Nelsonville city officials clarify the confusion over payment of city attorney fees
By: Haley Richardson
Posted on:
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Nelsonville residents expressed their growing frustrations with the City Council over the ongoing litigation concerning candidates on the city’s November ballot.
Several members of the public discussed their concern at the idea of taxpayer money being used to pay attorney fees for the city’s law attorney Jonathan Robe as the city continues litigation.
Council President Greg Clement clarified that no additional funds would be used to pay Robe for his services.
“Our city attorney has waived his attorney fees regarding the case before the Ohio Supreme Court, which at this point is in the tens of thousands of dollars,” Clement said.
Nelsonville Auditor Nick Smith confirmed the city will be paying Thomas Spyker, the attorney representing the city before the Supreme Court, with money from the city’s general, sewer and water funds.
Smith said he consulted with Robe and Denise Blair at the Auditor of State’s office to make sure the city was able to use those funds to pay Spyker.
Because Nelsonville initiated its case at the Supreme Court instead of being sued by a separate party, the city’s insurance will not cover Spyker’s attorney fees.
As of now, the city has not paid Spyker anything because the court case is still ongoing.
The state supreme court last week denied the city’s request to remove candidates running under a citizen initiative that would establish a new form of government. On Friday, the city asked the court to reconsider its decision.
The city brought its case to the Ohio Supreme Court after repealing Issue 23, the citizen-led ballot initiative voters passed last November to abolish Nelsonville’s charter and return the city to the type of government it had before the charter.
City Manager Fred Holmes called on the council during Monday night’s meeting to revoke the repeal of Issue 23. Holmes is running for mayor under Issue 23 and would be removed from the ballot if the court reopens the case and rules in the city’s favor.
Former Council President Greg Smith, who sued the council to put Issue 23 on the ballot after they originally refused, echoed Holmes’ statement.
“The council should just say, ‘Let’s do the best work we can do to institute the statutory government.’ Everybody put their heads together and work hard,” Smith said. “It’s what the people want.”
In its decision last week, the Supreme Court declared Issue 23 candidates would remain on the ballot but did not rule on the validity of the repeal itself.
This opened the possibility of there being two competing councils come Jan. 1: one elected under Issue 23 and one under the Nelsonville charter.
In its motion asking the court to reopen the case, the city did not ask the court to rule on the validity of the repeal.
However, in its response to the city’s motion, the Athens County Board of Elections explicitly asked the court to decide if the repeal was valid to avoid the possibility of there being two councils. The board cited concerns over potential confusion about which council the county would need to deal with when it comes to contracts for emergency services.
As of now, the court has not indicated if it will reopen the case.
Nelsonville City Law Director Jonathan Robe said he believes the court will have to rule on the validity of the repeal, but that the justices are more likely to be persuaded by the Board of Election’s request.
The council also addressed the sudden resignation of Councilmember Wesley Henderson.
Henderson was appointed in August after former Council Vice President Nancy Sonick stepped down. He was one of the five council members to vote in favor of repealing Issue 23. It is unclear why he resigned. WOUB reached out for comment and did not receive a response.
Henderson is also one of the seven candidates running for a seat on the council under Issue 23. As of Monday, he had not withdrawn his candidacy and will still appear on the November ballot.
The council announced they will be accepting letters of interest for Henderson’s seat through Oct. 6.