NELSONVILLE, Ohio — Nelsonville’s public service employees and firefighters have new contracts, but their approval by Nelsonville City Council Monday night was overshadowed by controversy within the council.
At Monday’s meeting, council unanimously passed two ordinances on second reading, both to ratify new contracts between the city and the labor union that represents city service and fire department workers. Nelsonville’s city charter calls for only two readings to enact legislation. However, a special meeting called for Thursday, March 21, has the contracts on the agenda, so it is unclear if the agreements were officially approved on March 18.
The city service and fire department workers are represented by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Locals #2845 and #2845-2, respectively.
The measures failed to pass at the March 13 special meeting because Rita Nguyen voted against suspending the rules to pass the ordinances on first reading. Nguyen said she did not want to vote on the contracts because she had not reviewed them.
Both the AFSCME local #2845 and the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, which represents Nelsonville police officers, issued votes of no confidence against Nguyen in February.
John Johnson, regional director for AFSCME Region 8, told the Independent that the delay in ratifying the contract (which includes a pay hike) has been frustrating for city workers, because the contracts were prepared in late January and had already been through committee.
Employees will receive pay at the new negotiated wage rates retroactive to Jan. 1, Johnson said. The Independent has requested copies of the contracts.
Monday’s meeting was the third in a week, following the regular meeting on March 11 and a special meeting held March 13. Questions about the validity of that meeting could affect who serves as council president, who fills the seat vacated by Greg Smith — potentially Sue Powell, who voted on Monday’s ordinances, or former councilman Tony Dunfee — and who is the city attorney.
The city faces three main questions, that the council briefly touched on Monday night:
- Who replaces Greg Smith, who resigned from council on Feb. 12?
- Who is the council president?
- Who is authorized to provide legal advice to the city?
Who’s replacing Greg Smith?
At its March 11 regular meeting, council approved Dunfee to replace Smith on a 3–2 vote. Voting yes were members Justin Booth, Gregg Clement and Cory Taylor; voting no were Flowers and Nguyen. However, City Attorney Mathew Voltolini ruled that Dunfee’s appointment is invalid because it was not made by an ordinance.
Section 4.03 of the Nelsonville City Charter states, “Vacancies in Council shall be filled by appointment of a qualified person.” In his opinion, however, Voltolini pointed to section 4.09, which states, “The action of Council shall be by ordinance or resolution.”
Dunfee argued that appointment of a council member has been done traditionally via voice vote, setting a precedent contrary to Voltolini’s legal opinion that he issued on March 13.
Under the terms of the city charter, if council fails to fill a vacancy within 30 days, the president of council must appoint someone within 15 days. Nguyen’s original announcement of a special meeting included “Welcome new Council Member, Ms. Sue Powell.”
However, Pfeiffer’s announcement listed only the union contracts as the meeting’s purpose. Nguyen’s message notifying him that Sonick and Flowers had joined her call for a meeting had “no mention of Sue Powell as a council member,” Pfieffer told the Independent in an email.
On Monday night, Nguyen told the council that she had appointed Powell, a former city auditor, to the seat on March 14. That date marked 30 days since Smith’s resignation.
Nguyen said that Powell’s appointment had been filed with the Athens County Board of Elections; the Independent has contacted the board for verification regarding Powell, as well as Dunfee’s appointment.
“I have to withhold my emotional happiness and excitement until some of the controversy gets resolved, but I think I will be the one celebrating,” Powell said.
Powell was among the candidates interested in Smith’s open seat, along with Dunfee, Opha Lawson and former council member Dan Sherman. Like Dunfee, Sherman lost reelection to council in November 2023.
Who is president of the council?
At the March 13 meeting, members Booth, Clement, Taylor and appointee-in-question Dunfee voted 4-0 to appoint Clement as president and relieve Matthew Voltolini as special counsel, replacing him with Jonathan Robe.
Voltolini says the March 13 special meeting was invalid because it lacked a quorum, as Dunfee did not count as a council member. Voltolini’s legal opinion said the council acted improperly on March 11 when it appointed former member Dunfee to replace Smith.
The legal status of the March 13 special meeting was at the center of a volley of emails over the weekend between Nguyen and Nelsonville Public Information Officer Dan Pfeiffer.
In a late-evening email on Friday, Nguyen notified various public officials and local media that she was calling a special meeting for March 18. Normally such announcements come from Pfeiffer, but, Nguyen wrote, “Sadly Mr. Pfeiffer refuses to post the notice.”
Pfeiffer responded that Nguyen was no longer president of the council after the March 13 special meeting. As a result, Pfeiffer wrote, Nguyen needed two other council members to join her in calling for a special meeting. On Sunday, Nguyen notified Pfeiffer that Nancy Sonick and Johnny Flowers had joined her in calling for a special meeting. Pfeiffer sent the meeting announcement Sunday afternoon.
Nguyen notified the council on Feb. 17 that she was resigning as president. She subsequently rescinded the resignation — a familiar pattern for city officials.
The council’s March 13 action items included “Election of a new City Council President and Vice President.” Voltolini walked out of the meeting, as did a couple of audience members who also questioned the legality of the meeting.
The meeting proceeded anyway. Booth, Clement, Taylor and Dunfee voted to appoint Clement as council president.
In Voltolini’s legal opinion, he said that Nguyen retained her seat and council presidency because the body did not take formal action — either through resolution or ordinance — to acknowledge her resignation.
Taylor argued at the March 13 meeting that Voltolini’s legal opinion is unimportant because it was sought only by Nguyen, not council as a whole. He also argued that Voltolini is actually not the city attorney because Nguyen signed the employee agreement — not City Manager Tom Camgeni.
Who provides the city with legal advice?
The city hired Robe as city attorney on a temporary basis in December 2023. At its Jan. 22 meeting, council voted against retaining Robe as city attorney.
The council hired Voltolini, a Columbus attorney, as special counsel at its Feb. 12 meeting, effective in 30 days. At the same meeting, council removed Robe as city attorney, with Smith, Nguyen, Sonick and Flowers voting for the removal. Taylor voted no; Clement abstained.
Voltolini signed his contract Feb. 12; it took effect March 13 and runs through May.
The same day that Voltolini’s contract took effect, Booth, Clement, Dunfee and Taylor voted to “relieve him of his duties as special counsel” and hired Robe as counsel. Flowers, Nguyen and Sonick were absent.
At this Monday, March 18’s special meeting, Nguyen told the Independent that “Legally, Mr. Robe is not hired;” the council proceeded on the assumption that the March 13 meeting was invalid. Booth, Clement, Taylor and Dunfee were absent from the meeting.
Voltolini addressed the “controversy” surrounding the office at Monday night’s meeting.
“I sit here as parliamentarian, but I will not be issuing any legal rulings out of respect to Mr. Robe, and out of respect to the other council members,” Voltolini said. “Understanding that, I believe based on the law — that on the contract — that I am the acting city attorney. However, to avoid impropriety and the appearance that someone’s taking sides, I will not issue legal opinions tonight and I will only do that when we have the full council present.”
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.
No clarity from the county
According to records obtained by the Independent, Clement emailed Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn on Saturday seeking guidance on Nguyen’s status following her Feb. 17 resignation and subsequent rescission of the resignation; the legality of the March 13 special meeting, including Clement’s appointment as president, Voltolini’s removal as city attorney and Robe’s hiring; and Dunfee’s March 11 appointment to council.
Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Warren responded on Monday that the prosecutor’s office is not the city’s legal counsel and thus cannot issue an opinion on the questions posed.
Warren referred Clement to “your city law director, Mr. Jonathan Robe, Esq.” and city Auditor Taylor Sappington, who is authorized by the city charter to authenticate “all records, documents and instruments of the City on which authentication are proper.”
Although Blackburn did not respond to Clement’s query, he apparently has weighed in on the issues. At the March 11 council meeting, Dunfee said he had received “opinions” from two attorneys, via text, during the meeting — one of which Dunfee said came from Blackburn, who is Dunfee’s brother-in-law. At that time, Dunfee also said “letters” would be coming to the city regarding these legal questions.
Dunfee also entered the weekend email thread between Nguyen and Pfeiffer. “You are not on council,” he responded to Nguyen. “True legal opinions coming.”
The prosecutor’s office denied the Independent’s request for the March 11 text messages between Blackburn and Dunfee, stating that the records are not maintained by the office and therefore are not official business and subject to public records law, assuming they exist.
This story will be updated as the Independent receives more information and responses to records requests.
Update: Shortly after publication on Wednesday, the city announced a special meeting for Thursday at 8 p.m. for the purposes of: second reading of the labor contract with the fire department union, second reading of the labor contract with the city service workers union, and a resolution to extend the trash contract with Athens-Hocking Recycling Centers, Inc.
Pfieffer said in an email that Clement, acting as council president, called the meeting. Clement was unable to provide further information. The Independent will continue to cover the council and share news as it is made available.
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