Who is Nelsonville's city manager? Council members, resigned manager clash at meeting

A dispute over who is the city manager in Nelsonville has led to a situation where there are two city managers — the acting police chief and a man who said he never resigned from his position.

Turmoil once again roiled the Athens County community of more than 5,000 after a city council meeting Monday ended unceremoniously amid jeers by supporters of Bernie Roell, who maintains that he still holds the city manager position even though the city's legal opinion is that he resigned and is no longer an employee of the city.

The Nelsonville City Council Chambers were at capacity during the Monday meeting, where a motion to restore Roell's access to the city computer systems and facilities ended in a tie. Roell, whom Council President Tony Dunfee says is not city manager, sat in the city manager's spot during the meeting.

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Roell verbally resigned earlier this month, citing hostility from Dunfee, but said he rescinded his resignation and could do so because he never actually placed the resignation in writing and it was never formally accepted by council. Roell, a local business owner, was selected city manager by Nelsonville City Council in March after an interim manager did not seek the permanent job.

Meeting ends amid chaotic crowd, shouting

Several supporters of Roell hurled insults at Dunfee during the meeting before he got up and left, essentially ending the meeting. Members of the audience continued to jeer and shout at the council members, saying it was a double standard that Roell's resignation could not be rescinded but several city council members had recently rescinded their own resignations or were reappointed to the position.

Nelsonville was facing a serious leadership void in April after four of the seven city council members had resigned over frustrations with the state of city government, leaving no quorum to handle the city's affairs. Three of the members returned to council just days later, rescinding their resignations.

A woman, who identified herself as Roell's wife, began calling Dunfee a coward and told a city police officer who walked over to her not to touch her.

The meeting did not end with a vote to adjourn. A city livestream of the meeting ends when Dunfee departed, but a video of the conclusion taped by an audience member and shared with The Dispatch shows audience members continuing to shout after Dunfee's departure.

Dunfee told The Dispatch he was “very disappointed in the way we acted as a community” during the meeting and that he believed the “whole situation was planned” by supporters of Roell.

“Name-calling is not acceptable. I was called a coward because I didn't want to aggressively go after them,” Dunfee said. “Bernie could've been removed.”

Roell told The Dispatch that he believes he is still the city manager.

“The amount of people that showed up (Monday) in support of keeping me working was tremendous,” Roell said.

Who is Nelsonville's city manager?

Roell says he is city manager. Dunfee said acting Police Chief Devon Tolliver is now the city manager. Tolliver could not be reached for comment.

When Roell verbally tendered his resignation on May 15, he was no longer an employee of the city, according to a legal opinion issued by City Attorney Bob Toy on May 18. The opinion states that because Roell had shared his resignation with council, and Dunfee had shared his resignation with the public following the executive session and the local media reported on it, Roell had essentially immediately resigned from the post.

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Roell said he resigned in a "kneejerk" reaction to what he said was hostility from Dunfee during an executive session. Both men say the dispute was about the organization of the city auditor's department. Roell said Dunfee called him a liar, and that was his breaking point.

“Because it was hostile, I just said I'm not going to become the whipping post every time we come into executive session,” Roell said.

Dunfee acknowledged he did not believe some of what Roell was telling council.

The city attorney's legal opinion states that Roell did not show up for work the next day, but his keys were discovered on his desk. Later that evening, he emailed members of City Council, saying he was rescinding his resignation.

Roell says a 1991 Ohio Supreme Court decisions in Davis v. Marion County Engineer provides the precedence for a public employee to rescind his resignation before the effective date as it was never officially accepted by the council.

“An opinion of a lawyer is just that, opinion,” Roell said of the city attorney's opinion that his resignation was immediate.

Nelsonville police blocked Roell from city building Tuesday

On Tuesday, Roell emailed council members and other city officials, telling them he will "be working from home as best I can because when I went to my office today I was denied access to my office space" by police. Roell said that officers told him that they were acting under Toy's orders.

“Well, the city attorney actually works for me,” Roell said to The Dispatch of the incident.

Dunfee confirmed that Nelsonville police had prevented Roell from entering the city building.

Toy could not immediately be reached for comment.

Revolving door in Nelsonville's city government

Nelsonville has been plagued 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 in the amount that his daughter was paid for working at the city pool, The Athens County Independent reported.

The city has lost two police chiefs and now five city managers since November. The code enforcement director position is currently vacant. At least eight council members have resigned since December, not counting the three who later rescinded their resignations and returned to council.

In 2021 and 2022, City Council removed member Greg Smith four times from council in a dispute over whether he actually lives in the city or in neighboring Washington County. The first three attempts were initially rescinded or struck down by the courts due to procedural errors, Smith has since left the council.

Council member Gregg Clement noted at Monday's meeting that six City Council positions are currently up for election on the Nov. 7 ballot.

“It seems like it's only during the controversial issues when the council (meeting) and the parking lot is packed,” Clement said. “You don’t have to shout it from the crowd, you can have a seat at the table.”

@Colebehr_report

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Nelsonville: meeting clash as resigned city manager says job still his