Hartville Village Council president resigns one day after new member is appointed

HARTVILLE – One day after Village Council filled a vacancy due to a resignation, council members found themselves faced with having to fill another open seat for the same reason.

Council President Elizabeth Williams resigned Wednesday, citing frustration with the council.

"I truly believe in transparency and helping others," she wrote in her resignation letter. "Unfortunately, over the past several months I feel it has become overwhelmingly clear council is moving in the opposite direction. … It seems members have focused on furthering their own agendas rather than doing what is best for the village."

Williams had been appointed to council in 2018 and won election the following year.

Williams' resignation follows a special meeting Tuesday when council voted 3-2 to appoint Steve Reisch to fill the unexpired term of former Councilman Jeff Miller, who resigned March 16.

Reisch, a Canton attorney, previously served on council from 2004 through 2006 after he was appointed to fill Councilwoman Bev Green’s seat when she was elected mayor. He lost his bid to retain his seat in November 2005.

The council had set a March 31 deadline for people to apply for the position. But then appointed Reisch during the special meeting, with some members saying he was the most qualified candidate.

Several residents who had submitted applications were upset with the decision to hold the special meeting to choose Miller’s replacement without fully vetting all the candidates.

"I feel the same frustration as those applicants felt," Williams said in her resignation letter.

Following her resignation, Williams said her decision to resign at this point also had to do with how the village, and council in particular, is beginning to be viewed by the public.

"Ultimately I was not comfortable with my name being associated with the votes that were coming out of council," she said. "Regardless of how I voted, it came out that 'Hartville Council voted' on issues like the Juneteenth vote."

The council voted March 15 not to recognize the national Juneteenth holiday in the village. Miller said that vote played a key role in his decision to resign.

Williams said she planned to take a "short break" to spend more time with her family, but hopes to stay involved in public service in other ways.

"You won't see me disappear, but it probably won't be in a political position," she said.

Williams added that she is concerned with financial responsibility in the village and she hopes council continues to rely on the expertise of Fiscal Officer Scott Varney. She said she also hopes more residents begin to "hold accountable" elected officials.

The Ohio Revised Code requires council to fill Williams’s seat within 30 days. Mayor Cynthia Billings stated that she hopes council gives first consideration to those who applied for Miller’s open seat.

She noted that while Reisch joins a five-member council made up of three new council members, that situation is not unprecedented.

"When I was on council, I was appointed and had to run six months later," Billings said. "And I was the only incumbent who won. So it has happened before. But it’s not fun."

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Hartville Village Council President Elizabeth Williams resigns