Nelsonville turmoil: 3 of 4 council members who resigned now back, but $1.4M grant lost

Nelsonville was facing a serious leadership void over the weekend — four of the seven city council members had resigned last week, leaving no quorum to handle the affairs of the Athens County community of more than 5,000 residents.

By Monday, three of the four who resigned — Council President Tony Dunfee and members Gregg Clement and Neil Sommers — had reconsidered and rescinded their resignations. But the turmoil resulted in the city losing a $1.4 million grant to upgrade and beautify one of its main downtown streets.

Members who resigned say they returned to prevent crisis

Dunfee told The Dispatch that he believes the reason for much of the turmoil falls on one council member whom he claims has been driving people from council and the city's government for years.

"Sixteen people have resigned in the past five-and-a-half years and it all revolves around one person — Dan Sherman," Dunfee said.

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Sherman, who has been on council since 2018, has previously been at the center of several controversies in the city, including calling the fire chief a profanity during a recorded meeting in 2021.

Former council member Justin Booth, who resigned in January, also blamed Sherman for the turmoil within the city's government.

“It comes down to Mr. Sherman and his agenda,” Booth told The Dispatch.

Sherman told The Dispatch the allegations are "accusations and lies," and denied any part in creating an environment of hostility in Nelsonville city government.

"I don't know where that comes from," Sherman said.

The Ohio Revised Code states that a person holding an elected office retains the position until a successor is elected or appointed. In this case, three of the four Nelsonville council members who resigned last week had rescinded their resignations as of Monday, which would seemingly restore them to their posts. The Ohio Attorney General's Office directed The Dispatch's inquiries about the situation to Nelsonville city attorney Bob Toy, who could not be reached for comment Monday.

Clement, who resigned from Nelsonville City Council last Friday and then rescinded his resignation Monday, told The Dispatch that the exodus of a majority of the council members was unplanned by those who had resigned. He said he resigned because he was personally disheartened by the state of the city's government.

Upon further reflection over the weekend, Clement said he realized "some things needed ironed out."

"After realizing what (a lack of government) would do to Nelsonville, I rescinded my resignation," he said.

Sommers, who said he was not on council long enough to notice any dynamics among members, told The Dispatch that he resigned because after three others resigned, he had no clear direction. After speaking with community members, he said he realized he couldn't fix things from the sidelines.

“It put Nelsonville in a situation it should have never been in,” Sommers said.

Council member Glennda Tingle, one of the members who did not resign last week, said that "people have opinions all the time, their opinions are their own."

“(Dan Sherman) is working hard, as we all are, to keep Nelsonville on an even keel,” Tingle said.

Nick Smith, the fourth member who resigned, did not say he was rescinding his resignation.

Mass resignations led to loss of $1.4M project

The Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program (SAOP), a Nelsonville-based group that advocates on behalf of sexual and domestic violence victims in nine southeast Ohio counties, notified the city of Nelsonville on Friday that the nonprofit was removing a $1.4 million grant it had earmarked for a street upgrade and beautification project, according to City Auditor Taylor Sappington. The grant to SAOP was part of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's Appalachian funding initiatives, and Nelsonville was selected as the subaward grantee.

SAOP told Nelsonville officials in an email that the city council resignations "makes it evident to us that the city will lack the bandwidth to implement the project in a manner consistent with our current understanding of the project timelines."

Nelsonville City Manager Bernie Roell, who was just appointed to the position last week before the resignations, has reached out to SAOP urging them to reconsider, according to the city auditor. Roell and SAOP could not be reached for comment Monday.

“If the council aimed to set the new city manager and the community for success, they have undeniably failed," Sappington said in a news release.

Dunfee said after conversations with members of the community, he decided he needed to make sure the city and new city manager were successful.

"I support Bernie, I want him to succeed," Dunfee said. "Why would I not want a city manager to succeed? It doesn't make any sense. He fails, we fail."

Revolving door in Nelsonville's city government

Nelsonville has also been roiled in recent months by resignations within the city's administration. Former City Manager Scott Frank resigned in January and agreed to pay restitution to the city after his daughter was paid by the city for work at the city pool, The Athens County Independent reported.

The city has lost two police chiefs and four city managers since November, and the code enforcement director position is currently vacant. Seven council members have resigned since December.

In 2021 and 2022, City Council removed member Greg Smith four times from the body in a dispute over whether he actually lives in the city or in neighboring Washington County. The attempts were initially rescinded or struck down by the courts due to procedural errors, although Smith is no longer on council.

Dunfee said he thinks those who remain on council have created a culture of allowing personal feelings to drive local policy.

"Those who rescinded their resignations, just decided we weren't going to allow Nelsonville to go down that path, that alleyway," Dunfee said.

Clement said something needed to change in city government and he wanted to be part of a solution.

“The faces change, the problems remain the same. The system is broken...," Clement said.

Booth said he and some other residents of the city are considering pushing the city to change government forms away from the current charter government system.

Nelsonville City Council "has too much power, and they can't get good enough candidates to wield that power responsibly for the good of the town," Booth said.

Dunfee said members of city government need "to have cooler heads whenever we're dealing with things, and just stick to the facts and not opinions."

"We have to start acting as a community, (doing) what's best for the community. Not what's best for one, not what's best for two, but what's best for the community as a whole," Dunfee said. "Until we do that, its going to be the same old Nelsonville over and over again."

@Colebehr_report

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Nelsonville turmoil: 3 of 4 council members who resigned come back