CLAY TOWNSHIP — Trustee president Dale Winner and trustee Duane Heuker voted to approve a pay increase for township zoning officer Kevin Garlitz before resigning their positions.

Winner and Heuker approved Garlitz’s pay increase after meeting in executive session during the Monday, Jan. 8, meeting.

Trustee Kyle Groh also voted in favor of the pay increase.

Garlitz’s pay increase received criticism from members of the police department, with several officers voicing their concerns to trustees at a special meeting held Wednesday, Jan. 10.

The trustees met in executive session following discussion on the issue.

The trustees ended the executive session with no action taken and the special meeting was adjourned.

On Thursday, Jan. 11, both Winner and Heuker submitted their resignations as trustees to township fiscal officer Mark Brownfield.

Brownfield said neither Winner nor Heuker gave a reason for their resignations.

Garlitz also submitted a letter to Brownfield on Thursday, indicating he is quitting in two weeks as part-time zoning officer.

Brownfield said Garlitz also didn’t give a reason why he is quitting.

After coming out of executive session at the Jan. 8 meeting, Heuker made a motion to increase Garlitz’s pay to $24.45 an hour.

Garlitz received the increase after he sent the trustees an email requesting a pay increase and listing the reasons he believed justified the increase.

Police Sgt. Tony Scott, told the trustees at the Jan. 10 special meeting, they set a precedent when they approved the pay increase for Garlitz.

“The actions taken by this board have set a precedence that, although an established salary structure has been established and approved by this board, any employee who clearly works for me can prepare a presentation and request an audience of this board and provide additional compensation for which no additional duties or responsibilities are assigned outside the approved salary structure,” Scott said.

“I respectably request from the board of trustees an explanation of what presentation, information or processes an employee must construct to gain an audience with you to individually negotiate to the board of trustees above and beyond the salary structure,” Scott continued.

“I do this now that a precedence has been set for when my subordinate officers inquire of me how I go about obtaining additional information and additional compensation if they perform those jobs adherent with their position,” Scott said.

Scott said the trustees’ decision to approve Garlitz’s pay increase gives the impression “that the salary structure set for specific job description for this agency is open for the interpretation by the board and that, by producing revenue through your assigned duties, along with any other factors presented in an audience with this board, may be a mitigating factor for negotiating wages outside the salary structure.”

“The perception now exists that a career employee performing an inherently dangerous and stressful job is of less value than a part-time zoning position of slightly higher than one year of accumulated time and service,” Scott said.

Scott said he is speaking out on this matter in support of police chief John Van Gundy. “Without prompt solicitation or prompt from him, I am here to support the chief of police in his career decisions,” Scott said.

“But more so, I’m here to support the other employees of this township on that same principle,” Scott continued.

“I turned down the promotion to the position of lieutenant to stand loyal to those who are loyal to me – the chief and his department and to support what is equal and fair for all employees,” Scott said.

The trustees, at the Jan, 8 meeting, approved a resolution promoting Scott to lieutenant and increasing his pay to $31.16 an hour.

“The principle is my officers are required to work within strict guidelines within the chain of command,” Scott said.

“My officers understand that performing their job duties beyond expected perimeters will not afford them additional salary compensation without promotion or assignment of additional duties or responsibilities,” Scott said.

“My officers, therefore, understood the salary compensation shall be equal and fair, void the addition of these duties or responsibilities,” Scott continued.

“However, the principle of equal and fair is in jeopardy and open to the subjective interpretation by this board based on whatever mitigating information may be presented in an audience if granted,” Scott said.

Police officer Haywood McDaniel, who has been a township police officer for 24 years, voiced at the Feb. 10 meeting his displeasure in the pay increased he received in 2024.

“I learned what type of raise I will be receiving this year and I’m a little bit disappointed,” McDaniel said.

McDaniel said since he has been with the police department he has “worked his way to a position where he completes several duties outside of his normal job description.”

McDaniel said some of his other tasks include serving as a field training officer and filling in for Scott whenever he is off duty or on vacation.

“I’m considered on call at that time,” McDaniel said.

“I also handle minor issues that fellow officers call me to handle instead of waking the sergeant because I have a different sleeping schedule than him. Since I work nights it’s easier for me to handle calls later at night,” McDaniel said.

“With these duties I have listed, I feel that the 1.5 percent raise I have figured out that I have been given is unfair to me and my fellow officers,” McDaniel added.

McDaniel said he and other officers feel “underappreciated” after “pledging their loyalties to the township.”

“Many people will say that since we are a township nothing happens here, but we’ve had major incidents the past few years where fellow officers and I have been called upon to go above and beyond our duties to provide coverage to our residents,” McDaniel said.

“If possible, I would like an explanation as to why our zoning officer received additional funds and it seemed like our officers did not,’ McDaniel said.

“We’d like to be compensated fairly for this. For this reason I’ll be waiving my raise this year in hopes that the trustees will reconsider for this year and for future years,” McDaniel said.

Heuker said at the Jan. 10 meeting the trustees do take in consideration the needs of the police officers and other township employees.

“I invite you to take the minutes from the meeting the day before yesterday where we had asked about the turnover of police officers and if there’s anything that needs to be changed on the pay, or if an exit interview is needed or anything that needs to change in that structure,” Heuker said.

Heuker was referring to the Jan. 8 meeting when he asked about turnover in the police department when trustees accepted the resignation of an officer.

“Is an officer leaving the department something we usually have a problem with,” Heuker asked at the Jan. 8 meeting.

“We really had a problem with it within the last two years. It’s slowed down a lot,” Van Gundy replied.

“So we do ask. When someone leaves we ask why did they leave. There’s no exit interview. It was mentioned the officer went to Trotwood and pay was a big issue,” Heuker said at the Jan. 10 meeting.

Gundy indicated at the Jan. 8 meeting the officer resigned from the township police department position to work for another police department that offered more money.

Heuker also said on Jan 10 he and Groh are new and are just beginning to learn their roles as trustees.

Winner said at the Jan. 10 meeting the sheet the trustees use to pay township employees was developed by him with help from Van Gundy.

“He and I worked together on it,” Winner said.

“There were studies in essence done at that time or comparisons done with other townships. I don’t want there to be perceptions that somebody put something on there that’s way off base,” Winner said.

“John and I worked a lot of hours to try and get this schedule. There were comparisons that he did. I’m not going to say I did them. I took the numbers he gave me, We hashed back and forth and this is the schedule we adopted. There’s been changes to it, although not many,” Winner said.

Winner said “there were some bumps in salaries when we started in 2023 to get people where they needed to be compared to other places.”

“There was an index we developed and the idea was to keep everybody pretty much on an even keel,” Winner said.

“Mr. McDaniel, your rates are lower and I’ll just tell you what the conversation with the chief was and that was the rate needs to be throttled down so we can get everybody more equal,” Winner said.

“I don’t think any of those officers asked you for more money or complained about their raise,” Van Gundy replied.

“Whether you are new or old everyone of you had that sheet in front of you. You all sat there,” Van Gundy said to the trustees.

Heuker said there were factors in the decision to increase Garlitz’s pay increase.

“Kevin is a part-time employee who doesn’t get the 5300 HSA (Health Savings Account) because he is under the hours that goes with that,” Heuker said.

Heuker also said Garlitz doesn’t have “any ties” to the township’s health insurance plan.

Van Gundy said what upset his officers in the police department and employees in other township departments is what they consider unfair treatment shown to Garlitz.

“You did this with Kevin. I have a part timer that doesn’t make $24.35,” Van Gundy said.

Van Gundy said it also isn’t fair that Garlitz makes a dollar more an hour than McDaniel, who he noted is a 24-year employee.

Van Gundy then made a formal request for a copy of Garlitz’s email requesting a pay increase and the provisions that he believes warranted the increase.

Van Gundy also made a formal request for the “22, 23, 24 spread sheets and a spread sheet that runs up to 31 and a copy of payroll after it’s been posted.”

Scott told the trustees “if that is the provisions Mr. Garlitz came up with and you thought he should be compensated, then you need to extend that to all your part-time employees.”

“If you don’t, consequences are consequences. (It’s) your decision, gentlemen. Fair is fair,” Scott said.

“If you think you have treated us fairly, that’s your decision to live with,” Scott added.

Reach Terry Baver at [email protected].