The trustees also selected Kimberly Lapensee as its new township administrator. Lapensee is the executive director of the Warren County Planning Commission. She will begin her township job on May 24.
The hirings follow months of turmoil within Butler Twp. government. Last month, the trustees placed Township Administrator Joe Flanagan on paid administrative leave and named Butler Township Police Chief Danny Hobbs acting township administrator.
“This move was made while negotiations are being finalized on a mutually agreeable separation agreement between Flanagan and the Board,” the trustees said in a statement released late Monday, March 22.
“The Board’s decision to relieve Flanagan of his duties, while fulfilling his contractual obligations, is based on the Board’s unanimous agreement to take the entire township in a new direction with new leadership.”
Flanagan was township administrator for 10 years while the township experienced tremendous growth along the Miller Lane corridor.
The decision to replace Flanagan came in the wake of Butler Twp. Fire Chief Robert Weiffenbach being placed on paid administrative leave.
His leave came one week after two fired Butler Twp. firefighters were offered — and accepted — their jobs back with the fire department. They were among 10 firefighters accused of viewing and/or downloading inappropriate material while on duty.
On March 15, a Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Connie S. Price upheld a State Employee Relations Board decision to reinstate Butler Twp. firefighters Angela Rice and Richard Nihizer with back pay because they were fired more for their union activities than any improper computer use.
The Oct. 29, 2009, SERB order said Rice, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 4491, and Nihizer, vice president, were due back pay and benefits from Jan. 14, 2008.
On March 10, the Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear a Butler Twp. appeal in the case of another terminated firefighter, Ralph Bowman.
The Ohio 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 2 that Bowman should not have been fired for using township computers for personal use during down time at the firehouse because township employees were given “no meaningful guidance” on what was appropriate.
Bowman was a part-time firefighter and emergency medical technician when he was fired in 2008 for engaging in “improper conduct” after a township investigation found he allegedly watched seven violent videos and one that contained sexually explicit language but was not pornographic.
Bowman admitted watching only one video, “Felony Fights,” which he claimed had some training value. He said he had shared his computer password with other firefighters.
The appellate court said Butler Twp. did not provide guidance “as to where it drew the line between appropriate and inappropriate content” except for a Code of Ethics, which instructed township employees that they were “bound by the highest standards of morality.”
“In the absence of additional guidance, the Township could not discipline Bowman for accessing legal, nonpornographic videos on the computer, and the trial court abused its discretion in affirming the Trustees’ decision to terminate Bowman,” Judge Jeffrey E. Froelich wrote. Judges James A. Brogan and Mike Fain concurred.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kwynn@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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