Talking loud in Wellsville
by M. Stewart
Through the lens of the newspaper, it’s difficult to know what’s really going on in Wellsville. We know there are problems with the village hall roofing contractor; we know council seized control of the assistant clerk hiring process; we know people were screaming at each other during a council meeting. Read Jeremy Lydic’s Review story for the latest installment.
From a distance, it appears that village council is letting Mayor Joe Surace know he doesn’t run the town.
Wellsville tradition makes an administrative position a mayoral appointment with council’s approval. According to The Review, Mayor Surace has admitted offering the job of assistant clerk to one Nancy Murray, but the way I understand it, the mayor’s recommendation never reached the floor. Instead, council took the process completely out of his hands.
The last big fight over a mayoral appointment came with former Village Administrator Thom Edgell. Pressured by county Democrats, Surace resisted a challenge from council to run Edgell out. It was less about loyalty to Edgell than to Lisbon, and it appears that certain members of council haven’t forgotten.
But that was before a close election weakened Surace. Now council doesn’t seem to care what the mayor thinks, nor is the mayor ready to fight. I won’t attempt to speculate further on what’s really happening on the inside with this appointment.
I do know this much: Wellsville politics is a game played with knives.
Through the lens of the newspaper, it’s difficult to know what’s really going on in Wellsville. We know there are problems with the village hall roofing contractor; we know council seized control of the assistant clerk hiring process; we know people were screaming at each other during a council meeting. Read Jeremy Lydic’s Review story for the latest installment.
From a distance, it appears that village council is letting Mayor Joe Surace know he doesn’t run the town.
Wellsville tradition makes an administrative position a mayoral appointment with council’s approval. According to The Review, Mayor Surace has admitted offering the job of assistant clerk to one Nancy Murray, but the way I understand it, the mayor’s recommendation never reached the floor. Instead, council took the process completely out of his hands.
The last big fight over a mayoral appointment came with former Village Administrator Thom Edgell. Pressured by county Democrats, Surace resisted a challenge from council to run Edgell out. It was less about loyalty to Edgell than to Lisbon, and it appears that certain members of council haven’t forgotten.
But that was before a close election weakened Surace. Now council doesn’t seem to care what the mayor thinks, nor is the mayor ready to fight. I won’t attempt to speculate further on what’s really happening on the inside with this appointment.
I do know this much: Wellsville politics is a game played with knives.
posted by M. | 8:25 AM
21 Comments:
Wellsville is quickly becoming the new side show in town. East Liverpool certainly has its share of problems and crazy characters, but I'm much happier living here. I feel badly for the poor girl caught in the middle who was just looking for a job. I don't think I'd want it now.
Surace just didn't plan on council finding out about his little operation until they realized he was promising the job to at least 3 people. Some are fed up with the "good ole boys" way of doing things. HURRAY FOR COUNCIL!!
so what and who cares...
“The last big fight over a mayoral appointment came with former Village Administrator Thom Edgell. Pressured by county Democrats, Surace resisted a challenge from council to run Edgell out. It was less about loyalty to Edgell than to Lisbon, and it appears that certain members of council haven’t forgotten”
That is not really a fair quote Matt. Council did not want Thom in the position and I really do not think that the Mayor could have cared less at the time. ONE Councilman changed his vote over Edgell and it was not because of political pressure nor was it because of any politics whatsoever. Joe Soldano stepped up to the plate and changed his vote because of the HUNDREDS of signatures that were secured stating that the people of this Village wanted Thom Edgell in that position. The petitions were presented to him in open council and he did what he was elected to do. I believe he was quoted as saying that it was not what he wanted, personally, but the people have spoken. That is a true elected official……. You do what the people want, not what you personally want to do. That is why we place you in office and that is why we remove you.
As far as Nancy Murray’s statement: (quoted from the Review article) “ Murray said the previous assistant clerk, Kim Meek, was through administration and not village council. Such a change in past practice hiring cannot be done without an ordinance”. I might be wrong about this because I am by no means an Attorney, but past practice can never replace the ORC. If you find out after years and years that you are in violation of the Ohio Administrative Code, should you keep on violating the Law because that is past practice? No…. You start doing things the right way! Do it right and keep doing it right. It appears that our council is now doing this and let us all hope and pray that it keeps happening for the sake of our Village, hopefully soon for the sake of our City, which may very well happen in the near future.
You are right Matt, the knives have always been there, but I believe the swords are coming out now……….
Tyrone--
I'm sorry I was not more clear. I mostly agree with you on Edgell, but don't forget that he did have support from some council members; that's why he stayed. I agree that the mayor didn't want Thom either, but the politics of the situation forced him into superficial support.
I will disagree (sort of) on other points, though. An elected official is put in office to exercise his conscience, not to bend to public will. However, an elected official who wants to run for re-election must listen to his constituents on most things.
Also, council's job is to legislate and appropriate, not to operate as a de facto personnel department. Administrative appointments should be recommended by the mayor. Council could have voted not to approve the recommendation, but removing the entire process from the mayor is very questionable. In Surace's case, however, it may have been the right thing to do. I don't know enough of the details to draw firm conclusions on this.
It's played with knives, but plastic ones. Doofuses aren't allowed to play with sharp objects, you know. They even write the minutes in crayon there.
matt, nothing has changed, our mayor is still a total idiot. he probably offered the job to 100 people.
Mr. Stewart,
You should know from the few years you covered Wellsville that the assistant clerk position is not an administrative position but a full-time union position. Correct in saying he appoints administration with the approval of council, but the mayor should not have sole authority in hiring of full-time employees.
During the 7 years I covered Wellsville for the newspapers, new hires in every department (union or otherwise) were presented to council as recommendations from the mayor. Whether that should or should not be isn't the issue.
Evidently Matt, nobody checked the Ohio Revised Code, the position that they are taking about is Council's pick, not the Mayor's. Just because it was not done right in the past doesn't mean it can't be done right now. The object of Council is to do the right thing, not the wrong thing.
I haven't seen the ORC on this particular issue. I'm only saying how things have been done in the past, not whether it's legal or illegal. Wellsville officials have done illegal things for years, so it wouldn't surprise me.
If you know the particular section of the ORC that addresses this specific issue, you could help by quoting it directly. That would clear the matter up once and for all.
705.56 Administrative officers appointed by council.
The council shall appoint a clerk, treasurer, and auditor. If the council is created within a village, the council shall also appoint a solicitor……..
and
705.78 Election of mayor - appointment of department heads.
The mayor of a municipal corporation organized under sections 705.71 to 705.86 of the Revised Code, shall be elected at a regular municipal election for a term of four years, and shall assume office on the first day of January next following his election. He shall appoint a director of public service, a director of public safety, and a treasurer……..
You said "An elected official is put in office to exercise his conscience, not to bend to public will."
This is the problem with politicians today. You do not call them Sire. They are elected to "represent" the public. There are too damned many that follow their conscience instead of what is good for the country and their peoples will.
We don't need bosses in office, we need public servants.
Tyrone--
Thanks so much for doing the research. It certainly appears the issue is resolved. However, my point has always been merely that the mayor recommends and council approves new hires. It's the formal procedure of how things are done. In Wellsville, it's a good thing for the village that council took the process away from Surace. I really do wonder how many people he offered the job to. But hey, Wellsville invited this guy back for a second term.
Don't need the bosses--
Obviously this isn't the case with your Wellsville mayor, but representative democracy is set up so that elected officials can study the issues and vote their conscience. If that weren't so, we wouldn't need elected officials at all. The masses--most completely ignorant of the issues--would be making our laws and deciding the fate of the nation. Would you rather have that?
Well I thinks its nice to see Council taking charge and not allowing the Mayor to run the show the way he sees fit. The Mayor and the Chief of Police have had the run of the town and have said in public that they run the show and not council or anyone else. Good for Council Keep up the good work!
In a true Democracy, the people govern through their elected representative, and have a direct say in how that person votes. However, the United States is a Republic and since Wellsville is part of the USA, they should have a government that is a republic, not a democracy...and a councilman who votes because the people in town want him to do so, whether it's right or wrong, is a puppet, not a leader.
Excuse the copying and pasting; it's easier this way.
A Republic is defined as: A state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.
Meanwhile, a Democracy is defined as: ogvernment by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
That's why the Pledge of Allegiance says "and for the REPUBLIC, for which it stands."
The United States has never been a democracy, but a republic.
And as much as I hate to agree with Matt, he's right on this point.
Politics 101, if you are talking about the Edgell incident, the 300 names on a petition was only part of the vote change, the most important reason was, because it was the right thing to do. Council was right that time also, believe me, the only puppet on Wellsville Council, the last name starts with M. I have been going to meetings for over 20 years, I know a puppet when I see one.
There is more than one puppet on council. What about Allmon? Shame on him and McMahon for voting against the new hire. This woman has done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment. Allmon claims he was refused the right to see the resumes, when in fact, he didn't ask anyone on the personnel committee to see them! Nah, what you have here is Allmon being involved with the county democratic party and his "buddy" wanted the Murray woman, along with Surace. Allmon ran telling people that there was too much fighting amongst council, yet he has been the cause or part of the reason they have been fighting. Council is made up into committees for the reason of three members to research, discuss, and bring information and recommendations to their fellow members. Allmon needs to learn to work with his fellow members. I don't think anyone knows why McMahon is there. Maybe someone who voted for him can explain it?
I think Allmon is okay, he just wanted more time to make his choice. I heard that he and the personnel committee got their wires crossed. It was just a misunderstanding, that all, no more, no less.
MCMAHON DOES MORE TALKING AND DICUSSING AT THE GOLDEN CARRY OUT THEN AT COUNCIL MEETINGS WHAT REALLY DOES HE DO .. AND ALL I EVER SEE ALLMON DOING IS JOTTING THINGS DOWN ON PAPER HAHAHAHAAH WHAT A JOKE .. NOTHING EVER GETS DONE RIGHT ... ITS FUNNY ..
OOPS
I misspelled the blog site for homicide victims it is:
www.victimsofhomicide.blogspot.com
Just wanted to correct spelling.
SORRY
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