Mayor gets earful at meeting
Several Butler residents had heated words for Mayor Tom Donaldson at Wednesday night's city council meeting.
The meeting, which was moved from the city building to the public safety building to accommodate the crowd, was held in part to discuss the recent demotion, the suspension of that demotion, and subsequent retirement of former city Fire Chief Nick Ban.
On April 4, Donaldson demoted Ban without the consent of council. Following an outcry from council members, he suspended Ban's demotion, but effective midnight Friday, Ban retired after 25 years with the department.
Ban's retirement was accepted Wednesday by the council. But before that, multiple citizens gave impassioned speeches.
“What I am most annoyed about is you have taken away the ability for a man to retire with honor,” Jamie Goehring said.
She also was concerned with the safety of the citizens.
“We feel that we are at risk.” she said.
Bryan Presco questioned the mayor's reasoning behind demoting Ban.
“As a decent human being, don't you think you should give Nick Ban and the people in the city of Butler a reason why?” Presco asked.
Sherry Halm said that she would trade the mayor for a fire chief.
Nearly all of the residents who spoke were upset with Donaldson's actions.
However, a few spoke in support of the mayor.
“I think Tom is doing a great job,” said Clair Boring. “He's had to make a lot of tough decisions. This is his toughest decision to make. It's one of those matters that has to be resolved. We all pull forward and come together to be a great place again.”
Tim Roxbury put faith in Donaldson's judgment.
“I may or may not agree with the decision, but I know you have an intelligent reasoning behind the decision,” he said. “We need to stand behind the mayor.”
Following the speakers, Donaldson read a statement on his decision to demote Ban.
“The city's financial situation demands attention,” Donaldson said in his statement. “The fire department needs restructured to help maintain financial solvency. Streets and parks have been cut beyond reason, yet these employees seem to be miracle workers. The police have given back freely to help the city and are worked to the bone.
“We need to turn our attention to the fire department as past efforts have proven fruitless. If this does not occur at once, this city will be irretrievably forever financially lost.”He also said the decision was “nothing personal” against Ban.City solicitor Jim Coulter said he considered himself “family” with Ban and could not consult with Donaldson in the matter of whether he had authority to demote Ban without the council's consent.Because of that David Mitchell, of Campbell Durrant Beatty Palombo & Miller, was hired to interpret Third Class City Code.Mitchell said at the meeting that while the code says the mayor needs council's approval to appoint a fire chief, it doesn't say he needs the approval to demote one. He said that because the code is consistent in its instructions for demoting a police chief, but not a fire chief, this is “evidence of intent” and that the mayor doesn't need the council's approval.“We believe it reasonably supports interpretation that the mayor has the ability to demote the fire chief,” Mitchell said.Former city Treasurer Jeff Smith spoke against Mitchell's ruling.“Their desire to tell the mayor what he wanted to hear has forced a good city employee to leave his position and has put the city at risk,' he said.Councilman Kathy Kline addressed concerns that the city was “at risk.”She assured people that the fire department will run “business as usual.”“The safety of the community is still there,” she said.She also said that under the Third Class City Code the mayor did not have authorization to seek a second legal opinion on the matter of Ban's demotion without the council's consent.“To get that second opinion, you have to have the approval and consent of the council,” she said.Councilman Michael Walter told Donaldson: “You disrespected us as a council. Once you lose trust, it's gone. You're gonna have to really step up to the plate for a change.”After the meeting, Donaldson said, “I felt that this meeting was organized to lynch the mayor, and that's fine. When I signed up for this job I told people I was gonna be different from everybody else, and I am.”The council's next meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. April 26 at the city building.
