First, some background. Last November, the community elected three new council members: Melissa Sexton, Timothy Back, and new Mayor David Nickerson. Along with Vice Mayor Nicole Adkins, they’ve formed a slim 4-3 majority that placed five village administrators on leave in February and then fired them in March for alleged wrongdoing.
The council won’t say specifically why these employees have been terminated, and that’s a disservice to the community of less than 4,000 in far western Montgomery County.
Let’s examine some basic questions.
Why did the new council majority suspect malfeasance? Did they get a tip from a whistleblower? Do they have information they have not released?
The council says its investigation is ongoing and it has “preliminary” findings of its internal investigation. If the probe is not complete, why fire people now? Why not keep them on leave until the investigation’s finished?
What’s the severity of the alleged indiscretions? Sometimes employees inadvertently make a decision that violates a policy or procedure that warrants discipline but not dismissal. For example, the village charter says employees can’t send personal emails from village equipment. I’m not saying that’s what happened, but if that’s the type of violation we’re talking about, is that enough to take someone’s job?
Why has the village allowed the Mayor to push for dismissals when the village charter says that’s the city manager’s job? This leads to another question. If the council places the city manager on leave, who then makes these dismissal decisions? The acting city manager?
The biggest question that no one has yet asked: Why is Nickerson leading the charge to rid the village of these employees? Nickerson, in 2019, was fired by Glena Madden, the village manager the council recently terminated. Madden has sued the village for reinstatement, claiming her firing was malicious.
Nickerson introduced the resolution to place all of the employees on leave and then voted to fire them all, including Madden. It’s no surprise the dismissed employees claim Nickerson’s acting on a vendetta.
Nickerson insists he only has good intentions, wants to do what’s right by the people who elected him, and he’s not trying to get back at anyone for anything.
Maybe.
But he shouldn’t be involved in firing someone who fired him for reasons that include dishonesty and fostering a hostile work environment, according to records obtained by the Dayton Daily News.
I don’t know who’s right and who’s wrong or whether there’s right and wrong on both sides. I do know that when a slim majority of a newly elected body quickly alleges malfeasance and blows things up, it raises questions of motive. And I do know that when said elected body clams up and refuses to come clean, it raises questions of trust.
How do New Lebanon residents know the council is looking out for its interests besides what the newly elected officials tell them?
They don’t.
The New Lebanon Village Council should immediately disclose why it decided to fire members of the village administration before it completed its investigation. (In Madden’s case, the village claims, among other things, that she violated the sunshine law and didn’t post job openings). It should disclose why it let Nickerson, once fired, vote on Madden’s leave and then termination. The three council members who have consistently voted against the majority need to tell the community why they’ve voted the way they have.
The people of New Lebanon need answers.
Lots of them.
Ray Marcano’s column appears on these pages each Sunday.
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