* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:01] OKAY, GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. IT IS FIVE 30. WE'RE GOING TO GET STARTED. THIS IS A SAFE HARBOR HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MEETING EMERGENCY SESSION. UH, THIS IS A COMBINATION HYBRID IN-PERSON REMOTE MEETING TODAY IS MARCH 10TH, 2021. AND LIKE I SAID, IT'S FIVE 30. WE'RE GETTING STARTED. UH, FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS CALLED ME TO ORDER, UH, WHICH HAS HAPPENED NEXT. MR. ROGERS, WOULD YOU CALL THE ROLL PLEASE? HERE? THIS BAKER, MR. CAMPBELL HERE. MRS. BERG. WE CAN'T HEAR TONY. MRS. BERG. MR. OTTO HERE. MR. LYONS HERE, MR. HILL HERE. MR. WEBB HERE ON MERIT OR I'M SORRY, HERE. I WAS ALREADY MOVING ONTO THE NEXT. ALL RIGHT. I APPRECIATE THAT. THEN EYE CONTACT, RIGHT? IT'S A LITTLE HARDER FROM THE BACK OF THE ROOM. [ An Ordinance Appointing Scott Falkowski To The Position Of Interim City Manager Of The City Of Huber Heights, And Declaring An Emergency. (first reading)] NEXT UP IS I HAVE NUMBER THREE, WHICH IS OUR ONLY ITEM ON THE AGENDA THIS EVENING FOR THIS SPECIAL MEETING, WHICH IS ON THREE EIGHT, MR. ROGERS FEED RELEASE ITEM THREE, A AN ORDINANCE APPOINTING SCOTT, VAL KOSKI TO THE POSITION OF INTERIM CITY MANAGER OF THE CITY OF HEBREW HEIGHTS AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AT THE FIRST READING. IS THERE A MOTION, MS. BAKER? IS THERE A SECOND, MR. WEBB? SECOND, MR. HILL SECOND. OKAY. WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND. ANY DISCUSSION? YEAH, I THINK BEFORE WE GO THROUGH THIS AND MAKE THIS APPOINTMENT, I HAVE NO QUALMS WITH THE APPOINTMENT OF, UH, UH, OUR CHOSEN INTERIM CITY MANAGER, BUT, UH, I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE A PUBLIC DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW WE GOT TO THIS PLACE. I'VE GOTTEN A LOT OF, UH, FEEDBACK AND CONTACT FROM MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY RESIDENTS. AND A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE VERY CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON. UM, TO BE QUITE HONEST WITH YOU, THERE ARE MEMBERS OF THIS COUNCIL. THEY'RE A BIT CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON AND HOW WE GOT HERE. SO, UM, AGAIN, I'D LIKE TO OPEN UP A DISCUSSION TO TALK ABOUT HOW WE GOT HERE. UM, WHAT EXACTLY IS, UH, THE STATUS OF MR. SCHUMER'S RELEASE? WE'LL SAY WE'LL CALL IT THAT. AND, UM, AND HOW WE ENDED UP AFTER, UH, DISCUSSIONS ON MONDAY EVENING AND WHAT I, UH, BELIEVED WAS GOING TO BE A, OR WHAT I BELIEVED WAS A, WAS INSTRUCTIONS TO OUR LAW DIRECTOR TO HANDLE THE AGREEMENT, WRITE THE AGREEMENT, NEGOTIATE THE AGREEMENT, AND THEN, UH, MEET WITH MR. SCHOMER AND BRING IT BACK TO US. AND IT APPEARS THAT THE AGREEMENT'S JUST DONE. UM, SO I JUST KINDA WANT TO KNOW, BECAUSE I, I WAS UNDER A DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING WHEN WE WENT INTO THIS, THAT WE WERE RELEASING OUR CITY MANAGER, NOT THAT HE HAD FOUND BETTER OPPORTUNITIES AND WAS MOVING ON FROM OUR CITY. AND IF HE'S FOUND BETTER OPPORTUNITIES AND IS MOVING ON, THEN WE CERTAINLY DON'T OWE HIM ANY TYPE OF SEVERANCE IN MY OPINION. SO I WOULD SAY, I DON'T BELIEVE THIS IS A, THE REASON THAT WE'RE HERE TO EVENING TO DISCUSS THIS. THE ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS THE, UH, SPECIFIC TO THE APPOINTMENT OF AN INTERIM CITY MANAGER AT THIS POINT. THAT'S CORRECT. BUT THIS IS ABSOLUTELY GERMANE TO THIS DISCUSSION THOUGH. WE WOULDN'T BE IN THIS POSITION, IF NOT FOR OUR CAPACITY. WE'LL JUST SAY, ROB, HOMER'S LEAVING. UH, AGAIN, I WAS UNDER AN UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS WAS GOING TO BE A RELEASE THAT WASN'T, UH, UH, WE, WE WERE NEGOTIATING A RELEASE, BUT I DID NOT, I WAS COMPLETELY UNAWARE THAT THERE WERE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AND THAT HE WAS FREELY RESIGNING TO PURSUE ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES. IF THAT WERE THE CASE. I CERTAINLY WOULDN'T HAVE AGREED TO A SEVERANCE PACKAGE OF ANY SORT. YEAH. I JUST WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT, THAT I FEEL LIKE THAT, UH, THERE WAS A LITTLE BIT OF A BAIT AND SWITCH GOING ON. UM, I DON'T APPRECIATE IT. UM, I FEEL KIND OF RUN OVER AND I KNOW A LOT OF THE RESIDENTS, OUR COMMUNITY FEELS THE SAME WAY AND I'LL, I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT. HANG ON TO DISCUSSION MR. SHAW. THANK YOU, MAYOR. MY DISCUSSION IS MORE OF A STATEMENT WITH SOME QUESTIONS, UM, UH, TO KIND OF CATCH EVERYTHING UP TO SPEED SINCE, UH, SINCE WE'RE ON THE TOPIC. UM, THE PREVIOUS CITY MANAGER WAS FORMERLY HIRED, UM, BACK ON APRIL 14TH OF 2014, UH, IN THE MEETING MINUTES OF THAT MEETING, UH, THE AGREEMENT WAS PASSED WITHOUT UNANIMOUS VOTE. UM, BEFORE MY TAKING OFFICE IN 2016, I ADVOCATED MY OPINIONS REGARDING THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE CITY MANAGER IN HUBER HEIGHTS IN 2018, DURING THE DISCUSSION OF THE RETIREE HIRE AGREEMENT, INCLUDING A PAYMENT OF $15,000, [00:05:01] THEN I CONTINUED TO ADVOCATE MY POSITION AND MEETING MINUTES OF THAT MEETING, THAT AGREEMENT WAS PASSED WITHOUT UNANIMOUS VOTE. THAT POSITION HAS REMAINED IN UP TO INCLUDING MARCH 8TH, 2021 WHEN CITY COUNCIL UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ACCEPT THE RESIGNATION OF ROBERT SCHOMER. YES, MR. WEBB, I APOLOGIZE. I WAS NOT FINISHED WITH MY COMMENTS, ONE PURPOSE FOR THIS MEETING TONIGHT. CAN WE PLEASE STAY ON TOPIC FOR THIS MEETING? I AM SO, MR. YES, UH, MR. WEBB, I WOULD, I WOULD AGREE. AND, UH, IN THE RULES OF COUNCIL, UH, THERE ARE PARTICULAR TYPES OF MOTIONS AND ITEM NUMBER D IS, UH, SPEAK TO SPECIFIC TO THE ORDER OF THE DAY ON THAT MEETING. AND, UM, I WOULD AGREE THAT THIS TOPIC IS GETTING OFF DISCUSSION. UH, THIS WAS A MEETING SPECIFIC EMERGENCY TO DISCUSS THE APPOINTMENT OF THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER. THAT IS THE INTENTION OF THE MEETING THIS EVENING. AND IF WE WANT TO HAVE DISCUSSIONS REGARDING HOW WE GOT HERE, WHERE WE'RE GOING, WHERE WE'VE BEEN, YOUR MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE VOTE THAT YOU AGREED TO, UH, WE CAN HAVE THAT DISCUSSION AT ANOTHER TIME, BUT THIS EVENING WE ARE HERE TO DISCUSS THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER APPOINTMENT BY MR. FALKOWSKI. SO WE HAVE HAD A MOTION AND A SECOND, IS THERE ANY OTHER DISCUSSION SPECIFIC TO THE APPOINTMENT OF MR. FALKOWSKI AS INTERIM CITY MANAGER? MAYOR? YES. MR. LYONS, THANK YOU. THE MAYOR, UM, IN THE VIDEO, I DO NOT SEE ANYONE SITTING IN THE CITY MANAGER CHAIR IS SCOTT VOCALE SKI HAPPENED TO BE IN THE MEETING TONIGHT. UH, MR. MCCALSKY IS NOT HERE THIS EVENING. SO, UH, AND BRIAN, CHAD, KOWALSKI'S NOT HERE EITHER. NO, SIR. OKAY. SO, UH, WHERE ARE WE IN THE CONTRACT B PROCESS IN OFFERING TO INTERIM CITY MANAGER, SCOTT, FULL CALCIUM. UH, SO WITH, UM, WITH HE, HE HAS, UH, HE HAS AGREED TO BE THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER, UH, HIS WHOA. SO MAYOR, HOW DO I KNOW THAT? DO I TAKE YOUR WORD FOR IT? WELL, I GUESS IF WE, IF, I GUESS IF WE APPOINT HIM AND THEN HE SAYS, NO, THEN THAT WOULD PUT US IN ANOTHER, IN ANOTHER POSITION. NO, I DON'T HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH, UH, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, SCOTT FALKOWSKI. I THINK HE'S A DELIGHTFUL PIC. I'VE WORKED WITH HIM FOR 10 YEARS ON COUNCIL. UH, I'M JUST WONDERING, UM, HOW FAR THE TRUST CAN GO WHEN YOU SAY SOMETHING AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WHETHER I BELIEVE THAT ANYMORE OR NOT, UM, AND THIS GOES BACK TO, UM, THE ISSUE AT HAND, UH, YOU SET THE AGENDA, THERE'S NO DISCUSSION AND YOU'RE SHUTTING DOWN MR. SHAWL, UM, WITH THE DISCUSSION AND YOU KNOW, THAT IS YOUR RIGHT, BUT IN MY OPINION, UH, JEFF, YOU PERPETUATED A FRAUD AGAINST THE CITIZENS OF HUBER HEIGHTS IN THIS POSITION WE'RE IN. YEAH, THIS IS ENOUGH. YOU ARE CERTAINLY CERTAINLY ENTITLED TO YOUR OPINION. WE ARE HERE. UH, IN FACT, THE VIDEO, IF YOU, IF YOU GO BACK AND WATCH THE VIDEO AT THE END OF THE LAST COUNCIL MEETING, IT WAS MADE VERY CLEAR TO EVERYONE. UH, MR. OTTER, YOU USED THE WORD HANDLE, BUT I BELIEVE THE WORD WE GAVE TO THE LAWN RECTOR WAS TO EXECUTE. UM, I BELIEVE EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT THE TERM EXECUTE MEANS. THAT MEANS TAKE ACTION. WELL, ACTUALLY, MAYOR MR. LYONS, THAT WAS MR. LYONS. THAT WAS WHAT WAS SAID. THAT WAS WHAT WAS SAID AT THE MEETING. THE LAW DIRECTOR WAS DIRECTED TO EXECUTE IT'S THE VIDEO WHEN THE VIDEO WAS DONE, ONCE WE WERE FINISHED. AND AFTER THAT, WHAT WAS TAKEN AFTER THE EXECUTIVE SESSION, IT WAS MADE VERY CLEAR THAT WE WOULD HOLD, UH, A SPECIAL MEETING WITHIN 48 HOURS. I'M MEETING TO DISCUSS THE, THE, UH, UH, APPOINTMENT OF AN INTERIM CITY MANAGER. ALL THAT IS ON VIDEO. ALL THAT IS ON RECORD. UH, MR. OTTO, YOU'VE LEANED OVER TO ME AND SAID, HEY, CAN WE TAKE CARE OF THIS PRETTY QUICK? CAUSE I'M GOING OUT OF TOWN AT THE END OF, UH, AT THE END OF WEDNESDAY. SO I'D LIKE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE COME AND WE CAN WRAP THIS UP IN ABOUT 10, 15 MINUTES. WE HAD THAT DISCUSSION RIGHT HERE. SO FOR YOU TODAY TO ACT LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON AND WHAT THIS MEANS ABOUT IS JUST COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY. THERE'S AN EMOTIVE WITNESS DIRECTOR COME THERE HAS BEEN THERE. HOLD ON. I AM STILL THE PRESIDING OFFICER, MEANING THERE HAS BEEN A MOTION AND A SECOND, AND THERE'S NO FURTHER DISCUSSION IN REGARD TO HERO ASKING GUSHING YOUR COMMENTS TO ME SINCE I WAS THE ONE THAT WAS CALLED ON, EXECUTES YOUR LINES. YOU'RE OUT OF ORDER. THERE HAVE BEEN A MOTION THERE. SECOND TO DISCUSS, EXECUTE MY UNDERSTANDING AT THE TIME. AND THE LAW DIRECTOR HAS COMMUNICATED WITH ME [00:10:01] THAT I WAS IN ERROR, BUT MY UNDERSTANDING OF EXECUTE AT THE TIME WAS THAT, UH, THIS WOULD BE BROUGHT BACK TO COUNCIL TO VOTE ON. SO THIS COUNCIL AND I VOTED ON IT, UM, UH, JU JUST AGREED TO PAY $150,000, UH, FOR A, UM, UH, CONSULTING AGREEMENT BASED ON THE WORD EXECUTE. NOW, I FIND THAT STRANGE THAT THAT WORD WAS USED BECAUSE USUALLY WHEN WE DIRECT THE CITY MANAGER STAFF TO NEGOTIATE A CONTRACT AND THEN ENTER INTO A CONTRACT, THEY'RE USUALLY LOW NUMBERS. UH, I BELIEVE ONE OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD FARMER, CITY MANAGER. UM, IT WAS A COPYING LEASE AND AGREEMENT AND IT WAS FOR A FEW THOUSAND DOLLARS. I BELIEVE THIS WAS $150,000 MR. LONG, MR. LYONS, YOU SAYS EXECUTE CENTRAL LINES MENTIONED THAT IT IS MY PREROGATIVE. I AM THE PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE MEETING. AND BASED ON THE MOTION, I CAN DIRECT THE DISCUSSION BACK TO THE, UH, TO THE MEETING ITEM AT HAND. AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO. IF THERE IS ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT MR. FALKOWSKI, THE WHOLE PURPOSE, AND THE REASON THAT WE'RE HERE, I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO HEAR IF WE WANT TO HAVE A DISCUSSION REGARDING MR. SCHOMER. WE CAN CERTAINLY DO THAT AT ANOTHER TIME, BUT THAT'S NOT THE PURPOSE WE'RE HERE THIS EVENING. MRS. BURCH. THANK YOU. YOU JUST SAID WHAT I WAS GOING TO SAY. CAN WE CALL A VOTE, PLEASE? IF THERE'S NO FURTHER DISCUSSION ON THE APPOINTMENT OF MR. AND YES, MR. SHAW, THANK YOU. YOU SAY THAT THIS DISCUSSION CAN HAPPEN IN ANOTHER TIME, WEDNESDAY AT OTHER TIME, WHATEVER COUNSEL YOU EVER COUNCIL CHOOSES. I THINK COUNCIL IS A BODY CAN CALL A SPECIAL MEETING OF COUNCIL AT 6:00 PM TO DISCUSS, UH, THE, UH, UH, THE OPEN, HONEST AND TRANSPARENT, UM, UH, RELEASE OF A FORMER CITY MANAGER. AND, AND IN MY OPINION, THAT IS EMOTION. WE ARE, WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR, SO YES, THAT WAS ALREADY, THERE WAS ALREADY A MOTION ON THE FLOOR. WHAT MR. MERRITT AND KEEPING OPEN, HONEST AND TRANSPARENT. ARE YOU WILLING TO CALL AS THE CHAIR OF THIS, UH, UM, A MEETING, A SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING TOMORROW AT 6:00 PM TO DISCUSS THIS TOPIC? I THINK WHAT COULD PROBABLY DISCUSS THAT THE WORK SESSION? YES. I I'D HAVE TO CHECK. I'M NOT SURE THAT I'M AVAILABLE TOMORROW EVENING, BUT I'M REALLY HAPPY TO ADD THAT TO, TO A WORK SESSION DISCUSSION. IF THERE'S NO FURTHER DISCUSSION REGARDING SPECIFICALLY TO MR. MCCALSKY BEING APPOINTED THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER, THEN I'M GOING TO ASK MR. ROGERS TO CALL THE ROLE. OKAY. THIS WOULD BE THE FIRST MOTION WOULD BE A MOTION TO WAIVE THE SECOND READING. YES. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WAS CLARIFIED. UM, AND THEN THERE WOULD NEED TO BE A MOTION TO ADOPT AS WELL, SINCE IT IS AN ORDINANCE. OKAY. SO THE FIRST MOTION MS. BAKER, WAS THAT A MOTION TO WAIVE MR. HILL SECONDED. THAT WAS A MOTION TO WAIVE MR. MR. MR. WEBB, MR. HILL ACTUALLY ANSWERED. OKAY. SO I, I ACTUALLY RECOGNIZE MR. HILL'S SECOND. OKAY. OKAY. SO MR. ROGER, WOULD YOU CALL THE ROLE FOR THE MOTION TO WEIGH THIS? I DO HAVE A PARLIAMENTARIAN QUESTION FOR THE CLERK. IF I MAY REGARDING THE VOTE, HOW MANY VOTES IS NEEDED TO PASS, PASS THIS AND WEIGH THE SECOND READING SEX SIX. THANK YOU, MS. BAKER. YES. MR. CAMPBELL. YES. MRS. BERG. YES. MR. OTTO. YES. MR. LYONS, TONY. I HAD A HARD TIME HEARING. CAN YOU PLEASE, UH, UH, RESTATE WHAT WE'RE VOTING ON? THIS IS A MOTION TO WAIVE THE SECOND READING. OKAY. UH, SO THERE'S NO EXECUTE IN THAT MOTION. OKAY. I SAY YES. MR. HILL. YES. MR. WEBB. YES. MR. SHAW. NO. OKAY. MOTION. THE WAVE CARRIES SEVEN TO ONE NEXT I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPOINT OR TO ADOPT THE APPOINTMENT OF MR. INTERIM CITY MANAGER. IS THERE A MOTION MR. WEBB MOTION FOR A SECOND? MS. BAKER, WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND. ANY DISCUSSION ON THIS MOTION MAYOR? YES. MR. LYONS, IT NEEDS TO BE SPECIFIC TO THE APPOINTMENT OF MR. FALKOWSKI AS THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER. WE WON'T HEAR ANYTHING ELSE. THANK YOU, MAYOR. I APPRECIATE THAT, UH, PIECE OF ADVICE. UM, I'M SURE. UH, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, SCOTT FALKOWSKI IS LISTENING. AT LEAST I WOULD HOPE HE WAS LISTENING. I'VE THE HONOR OF WORKING WITH SCOTT . UH, MY 10 YEARS ON COUNCIL, I FIND HIM TO BE A MAN OF INTEGRITY, UH, [00:15:01] HONESTY, UH, ONLY SURPASSED BY HIS HARD WORK AND ETHICS. I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH SCOTT AS INTERIM CITY MANAGER. AND, UH, IF I CAN BE OF ANY HELP, UH, HE CAN CALL ON ME AT ANY TIME. UH, MAYOR JUST WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT'S HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE SCOTT FOLK HOUSE, I AS WELL. AND I THINK HE'S PROBABLY LISTENING AND APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS AND IN THE COMMENTS AND RESPECT TO MR. FERGUSON, MR. ROGERS, MR. CAMPBELL. YES. THIS IS BURJ. YES. MR. OTTO? YES. MR. LYONS? YES. MR. HILL. YES. MR. WEBB. YES. MR. SHAW. YES. MS. BAKER. YES. AND MOTION CARRIES TO THE POINT, SCOTT FOR CASKEY, THE POSITION OF INTERIM CITY MANAGER OF THE SEA OF HEBREW HEIGHTS. CONGRATULATIONS, MR. MCCALSKY. IT IS NOW FIVE 46, SARAH, ON THE CONVERSATION OF THE ADDITIONAL CONVERSATION WE HAVEN'T IRONED OUT. IS THAT GOING TO BE AT THE NEXT WORK SESSION OR A SPECIAL MEETING? BECAUSE I THINK THE RESIDENTS OF THIS COMMUNITY REALLY NEED AN OPEN, HONEST INTEREST EXPERIENCE. WE WEREN'T HAPPY TO DISCUSS THAT THE WORK SESSION. I HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE LAW DIRECTOR, IF AT THE WORK SESSION, IT IS DEEMED THAT THE, UH, THE CONTRACT, THE AGREEMENT AND THE RESIGNATION THAT HAS SINCE BEEN SUPPLIED AFTER MONDAY, NIGHT'S VOTE IS DEEMED UNACCEPTABLE. IS THERE ANY ROLLBACK PROCEDURES ON THAT? I WOULD HAVE TO CHECK ON THAT BECAUSE IT IS ACTIVE COUNCIL THAT WAS PASSED AND THERE'S, I'D HAVE TO CHECK ON IT TO BE HONEST WITH YOU. I WILL HAVE THAT BEFORE THE MEETING YOUR ANSWER. THANK YOU. YES. MS. BAKER? YES. YEP. YEP. NEXT TUESDAY. OKAY. IT'S FIVE 47. THIS MEETING IS. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.