Buckeye Lake mayor endures censure, no-confidence vote, complaints, calls for resignation
BUCKEYE LAKE − Jeryne Peterson, mayor of Buckeye Lake less than two years, endured a chaotic summer with complaints from village employees, censure and no confidence votes from council and a fight with the solicitor.
Employees and council members describe a mayor who avoids communication, exhibits unprofessional and unpredictable behavior, makes rash decisions, and is prone to take retaliatory actions against those who question her choices.
In an email to The Advocate, Peterson said she's committed to making Buckeye Lake a better place and hopes that council members join her in that effort. She said she's focused on the future and did not address specific allegations or complaints.
"My focus is on moving the village forward and addressing issues of concern to residents such as deteriorating streets and stormwater problems," Peterson said. "A 'she said, they said' debate is counter-productive, wasting time and resources that should be spent on issues that are meaningful to our residents.
"Our charter creates a strong mayor form of government placing considerable executive responsibilities on the mayor while village council is primarily a legislative body. Some of our council members either don't understand this division of responsibilities or don't want to accept it, which accounts for some of our conflicts. This conflict also arose with our previous mayor."
The Village Council voted unanimously to censure Peterson “for conduct unbecoming of a mayor” following a complaint from a water office clerk alleging unprofessional and “menacing” behavior by Peterson that was embarrassing to the clerk in front of a customer.
Council President Linda Goodman explained why council took the censure vote:
“We got the written complaint, and you have to follow up on that,” Goodman said. “And there had been some verbal concerns by other staff members.”
A week later council unanimously approved a no-confidence vote in the mayor after she tried to fire the village solicitor and hire a new solicitor without council approval.
Solicitor Brad Nicodemus said his “termination” came in a Thursday phone call with the mayor, who put nothing in writing. Nicodemus said council must approve the early termination of his contract, and there must be a 30-day notice. He said the mayor's actions happened because she didn't like his legal advice.
“There were insults and after having several conversations with Mayor Peterson before that have devolved in a similar way, I notified her, ‘You’ve insulted me. I think we need to stop this conversation.’
“Once the conversation gets there, nothing I say is going to be well received. She said I’m through and she wants to terminate my contract.”
The result was confusion over who represented the village in court, minutes before the start of a Monday-morning trial, causing the dismissal of the case and charges dropped against a theft suspect.
In addition, the clerk-treasurer, who is the village’s fiscal officer, resigned, working her last day Friday. Council members said more resignations are likely, and some said they worry about village finances without the fiscal officer.
In a report by human resources firm Training Marbles, employees said the mayor spreads gossip about one employee to other employees. Some said they are already looking for work elsewhere or may begin a job search if workplace conditions don’t improve.
Village Council members, HR firm detail a lack of communication
Goodman said the mayor resisted all attempts to discuss any of the controversies until Wednesday, when she said she would meet with Goodman. But that meeting has still not happened, Goodman said Monday afternoon.
“We reached out several times, and the mayor was not acknowledging any part of anything that’s transpired and would not agree to mediation or sit down and talk,” Goodman said. “We’re trying to work through this.
“There’s a lot of concern. The village people are very verbal about their concerns. It’s tough to do business when you’re not communicating.”
Council member Don Cable said at the Sept. 25 council meeting, “Obviously, there seems to be a real issue here. To me, the arrogance is overwhelming.”
Training Marbles issued a report July 25 on the workplace environment in the village.
“It is clear from the majority of interviews that employees were uncomfortable speaking to me about the mayor for fear of retaliation,” Julia Baxter, of Training Marbles, said during the report.
Council member Sue Wadley said, “I have to say that I’m deeply disappointed and concerned and cannot stress enough the lack of communication. We have to be transparent. We have to be communicating. And something is broken in this village. And I don’t know how to fix it. It’s going to take everybody to do this.”
Two former council members have called on Peterson to resign. The mayor was elected in 2021, receiving 30% of the vote in a five-person race. Peterson is the village’s fifth mayor elected in the past five elections.
Report outlines alleged outbursts, confrontations with employees
The Training Marbles report reveals two other confrontations with employees last year and also states the mayor sometimes asks employees to slide documents under her door so she doesn’t have to interact with them.
One heated exchange happened in the village office in front of a customer, the report states. When the employee left the office, the mayor said, “If you leave, don’t come back.”
The other incident came late last year in a meeting among the mayor, the village’s health insurance broker and two employees.
“The mayor allegedly ‘cut off’ the vendor and walked out of the meeting, and the two employees were shocked, confused and tried to explain what occurred to the broker.”
The complaint filed by water office clerk Gina Kaetzel addressed an end-of-day incident in June when Kaetzel tried to help a customer in the parking lot. She said the mayor intervened in the discussion, put her hand up near Kaetzel’s face to shut her up, and talked to the resident.
According to the complaint, Kaetzel said she was told that after she left, Peterson took a note with the customer’s contact information off Kaetzel’s desk, put it on the desk of the administrative assistant and then told an intern, “I don’t know why she is trying to do someone else’s job when she can’t even do her own.”
Kaetzel said in her complaint, “The incident was very unprofessional in front of a resident, embarrassing in front of a summer intern who was trying to help. The hand up to my face was very shocking, menacing in nature and I felt horrible that an intern and resident would witness such an action from a public official.”
Case dismissed over confusion about who represented the village
Two solicitors showed up for a Monday-morning jury trial, each thinking they were representing the village in the case. Nicodemus, who has been the village solicitor, was there. Another attorney, who received a phone call from the mayor late on the preceding Friday afternoon, was also there.
Nicodemus explained at a council meeting what happened in court that day, including hearing some shocking news at the outset.
“The judge said a lawyer filed for a continuance because you’ve been terminated,” Nicodemus said.
Nicodemus told the judge he had not been terminated and wanted to go ahead with the case. The jury and the defendant were there.
But then, he went into the witness room and the witnesses, who had all been subpoenaed, were gone. He then asked for a continuance but was denied.
“The witnesses were not released by me,” Nicodemus said. “Everybody is there for a trial except my witnesses.
“So, the case was dismissed for insufficient evidence,” Nicodemus said. “So, (the defendant) goes free. Someone with a felony history of property crimes escaped justice within the village.”
The new attorney said she talked with the mayor the prior Friday and had asked for the continuance to prepare for the case.
Council member Kellie Green said of the mayor's attempt to fire the solicitor, “I just believe the action and decision is in clear violation of the charter. Just the clear thinking of the ramifications of those decisions without any consultation with anybody else concerns me.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Buckeye Lake mayor endures no-confidence vote, calls for resignation
