MIFFLIN — Mifflin’s Village Council fired its solicitor, Michael Brown, during a special meeting Thursday.
The vote was unanimous; however, two council members — Joyce Amos, who is suspended, and Pam Crain — were absent. Mayor Vickie Shultz also did not attend the meeting.
Council president Fred Craig, who assumed the position of mayor in Shultz’s absence, said the reasoning behind firing Brown was because “there was no ordinance or resolution voted on to allow the mayor to enter into a contract.”
He also said the village violated state law that says the “legislative authority shall not enter into any contract which is not to go into full operation during the term for which all members of the legislative authority are elected.”
Mifflin’s council unanimously renewed Brown’s six-month contract on Dec. 9, effective Jan. 1 — when three of the four council members who voted had terms ending in 2021.
By Dec. 9, Brown had worked for the village for nearly six months. He charged a flat monthly fee of $500. He said his employment with Mifflin was based on a six-month trial period. So council decided to renew his contract in December based off “the good work” he had done so far, he said.
Brown, who works full time in the Mansfield City Law Director’s office, said he was not surprised by being fired.
“(Fred Craig) was forthright with me and let me know it was coming last meeting,” Brown said, moments after Thursday’s meeting. “Everything was respectful, I enjoyed my time here.
“I thought I prosecuted the cases well.”
He said it looks to him like council wanted to go in a different direction.
In terms of the reasoning behind him being fired, he said “I think there’s room for interpretation there” and that he is “exploring his options” when it comes to being paid for services he has already provided in January.
Mifflin council hired David Hunter, an attorney based in Loudonville, as Brown’s replacement. The attorney will charge Mifflin $100 an hour for his services.
Hunter served as the village’s solicitor for 21 years before January 2021, when his last contract expired and council voted not to renew it. He was replaced by Jack VanBibber, an attorney based in Mansfield at the time. Brown replaced VanBibber in May 2021.
“I was contacted in December, when I was asked to consider representing them again. I indicated I would, and here we are,” he said.
Council also discussed their committees during the special meeting. When it came time for Fred Craig to give his report on the village’s cemetery, he mentioned the need for a title search to make sure the village is, in fact, in charge of maintaining the cemetery.
He also appointed himself to a committee that, prior to Thursday’s meeting, did not exist: the lands and buildings committee.
He said there are some buildings the village owns that are going to need some work done to them this year.
“I was going to have (Mayor Vickie Shultz) do this but, since I’m the mayor (pro tempore), I will appoint myself to add the lands and buildings (committee) along with the cemetery (committee),” he said.
Craig has a pending criminal case in Ashland Municipal Court for alleged menacing by stalking of Amos. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Jan. 25.
When asked if Philene Craig’s motion to suspend Amos during the village’s Jan. 13 meeting constituted as a conflict of interest, (Philene and Fred are married) Brown said it could have given “the appearance of impropriety” and even spoke to Fred Craig specifically about that before his wife made the motion to suspend Amos. He did not offer additional comment.
