to the council, especially considering the pending reorganization of city government mandated by Issue 23.
“I think that the city has a huge undertaking coming forward,” he said. “This will take time that I don’t have.”
Booth, who works for a car dealership in Ashland, Kentucky, said he sold his house and will no longer be a resident of Nelsonville at the end of February.
“I believe in Nelsonville, that’s why I’ve always tried to be a part [of it], whether it’s coaching, running organizations or volunteering on council … because I believe in the value of it,” he said. ”I hope that more people come along and have that same thought, because Nelsonville is going to need it.”
Both Dunfee and Booth were originally appointed to fill vacant council seats — Dunfee in November 2018 and Booth in July 2020.
Both men also have previously resigned from the council. Booth resigned in January 2022, but subsequently rescinded his resignation. He resigned again in January 2023, returning to the council by appointment in May 2023.
Dunfee resigned in March 2023 before rescinding his resignation days later. He lost reelection that November; his reappointment to council in March 2024 was controversial.
Two seats on the council are open to be filled by appointment within 30 days of Dunfee’s and Booth’s resignations. The deadline to submit a letter of interest is March 3 and letters can be sent to Council Clerk Susan Harmony via email at councilclerk@cityofnelsonville.com.
Council member Nancy Sonick encouraged city residents to step up to fill the council vacancies.
“This concerns the 70% of Nelsonville that wants to change the government,” Sonick said. “Show us what you can do. Don’t sit there and write about what we do.”
The council also addressed a lawsuit filed Friday, Feb. 7 against the city, members of council and the Athens Board of Elections by former council member and president Greg Smith.
The lawsuit alleged that Council Clerk Harmony did not act in “good faith” when she asked City Law Director and Attorney Jonathan Robe to deliver a certified copy of Ordinance 5-25 — which puts a city charter amendment on the primary ballot for May 6 — to the Athens County Board of Elections.
That claim “is wholly without basis and law of fact,” Robe said. “Because of that, I’ve asked the council to instruct me to take all appropriate action that’s necessary to vindicate the clerk.”
However, the lawsuit was dismissed the morning of Thursday, Feb.13. Smith has filed several lawsuits against the city in the past.
Three ordinances were introduced to require certain city officials to be bonded, to accept grants for the police and fire departments and to amend the 2025 appropriations ordinance.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the council:
- Passed an emergency ordinance to replace the city criminal prosecutor Jamaracus Macartney with the city attorney Jonathan Robe on an interim basis.
- Authorized the purchase of three vehicles, including one cruiser for the police department and two for the service department.
- Passed an ordinance accepting sewage discharge from the Bailey’s Trail System into the city’s sewer system.
- Passed a resolution to comply with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s safe drinking water regulations after tests found maximum levels of total trihalomethanes, a group of chemicals that form as a byproduct of water treatment.
- Passed a resolution to work with Ohio’s State Historic Preservation Office for programs like HAPCAP to use grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Nelsonville City Council meets every other Monday of each month, at Nelsonville City Council Chambers, 211 Lake Hope Drive. Its next regular meeting will be Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at 7 p.m. Meetings are livestreamed on YouTube. Find more at cityofnelsonville.com.
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.
