Homrighausen vetoes legislation combining, eliminating jobs
OVER — Mayor Richard Homrighausen has vetoed ordinances that would have combined the safety and service director positions into one job and eliminated the job of mayor's executive assistant.
The mayor vetoed the ordinances on Thursday but offered no reason for his action.
Council has to wait 10 days before trying to override the vetoes. Council President Shane Gunnoe said Saturday that a council session hasn't been scheduled yet, but it will be shortly after the required 10 days.
Council members passed the ordinances earlier this month in response to the firings of Service Director Dave Douglas, Safety/Human Resources Director Gerry Mroczkowski and Eva Newsome, the mayor's executive assistant, by Homrighausen just before Christmas.
The mayor has provided no explanation for the firings, but all three employees provided testimony during an investigation into Homrighausen's conduct as mayor last year and testified about what they said was his decline in health, both physically and mentally.
The ordinance combining the safety director and service director's job makes the position part-time with a salary of $10 per hour. The person holding that job will not receive any medical, health, dental or insurance coverage.
Further, the ordinance will be repealed if the fired employees are reinstated "and the wrongs committed by the mayor on Dec. 21, 2021, are rectified to council's satisfaction."
The same repeal provision is included in the ordinance eliminating the executive assistant position if the employees are reinstated by the mayor, the State Personnel Board of Review, any settlement or court order.
Homrighausen did not respond to a request for comment on the vetoes.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Homrighausen vetoes legislation combining, eliminating jobs
