CLAY TOWNSHIP — The trustees held a special meeting Feb. 13 to present the minutes of the Jan. 8 and 10 meetings and to discuss what took place during the two meetings that resulted in the resignation of two trustees on Jan. 11.

Trustee chairman Dale Winner and trustee Duane Heuker resigned on Jan. 11 after approving a raise for zoning administrator Kevin Garlitz on Jan. 8.

Garlitz, on Jan. 11, gave notice he was quitting the position in two weeks.

The trustees, also on Jan. 8, approved a pay increase for police chief John Van Gundy and a promotion to lieutenant and pay increase for police sergeant Tony Scott.

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

Trustee chairperson Angela Howell stated at the Feb. 13 meeting the purpose of the meeting was to “keep a transparent relationship between the township and the community so that the community knows that we are doing the best job that we can for you.”

The trustees then presented what took place at the Jan. 8 and Jan. 10 meetings,

“My plans were to play the audio of the Jan. 8 meeting, but I feel everything with the Jan. 8 meeting is represented in the written version of the minutes and those meeting minutes will be approved at our next meeting,” Howell said with trustee Kevin Wrightsman agreeing.

“The Jan. 8 meeting sets the stage for what took place the following days after that,” Howell said.

“I am going to read a little bit of the tail end of the Jan. 8 meeting before listening to the audio of the Jan. 10 meeting,” Howell continued.

Howell noted at the Jan. 8 meeting, “Garlitz presented information to the trustees to inquire about a raise.”

“That inquire came with a lot of information that substantiated the compensation that he was looking for and, this is my opinion, he did a very good job of detailing the additional duties that he has performed for the township within the last year to support his request,” Howell said.

Howell said during the Jan. 8 meeting the trustees went into executive session.

“The executive session was held to discuss that specific thing (Garlitz’s pay increase request). When they came out of the executive session, they reconvened the regular meeting and approved Kevin’s pay raise for 2024 and it was going to be $24.45 an hour,” Howell said.

“There was also a motion to promote Sgt. (Tony) Scott to lieutenant at a rate of $31.16 an hour as well as a motion to adjust the 2024 pay schedule for police chief John Van Gundy’s police duties at a rate of $34.66 an hour,” Howell noted.

Howell said the trustees approved the other two motions and the meeting was adjourned.

“It seems when everyone left on Jan. 8 everything should have been copacetic,” Howell said.

Howell, however, said the next day the trustees received an email from Van Gundy, stating he was resigning from his administrative duties.

“After careful consideration, I have decided to resign my administrative duties effective immediately. I was hired in 2012 to be the police chief and took on extra administrative duties with the belief this was beneficial to me and to the township,” Howell read from Van Gundy’s email.

“The board of trustees have had a major overhaul in the last few years with appointments and elections that now I have to believe that the township is heading in a direction that I cannot effectively support,” Van Gundy’s email stated.

“I’ve strived to provide a fair and ethical work environment for all employees, …was able to develop a stable salary program for all divisions and worked diligently to insure that each division was provided quality equipment to perform their duties and responsibilities,” Van Gundy’s email stated.

“However, it has become apparent that the establishment of the salary program is not effective to all employees and may be revised for additional salary considerations without the assignment of additional work requirements,” Van Gundy’s email stated.

“Additionally, my position is obviously a figurehead status as an employee may circumvent the authority you provide to me with my position and go directly to members of the board to negotiate their salaries,” Van Gundy’s email stated.

“As no other employees under my direction are or were permitted to negotiate directly with the board for their salary I find that allowing a single employee to do so is unfair and lacking equality to the other employees of this agency,” Van Gundy’s email stated.

Howell noted that the trustees also received an email on Jan. 9 from Scott.

“I was apprised of your decision to offer a promotion to the rank of lieutenant for the Clay Township Police Department at the trustee meeting on Jan. 8, 2024. Thank you for supporting me for this advancement opportunity,” Scott’s email began.

“… I committed myself to this department taking on responsibilities of both an operations sergeant, first line supervisor as well as the responsibilities of administration sergeant,” Scott’s email stated.

“…I have taken on other duties and functions within this agency that are not part of my job description in order to advance the long-term and short-term goals and requirements required to keep this agency functioning,” Scott’s email continued.

“I did so as an integrity work ethic and loyalty persona that I possess to do what is needed to be done to assist and keep the agency moving forward all without questioning and/or demanding additional salary that was assigned to me either by a step-raise program or by a newly developed indexing salary program,” Scott’s email stated.

“All personnel have had to operate with this established salary-based system and can achieve additional salary consideration above and beyond their base salary when they accept additional workloads, However, it has come to my attention that engaging in the above listed activities can advance your salary without increasing your workload,” Scott’s email stated.

“Therefore, as a matter of principle, I cannot accept an advancement of this agency while those who work for me and along side me in other divisions of this agency accept the duties, responsibilities and constraints at a set salary advancement program while others are permitted to negotiate their salary based on erroneous data, complaining and by other means,” Scott’s email stated

“Providing such compensation to an employee above and outside the established salary program will not require additional work responsibilities and an effort to myself and surely be the same to my subordinate officers and peers from other divisions of this agency,” Scott’s email stated.

Howell said after reading the two emails her impression was Van Gundy and Scott “weren’t happy with the board’s decision made on Jan. 8 to provide Kevin Garlitz with additional compensation.”

“It’s not Kevin Garlitz. It’s the employee manual 4.3. That’s what the employees are upset about,” Van Gundy replied, handing Howell a copy of section 4.3 dealing with pay increases.

“It is the policy of Clay Township to reward good job performance by establishing an equitable system of providing pay increases. Any salary increase will be effective at the beginning of the pay period that follows the effective date of the approved changes,” Howell, quoting section 4.3, stated.

Van Gundy said there are “other employees who have come forward that wanted an “increase in salary beyond this spreadsheet that was already completed by Mr. Winner.”

“So people came forward asking for a raise before Jan. 8 and they were told no based on this section?” Howell asked.

“They were told the spreadsheet is complete and it is what it is, but they (trustees) turned around and gave that (Garlitz) position a raise. That is what the employees are upset about. It has nothing to do with Kevin. It has nothing to do with how much money he got,” Van Gundy said.

Howell asked Van Gundy who else asked for a raise.

Van Gundy answered employees in the road department.

“I’ve read our township manual and I’ve looked at some ORCs (Ohio Revised Codes) and the benefit of being a limited self-government township is that we get to choose the process and standards in which we set for our community,” Howell said.

“Apart from what John has just presented to me about the 3.4 for pay increases, I don’t see anywhere in that writing where it says at this specific time this is when we can discuss giving somebody more money,” Howell continued.

Howell also said she didn’t think Garlitz was in the wrong when he requested a pay increase.

Garlitz stated when he requested a pay increase and presented his information supporting his request for a raise to Van Gundy last September, Van Gundy did not submit the request and information to the trustees.

Van Gundy replied he didn’t submit Garlitz’s pay increase request to the trustees because Garlitz refused to perform the additional job duties assigned to him, the process the township has used in the past when an employee requested a pay raise.

Garlitz said he then submitted his pay increase request and information supporting his request for a raise to Heuker, who oversaw the township’s zoning and code enforcement.

Heuker presented Garlitz’s pay increase request and information supporting his request to the trustees for discussion.

Howell, reading from the email containing the duties Garlitz performed in addition to serving as zoning administrator, stated Garlitz:

• Cleaned up the fiscal officer’s storage room when boxes were stacked up outside and no one was able to walk into it.

• drove police cars to the county when the MDTS routers are not working and hours waiting

• dropped police cars off and picked them up at Yipes Stripes (in Englewood) to keep an officer on the road.

• drove to all the businesses that are in Clay township to update them for himself and the police department when it hadn’t been done in approximately 15 years.

• rewrote the zoning code book several times as it has not been done in at least 12 years.

“He was informed he was going to have to cover the administrative assistant’s time off. So when she was either sick, on vacation or off for personal time, Kevin was being told he would have to cover her time. That was presented to him in August of 2023,” Howell said.

Howell also noted Garlitz supplied information on job descriptions and salary comparisons from six neighboring townships.

“I feel like he (Garlitz) was presenting his case to the board in an appropriate manner. If I’m wrong and there is an actual process that the township has created as to when people are allowed to ask for more money, regardless of having more duties, I have not seen that,” Howell said.

“It’s not the process he gave you that is the problem. The problem is the comparables. We have never compared with Butler Township and Jefferson Township because we are nowhere near their budget. The townships we compare to have been Perry, Jackson and Germantown,” Van Gundy said.

“I know there is a way that everything has been done in this place for a very long time. Maybe Kevin did present information to the trustees that has not followed that process, but I don’t think he has broken any rule or broken any chain of command because he directly reports to the trustees. So I’m not sure why there would be a problem there,” Howell said.

“I don’t know about former trustees, but I would be open to listen to any employee who thinks he or she deserves more money,” Howell said.

“If we’re going to do it, that’s fine. I’m not saying he’s not worth $24.45 an hour, but I think if you’re going to do that for one individual, you need to do it for all township employees,” Van Gundy said.

Prior to playing the audio of the Jan. 10 special meeting, Howell noted the meeting was strictly called so the trustees could determine how to handle administrative business after learning Van Gundy had resigned from his administrative duties.

The meeting also consisted of comments from Scott and other police officers who voiced their concerns with Garlitz receiving the pay increase.

“I question whether it was the specific person who received the amount or if it’s truly just the process the township goes about reviewing people’s work and their job responsibilities and what that equates to in their paycheck,” Howell said at the conclusion of the audio.

“If that is what you guys are telling me, I will take that at face value and Kevin and I, hopefully in the next week or two with the third trustee, this will be our number one concern until it’s resolved because we don’t want to lose any more people and we don’t want other people feeling like they’re not valued, but in my opinion, the trustees are allowed to approve what they want to approve,” Howell said.

“You are well within your legislative right to pay anybody anything you want, but treat every employee fairly.” Scott said.

Howell indicated an organizational chart is going to be created.

Howell also indicated a change in the current pay raise system is needed.

“This is not a process,” Howell said of the current pay raise system.

“Yes, this is what it says, but I think a definite revision of how and when to present information to the board to ask for more money is important based on this situation,” Howell continued.

Heuker, who attended the meeting, said “a lot of the events from the Jan. 10 meeting factored in my decision to resign from my position.”

“I tried to address everything as I could, realizing from the private sector owning an excavating company in the community where I have lived for 51 years, I thought the way to conduct business and try to keep a very good zoning officer was who has changed the whole scenario of rotating revolving police officers was the correct decision.

Prior to hiring Garlitz, the township zoning board and the township board of zoning appeals were overseen by a township police officer.

Members of both boards in the past expressed their concerns to the trustees that they couldn’t effectively do their jobs because of the turnover in police officers assigned to oversee the zoning boards.

Zoning commission member Lisa Hartman said at the Feb. 13 meeting a new police officer was overseeing the zoning commission “approximately every six months.”

“It was a nightmare and we were in the process of going through the zoning codes because a lot of our zoning codes were violating the ORC and had to be changed and needed to be upgraded. It needed to be more user-friendly for the community to be able to find different items within in the code,” Hartman said.

Hartman said Garlitz “was finally able to get all of it together because we worked on it by individual chapters and he was able to put all of that together and organized so it could be put on line.”

Heuker said if he made decisions that were incorrect, “I did them as if I would be in my own business.”

“If that’s not correct to do, then I’m not meant for the job. I did what I thought I should do,” Heuker said.

“I tried to help. It didn’t work. I stepped out. It’s very disheartening when you step in to try to help a community where I was on the board of zoning perfectly happy and then stepped into this role as a trustee, thinking I could help and then get questioned for any decisions that I make,” Heuker continued.

Heuker said he tried to obtain assistance by calling the Montgomery County prosecutor, who handles township matters, but he didn’t receive a call back.

“I realize I am a business owner and I can fire anyone that I like to. It’s different here. I tried to reach out to the prosecutor and I did not get any response. Please understand when you don’t get support, you can’t keeping continuing to try to beat a dead horse,” Heuker said.

Heuker concluded by asking people to stop placing items in his mailbox and to stop coming uninvited onto his property and into his barn where his wife “works her horse.”

Winner, who also attended the Feb. 13 meeting, said “disheartening and disappointing” comments were made on Jan. 10 that were directed at Heuker.

“And, perhaps, I took them as directed toward myself,” Winner said.

“It kind of shocked me. You work so hard for so long trying to do the right thing and get so disappointed by things that were said that you just wonder if this is the right thing for you to do,” Winner said.

“That kind of factored in my decision (to resign) as well. I think there were things that were said that were out of line,” Winner said.

Winner said he hates what is taking place.

“I hope things can get back to the way they used to be and we can move forward,” Winner said.

Howell said she didn’t think anything has been resolved.

“We definitely need to have more conversations about this now that I’m told the road and the garage employees were a part of this,” Howell said.

Howell asked for any information that will help resolve the issues.

“We will start looking at the information and try to make it fair for everybody,” Howell said.

“I don’t want anybody to leave. We need to try to resolve this and do our jobs because that’s what the community demands of us,” Howell said

Reach Terry Baver at [email protected].