NELSONVILLE, Ohio — Nelsonville City Council will look different in 2024 with four new — yet familiar — faces.
At a special meeting Wednesday night, the council 4-3 appointed Greg Smith — whom the body had voted to remove four times, leading to multiple lawsuits — as council president. The council also appointed Newly elected member Rita Nguyen, the former city administrative assistant, was chosen as vice president.
Nguyen and incumbents Nancy Sonick and Justin Booth defeated incumbents Tony Dunfee, Doug Childs and Dan Sherman Nov. 8 in the city’s only contested election. Flowers, Smith and Cory Taylor ran uncontested for three unexpired two-year, at-large terms. Council member Gregg Clement’s term was not up for reelection.
Booth, Taylor and Clement all voted against Smith’s appointment as council president; the bloc backed Clement for council vice president. Flowers, Nguyen, Smith and Sonick held the majority.
Taylor asked if it was appropriate for Smith to be council president, per pending lawsuits against the city. According to Athens County Court of Common Pleas records, Smith is currently a plaintiff in three civil cases and one court of appeals case — three of the four cases, including in the appeals court, regard his removals from council; another regards the release of public records. Nguyen argued that if Smith is on council, “He should be able to hold any and all positions.”
Council first removed Smith in February 2021. As WOUB reported, Smith was reinstated in May, then removed a second time in June … and reinstated again later that month. He was removed a third time in September 2021, but was re-elected to council that November. He was kicked out for the fourth time in February 2022 and was re-elected in November 2023.
Each time Smith was removed, council members alleged that he was not a permanent city resident, as required by city law. Smith currently has five open lawsuits against the city.
Another matter of contention Wednesday night was the signing of a code of conduct, which council adopted in September. Smith adamantly opposed signing it; council then voted 4-3 to send the code of conduct legislation back to committee.
As the Independent previously reported, the code of conduct established “ethics, conflicts of interest, code of conduct, and transparency policies” for elected and appointed Nelsonvilly city officials.
“It’s a horrendous violation of the First Amendment and I refuse to sign it,” Smith said, adding that he questioned its legal validity.
Also on Wednesday night, the city ushered in Jonathan Robe as city attorney. Robe replaces Bob Toy, who resigned in late November. Toy did not return a call for comment in time for publication.
Wednesday’s special meeting followed another special, yet unofficial meeting on Monday night, when Flowers and Taylor were sworn in. The additional special meeting was needed because three members’ terms began that day (Dec. 4) and had not yet been sworn in, so they were unable to call a special meeting due to lack of quorum.
Nelsonville City Council meets every other Monday of each month. Its next regular meeting will be Monday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. in Nelsonville City Council Chambers, 211 Lake Hope Drive. Meetings are also livestreamed on YouTube. Find more at cityofnelsonville.com.
