Contentious Geneva Township Meeting ends with no action

Jun. 2—GENEVA — A Wednesday morning meeting of the Geneva Township Trustees, called to fill a vacant trustee position, ended with no action after the remaining two trustees could not agree on a candidate to appoint.

Former Trustee Robert Russell said he informed the other trustees in March that he would be resigning effective May 31

Trustee Tim Mills read a letter at the meeting, stating that members of an interview committee spoke with five candidates who had submitted letters of interest, and unanimously recommended Amanda Briggs de Lavini as the top choice, and Tiffany Miller as the second choice.

The committee that interviewed candidates included Mills, Geneva Fire Chief David Shook, and Geneva Township Fiscal Officer Tammy Caya, according to the letter. Trustee Dennis Brown was not at the meeting during which interviews were conducted.

At the start of Wednesday's meeting, Brown and Mills argued over a special meeting that took place on May 25, where interviews were conducted.

Brown said he was unaware of the meeting, and that he had not been given notice of the meeting.

"Whatever you decided, I did not get notice of it," Brown said.

He said he did not want to have a meeting without having heard from all of the interested candidates.

"I'm here to represent all the trustees. I'm also here to represent the residents of Geneva Township, Geneva city, and Geneva-on-the-Lake," Brown said.

Mills said a trustee needs to be appointed.

"I have PERS checks I have to send out, I have workman's comp checks we have to send," he said. "If we don't get this done, the township gets penalized, we get fined."

Russell said Brown was at the May 11 meeting when a date was set for the interviews.

"It's not Tim's fault you didn't write it down," Russell said.

He said he was embarrassed by Wednesday's meeting.

"We made jokes, sometimes it's like kindergarten here, and today, it's not a joke," Russell said.

Mills said the interview committee felt Briggs de Lavini brought the most to the table.

"She was young, enthusiastic, smart, lives in the township," Mills said.

Brown said he believes Duane Feher is more qualified than any other candidate.

"I've known Duane ever since high school, I've known his entire background," Brown said. "He is a Democrat, I've worked very close with him."

Brown doesn't believe any of the other candidates are not qualified, he said.

"I'm not trying to hire anybody, I want the best candidate to represent the citizens of the township," he said.

Brown asked for an investigation into why a meeting took place he did not know about.

Mills said the date of the meeting was set at a regular meeting in May, and notice was posted in the newspaper, on the township's website, and a notice was emailed to Brown.

A notice of the meeting was published in the May 18 edition of the Star Beacon.

Mills made a motion to appoint Briggs de Lavini to serve the remainder of Russell's term, but the motion was not seconded so no vote could be taken on it.

The next meeting of the Geneva Township Trustees will take place on June 8. Mills suggested Brown should speak to the five candidates before then.

According to the Ohio Revised Code, the township trustees can appoint qualified elector to fill the vacancy. Eventually, if no appointment is made, the Ashtabula County Probate Judge will make an appointment.