Etna trustees approve posting open jobs, hire attorneys to deal with employee issues
Etna Township's employee woes are far from over, but the township is taking steps to address them.
The Etna Township Trustees approved Feb. 20 posting job listings for the township's multiple vacant positions and also engaging with legal counsel to deal with employee issues.
"We realize the importance of filling these positions for Etna Township, and so that's why it took so much action tonight," Trustee Gary Burkholder said in an interview after the meeting.
Near the end of another lengthy meeting, Burkholder and Trustee Mark Evans approved engaging with attorneys from Columbus law firms Reminger and Fishel Downey Albrecht and Riepenhoff. The township already works with Fishel Downey Albrecht and Riepenhoff but had to authorize spending up to $5,000 with Reminger.
Trustee Rozland McKee voted against both actions.
The board members met in executive session to discuss the employee issue prior to voting, but McKee voted against entering executive session and then did not participate in the hourlong session with Burkholder and Evans.
In the regular session, McKee asked what the employee issue was, but Evans and Burkholder said they could not elaborate beyond saying the issue had come up that day. McKee and Burkholder went back and forth over whether details could be shared.
"The residents have the right to know that you're going to spend $5,000 on some legal (issue)," McKee said. "We need to know. What is it?"
Burkholder responded, "You've been made aware of the situation, and it was discussed in executive session, and I can't go any further than that."
During the meeting, McKee declined to say why she did not participate in the executive session when Burkholder asked. But in an interview after the meeting, McKee said in past executive sessions, Evans has been aggressive and hostile toward her.
"I will not give him that opportunity," she said.
She said without another person present, such as an attorney, she was not going into the meeting with Burkholder and Evans. She said she has participated in other executive sessions since the start of January when an attorney has been present.
Etna Township trustees approve posting open positions after employee exodus
The trustees also approved posting for multiple open and new positions as well as contracting with a search firm to fill the open administrator position.
The township will post job listings for a secretary and a zoning inspector. The trustees also approved posting a new position for a director of planning and zoning.
Burkholder said after the meeting that with all the development happening in the township, there is a need for a higher level employee to oversee all aspects of planning and zoning beyond just the zoning inspector.
Outside of paid positions, the board also approved advertising for two open seats on the Board of Zoning Appeals, which is a five-member board. Two board members recently resigned, including Trent Stepp, who ran for the open trustee seat in November and serves as the township's representative on the Southwest Licking Community Water and Sewer District board.
The township has seen an exodus of employees since the start of the year. Township zoning inspector John Singleton resigned Jan. 2 after nearly seven years with the township, and administrator Nita Hanson left her position Jan. 24, less than a year after she was hired. She and her attorney allege the township was a hostile and abusive work environment.
Longtime employee Laura Brown will leave her position as township secretary in the coming weeks, but an exact date is not known yet. Once Brown departs, Etna will only have one employee working inside the township hall: an assistant zoning inspector.
Hanson and Singleton both cited Evans' alleged behavior as the reason they are no longer employed with the township.
Etna will pay a one-time $18,500 fee to the Westerville-based search firm Management Advisory Group LLC, which will lead the search for a new administrator. The contract was approved in a 2-1 vote, with McKee voting against it.
Burkholder said after the meeting that the search firm will collaborate with the board throughout the process, but he felt bringing in a search firm was the prudent thing to do given the township's staffing level.
During the meeting, McKee questioned the length of the contract and was concerned the township would have to pay additional money if a candidate wasn't hired within a certain time frame.
But Evans said the contract isn't tied to a specific time frame, and is instead performance based. According to the proposal provided by the firm, Evans said the firm will identify up to eight top candidates and suggest up to six to interview. Then the candidates will go through interviews and it will be up to the township if they want to hire one of the candidates. If they don't hire someone, Evans said the township can continue to use Management Advisory Group or move forward with a different firm.
mdevito@gannett.com
740-607-2175
Twitter: @MariaDeVito13
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Etna trustees approve posting open jobs after exodus of employees
