Citing the local and national political climate, as well as the “bad optics,” Marysville’s rules of council ad hoc committee has voted to reject a policy that would allow city council to expel one of its own members.
“This is a divisive, unnecessary and illegal rule, and I move that we remove it from consideration at this ad hoc committee,” said council and ad hoc committee member Deb Groat.
Earlier this month, city council created an ad hoc committee to review the body’s rules of procedure.
At a meeting last week, Law Director Tim Aslaner introduced a new section to those rules.
Under the proposed rule, council would have been able to expel a member if that member: had pleaded guilty or no contest to or been convicted of a felony while in office; had pleaded guilty or no contest to or been convicted of any crime involving dereliction of duties while in office; failed to attend three consecutive regular meetings of council without being excused by council; lacked, or was found to have lacked at any time, any eligibility requirement prescribed by the City of Marysville Charter; or for “misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance, conviction in office of a crime of moral turpitude.”
Thursday, the committee voted 2-1 to eliminate the proposed section.
“I view the introduction of this new rule as a knee-jerk reaction to try to control the behavior of a colleague and I, for one, am not arrogant enough to see myself attempting to control a colleague,” Groat said.
In recent months, officials have been approached about if and how to remove council member Aaron Carpenter, though officials have said the proposal was not in response to those questions.
Groat said mentoring a colleague is, “a more effective approach to human resources than removal from office.”
Council and ad hoc committee member Alan Seymour said that while a rule to expel members is “long overdue” but said, “the political climate in our community, as well as our country, is clearly divided.”
“I just don’t think the timing is right,” Seymour said. “I think we need to revisit it at another time.”
Groat said the “timing and optics are really, really targeted right now.”
Groat argued that a rule to expel other council members could create a conflict of interest for city staff and departments that might be required to investigate allegations.
Council and ad hoc committee member Donald Boerger said he understands where Groat is coming from, but said there needs to be a way to hold members accountable if they refuse to do it themselves.
Groat said the city charter or the Ohio Revised Code allows for the voters to remove a council member.
“Anything beyond that is grabbing at power,” Groat said.
Aslaner said there needs to be a way for council to replace members under “very extraordinary circumstances” or even if a group of council members decided to stop coming to the meetings.
Ultimately, Groat said the matter is a philosophical question of who has the right to remove elected council members.
She added that approving the section could create a slippery slope.
“At a future date, any of us may well strongly disagree with the other six members, which may then result in a clash of strong personalities,” Groat said. “This rule invites criticism and negative oversight of each other.”
Aslaner said that while the section will not be recommended by the committee, a committee member could decide to bring the section forward for the entire council to consider.