SHELBY, Ohio – The city of Shelby has been without a director of finance and public record for more than two months, but after much deliberation from Mayor Steve Schag a plan of action was formed to fill the position.
At Monday’s meeting of city council, Schag told council members that he intended to fill the vacant office sooner rather than later. The position opened up after the retirement of Finance Director Bob Lafferty in May; Deputy Director of Finance Jeff Fenner has filled the position in the meantime.
“As I stated in the middle of May, the filling of this vacancy has been made more difficult because it is an election year, however I was reminded that our city council has already made a similar difficult decision when it filled the vacancy of Councilman [Harold] Shasky with one of the two candidates that will be appearing on the November ballot, said Schag.
“The law director’s requested opinion opened the door to a sooner than later approach to the filling of this vacancy, which has existed now for some two months.”
On May 12, Schag requested a written response from Shelby’s Law Director Gordon Eyster in reference to filling a vacancy during an election year with two candidates slated to be on the November ballot. The two candidates are Steve Lifer and Cohen Lewis, who were the top two vote-getters for the finance director position after the May primary election, beating out third candidate Briton Lash.
Schag’s initial intention was not to fill the finance director position until after the November election in an attempt to save the city money and also keep both candidates unaffected by a possible governmental process of appointment and confirmation. However, he stated Monday the delay has made for unseen difficulties.
““The plan Mr. Fenner and I came up with in the early part of this year was well intentioned, however I now realize we underestimated how taxing this prolonged workload would be on Mr. Fenner and just how much we depend upon the daily, detailed functions of a full time finance director,” said Schag. “We are getting along, but the negative impact of this extended vacancy is beginning to show.”
According to Eyster, Shelby Charter Section 30 states, “Should the director of law or the director of finance and public record die, resign, or be disqualified for any cause from performing the duties of their respective offices during the term for which they were elected, the mayor shall fill said vacancy so created by appointment for the unexpired terms, subject to the confirmation of the council.” Per Shelby Ordinance, the term “shall” refers to a mandatory action.
In reference to a time frame to fill the vacancy, Eyster referenced revised code language for the office of mayor, which states, “Not less than five nor more than forty-five days after the vacancy occurs, the specified members of the city or county committee shall meet to make an appointment to fill the vacancy.”
“As you know, the Charter is silent as to a time frame other than to state you shall do it,” said Eyster in his opinion. “I would think it hard to argue 45 days unreasonable to meet for the purpose of appointment. I see no reason why you shouldn’t follow the same procedures as other vacancies (such as council vacancies) in city office.”
Schag also wrote to Mark Long, chief auditor for the Central Ohio region including Richland County, for his opinion regarding the filling of the position sooner rather than later. According to Schag, Long stated he was concerned with the impact not having a finance director would have on the day-to-day operations of the city of Shelby.
“I don’t know your situation that well and what kind of role the finance director has, but this is a very important position in most entities…so without the finance director there is potential to have a lot of issues with the city’s financial activity, said Long, according to Schag.
“I do strongly suggest that you and council look at the impact of not having a finance director in place that would have on the city. In my professional opinion you may find the need to replace this individual as quickly as possible and not wait until the November election.”
Schag noted there is a solid consensus of opinion among members of city council that a finance director needs to be found as soon as reasonably possible. Councilman Garland Gates noted that as of Monday the city has gone 67 days without a finance director.
“There’s no time frame in our charter, but looking at an analogous situation, [Eyster] was saying five to 45 days seems to be a reasonable period of time to fill that vacancy,” said Gates. “I take you, mayor, at your word that in good faith you’re going to make that appointment sooner rather than later. Sooner means different things to different people. I would be very happy that council is asked at its next meeting in two weeks to confirm the appointment of a finance director.”
“In my professional opinion you may find the need to replace this individual as quickly as possible and not wait until the November election,” Mark Long, chief auditor for the Central Ohio region including Richland County, told Schag.
