The audio which has since been obtained by Dayton Daily News, includes a man using racially motivated language toward his daughter and sexually derogatory language to refer to the girl’s mother. This news organization has not independently verified that the speaker is Sawmiller.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Daugherty raised other complaints about Sawmiller, reading statements that he said were submitted by two women making allegations about Sawmiller’s behavior.
The Dayton Daily News is not reporting the substance of those statements, as Daugherty presented them anonymously, and while police reports were filed in connection to the claims, no criminal charges have been filed.
Sawmiller, who was not present during Tuesday’s Englewood council meeting, said Wednesday that he could not comment, per his attorney’s advice, citing “the custody case I filed, which is where the allegations came from.”
Sawmiller submitted his letter of resignation to the city Tuesday afternoon.
“I want to make sure it’s known that my family and home life is and will always be my main priority next to God,” Sawmiller wrote in the letter. “... I want to assure the residents of Englewood that as their council member, my personal matters never steered my desire to make them proud to call Englewood home. Their voices matter and that is what I was elected to do and did.”
Sawmiller pushed back against allegations against him, but referenced family and personal issues in his letter.
“I have had many personal attacks and absurd allegations against myself and my family. Do not take my silence as guilt or think that I am unconcerned. I merely have taken advice from my attorney to do so until the custody hearing that I have filed has been resolved,” he wrote. “... This year I have met the most broken version of me, but also the strongest. I want to be clear that I’m not quitting, but rather confirming that my children and family are taken care of first.”
According to Daugherty, the city will begin taking applications and conducting interviews to fill the vacant council seat on a temporary basis until a permanent candidate can be elected, which he said would likely take place next November.
Daugherty, fellow Englewood Council member Steve Henne and newcomer Fred Huelsman all will be elected Nov. 7, as they are the only three candidates running for the three available seats. Sawmiller was not on the ballot this year, as his term would not have expired for another two years.
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