By GEORGETTE HUFF
Mr. Thrifty
Mayor David Flanary made what has been called "an administrative decision" and informed former street superintendent Bill Grimes that he is not eligible to receive payment for the more than $19,000 in sick leave he had accrued at the time he was terminated in November 2009.
Grimes had asked to be on the agenda for the March 8 Carrollton Village Council meeting in order to again address the payment issue. The letter, which was dated that day, was handed to him by Flanary prior to the start of the meeting. During the meeting Grimes questioned not only the timing of the letter, but also the apparent about-face regarding the payment.
Grimes said he had been told by Village Administrator Robert Fowler "two meetings ago" that he would receive the payout, a statement that Fowler denied making. In addition, Grimes had with him material he said had been faxed to his attorney by Village Solicitor Clark Battista, including a settlement agreement from the village that would be signed if Grimes agreed to withdraw the lawsuit he had filed, which he has done. Battista confirmed he had faxed the material; although he could not pinpoint precisely when he had done so.
Grimes also noted that he had previously provided council members with material from the arbitration hearing in which the hearing officer stated that Grimes was eligible for the payout. Battista replied that "in and of itself, that wasn't enough" to approve payment.
Grimes then asked if either council members or the village administration had listened to the recording of the hearing that had been provided to the village. After a brief silence, council member Frank Leghart said that after listening to the entire "five hours," he concluded that the matter was "an administrative decision" rather than a matter for council.
Press questions at the end of the meeting as to whether Flanary, Fowler, or Battista had reviewed the recording, which Grimes has previously stated would support his claim that he was told by the hearing officer and by village officials during the hearing that he would be eligible for a sick-leave payout, were answered with an explanation that council member Luke Grimes had downloaded the material onto flash drives for officials because the disk could not be opened on village equipment. No one else directly answered the question, leaving the assumption that only Leghart has done so.
At least twice, Battista recommended that Grimes take the letter from Flanary to his attorney and then "she and I will discuss it." Grimes balked, saying, "I followed what you said," in dropping the suit, and said he wasn't "going to spend thousands and thousands and get beaten down." He then challenged council members to give him an up-or-down vote on the payout and said if it went against him, he would "walk out without saying another word about it."
However, Battista said he couldn't "force council to vote," and Leghart replied that he was not sure that council could "legally" vote on the issue.
In other business, council:
* HEARD that Personnel Committee members Leghart, John Yeager and Lynn Poplin are reviewing most job descriptions, including those for the openings in the street department and for the part-time clerk in Village Hall. Clerk Judi Noble said she "hopes to have some kind of input" in writing the job description for the office clerk. "Now that we've gone to monthly billings," Noble said, "unless they get some help, there will be no summer vacations" for the office staff.
* SET the following committee meetings: Street and Alley, March 22 at 6 p.m., and Water and Sewer, March 22 at 6:30 p.m.
* HEARD that 90 applications have been received for the laborer position and 12 for the superintendent's position in the street department.
* VOTED to place village advertising in the paper with "the most reasonable rates." The tally was 5-1, with Luke Grimes voting no.
* PAID bills and payroll in the amount of $93,327.46.