NELSONVILLE, Ohio – Council President Gregg Clement shared at Monday’s council meeting that the city has received no letters of interest to fill its two vacant council seats.
Tony Dunfee and Justin Booth resigned from the council at its Feb. 10 meeting, opening up two seats on the seven-member body. Anyone interested in applying for a council seat must submit a letter of interest by Monday, March 3 to the council via email to councilclerk@cityofnelsonville.com.
Council member Jonathan Flowers, who filed to run for mayor, told the Independent that the “stigma” Nelsonville City Council has may be a reason why there aren’t any applicants to fill those vacancies.
“I think with the way this stuff has been going on in council, people are gun-shy to take up those seats,” Flowers said. “Plus, there’s some litigation involved with the council that might back people away from it.”
The city has faced several lawsuits in recent years, specifically from former council members. Most recently, former council member Greg Smith filed a lawsuit on Feb. 7 petitioning officials to withdraw a city charter amendment, which will appear on the primary ballot this spring. Smith has since dropped the suit.
Smith and his attorney Dan Klos claimed that because Council Clerk Susan Harmony did not deliver a certified copy of Ordinance 5-25 to the Athens County Board of Elections herself, she cannot provide proof that the documents were delivered and therefore the charter amendment should not be accepted by the BOE.
City Attorney Jonathan Robe condemned the claim that Harmony did not act in “good faith” when she instructed him to deliver the amendment to the BOE at the Feb. 10 meeting.
Smith attended Monday’s council meeting and addressed Robe, saying his statement was factually inaccurate and that he respects Harmony’s work for the city, despite stating the opposite in his lawsuit.
“Neither my attorney nor I have ever stated that you acted in bad faith. I’ve never even thought that, Susan,” Smith said at Monday’s meeting. “I find Mr. Robe’s accusations flagrantly offensive.”
Robe said he is a “firm believer” in the First Amendment and that he accepts criticism as a part of public service.
“The only comment I’ll make at this time is ‘no good-faith explanation’ is logically equivalent to bad faith,” Robe said. “I said earlier, I support and will defend anyone’s First Amendment right, but those are the words in paragraph 21 [of the lawsuit].”
Robe also shared updates from the city’s Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee, which is overseeing the city’s transition to a new form of government and meets the first and third Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers. Members requested the finance committee to check if the city has enough resources to hold a special election for issues relating to the government’s transition.
Acting-City Manager and Police Chief Devon Tolliver was told by the board of elections a special election could cost anywhere between $70,000 to $142,000.
The committee also accepted the resignation of Jo Anne L’Heruex as chair and appointed Reid Courtney to replace her.
The fire department was the subject of brief discussion after the police and fire committee meeting was cancelled Monday night without notice.
Flowers, who is the committee chair, told the Independent the meeting was cancelled due to a “glitch” in the 911 transfer system from Green Township in Hocking County. Fire Chief Harry Barber said the delayed response time was unsafe, which led to the cancellation of the committee meeting.
Barber gave a presentation on expanding the Nelsonville Fire Department’s fire coverage to Green Township at the committee’s previous meeting Feb. 10. The council also appointed John Smart, Tyler Ratcliffe and Henry Maxwell to serve as part-time firefighters.
In other business Monday night, the council:
- Appointed Nic Joseph Saul to serve as secretary to the Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee.
- Passed three ordinances to require certain city officials to be bonded, to accept grants for the police and fire departments and to amend the 2025 appropriations ordinance.
- Passed Ordinance 13-25 authorizing the city to sign a public defender contract with Athens County.
- Passed two resolutions to authorize payment to the city attorney for fees accrued in litigation against the city and to allow the city attorney to pass off certain records requests to an external firm in Columbus, Ohio.
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, March. 10, 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.
Correction: A typo has been corrected to accurately reflect the spelling of Daniel Klos’ last name.
