by Logan Andrew | FreeWire Magazine — Your News, Your Voice
Bucyrus, Ohio — Bucyrus City Council spent much of its Aug. 4 meeting managing both routine business and contentious issues, from budget appropriations and traffic changes to a protracted debate over hiring a new council clerk.
The regular council meeting had been moved up a day to avoid a conflict with National Night Out. Council president Kurt Fankhauser called the session to order at 7:07 p.m., and council members stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call noted that Councilwoman Aaron Sharrock was the lone absentee.
Public participation: farewells and frustrations
After motioning to table the meeting minutes from last month, Councilwoman Vicki Dishon asked to temporarily leave her council seat so she could address her colleagues as a citizen. Standing at the podium with four of her grandchildren, she announced she would not seek another term. “I will be turning 70 in October, and whatever years I have left I want to spend with these four grandchildren,” she said, drawing supportive applause. Council later voted unanimously to allow her to return to her seat.
The tone shifted when Max Miller took the microphone. He tore into Fankhauser over a lawsuit the council president recently filed against the city and several officials. Miller labeled it “performative theater” and, echoing Fankhauser’s own defamation claims, said it was ironic that the council president has a YouTube channel where he regularly criticizes residents and colleagues alike, including the ones he is now suing. “You want to claim you’re being smeared, but you have no problem smearing others,” he told Fankhauser. The council president declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.
James Cady then delivered a rambling but passionate plea for fiscal responsibility. Cady said he believes City Hall wastes money on designations like Tree City USA, paying workers “$38 an hour to stand with a shovel,” and failing to capitalize on Fankhauser’s Wi‑Fi service. “Common sense is common sense,” Cady said. He also expressed interest in serving on the Board of Zoning Appeals and implored council to “sit down, work together” and start making meaningful change.
Committee reports
Reports from committees were generally brief. Councilman Chris Mauritz, chair of the Service Committee, said a long‑awaited rewrite of Title IX (City Utilities) legislation has finally been completed, but the correct version still needs to be posted. Dishon’s Health and Safety Committee had no report. Kevin Myers announced that Finance Committee recommended passage of Ordinance 35‑2025, a sweeping appropriation measure. Clarissa Slater noted Mauritz and councilman Terry Spiegel would attend an Aug. 28 conference on joint‑economic development districts. She thanked council for waiving rules at the previous meeting so she could be named chair of Economic Development.
Rita versus in-house: Auditor defends tax office
Auditor Kali Lewis used the first reading of the appropriation ordinance to present a cost‑benefit analysis of outsourcing Bucyrus’s income‑tax collections to the Regional Income Tax Agency (RITA). RITA typically charges about 1 percent of revenue. With the city expecting to take in $8.17 million in income‑tax revenue this year, RITA’s fee would run about $81,676. The city’s own income‑tax office costs about $346,400 in wages and benefits, but Lewis noted that her staff aggressively pursues delinquent taxes. By late July they had already assessed $486,880 in extra revenue — essentially netting the city $140,000 more than it would have collected through RITA. “Privatization isn’t always the best answer for the citizens we’re here to represent,” Lewis told council. She added that RITA’s automated phone system and limited customer service frequently frustrate taxpayers.
Appropriation and traffic ordinances
Ordinance 35‑2025, the appropriation measure, ultimately passed as an emergency after an amendment to correct a scrivener’s error. The ordinance allocates:
- $6,000 from unappropriated general funds for civil‑service physicals and background checks.
- $100,000 to transfer from the general fund toward the city’s share of an airport grant.
- $42,000 from the income‑tax fund for new MITS tax software. Lewis noted the contract is renewed annually and any decision to move to RITA would be hers as department head.
- $28,828 from the fire‑department donation fund for firehouse improvements.
- $60,000 from the permanent‑improvement fund toward a new airport terminal.
- $200,000 and $167,372 within the airport grant fund for capital outlay and repayment of a prior advance.
Council members peppered Lewis with questions. Dishon asked about the annual cost of the MITS software; Lewis said it would be comparable to current software but did not recall the exact figure. Slater asked whether RITA’s 1 percent fee was standard; Lewis said fees are tiered by revenue or number of filers, and additional mailings cost extra.
When Lewis explained that as department head, the decision to outsource to RITA lies with her and her alone, Kurt Fankhauser appeared slighted. He then floated a hypothetical scenario in which council could “withhold the funding” for her department’s salaries, forcing her hand. Lewis pushed back, saying that would be “a huge waste of the city’s finances and a possible overstep of City Council.”
Council also adopted Ordinance 31‑2025, which makes Galen Street one‑way westbound between Walnut and Spring streets to accommodate railroad‑crossing upgrades. That measure passed with little debate.
Clock ticking on clerk vacancy
The most contentious issue of the night was filling the vacant council‑clerk position. Miranda Wise — the latest in a string of clerks who have left since 2021 — resigned July 25. Fankhauser posted a job announcement on the council’s Facebook page on July 19 without council approval, then removed all other administrators. With Fankhauser as the sole administrator, the page has often featured posts that other council members say reflect his personal agenda rather than that of the body. The job posting also lacked a closing date.
Slater, Myers, and Mee convened an ad‑hoc committee and interviewed four candidates. They recommended hiring Michelle Mosteller at $25.25 per hour. However, a fifth applicant submitted a résumé, and neither Slater nor Myers learned of the application until earlier that day. “In the private sector it’s normal to have rolling applications, but in the interest and need for the council position to be filled, I believe that we are in compliance and we conducted these interviews in good faith,” Slater said, while acknowledging the unusual process created by Fankhauser’s unilateral job posting.
Dishon insisted that hiring practices should follow precedent: council normally authorizes postings, sets a closing date and advertises through news media. Law Director Brandon Gobrecht emailed council members shortly before the meeting recommending that they table the resolution to allow all candidates a fair interview. “I think in an abundance of caution and fairness, because there was no closing date for the applications, it wouldn’t be fair to not interview this lady,” Gobrecht told council.
Myers argued that the committee had done its due diligence and that council was “dead in the water” without a clerk. After lengthy discussion, council agreed to table the hiring resolution. They scheduled another ad‑hoc meeting for Thursday, Aug. 7 at 5:00 p.m. to interview the late applicant and any others who apply before noon on Aug. 5. A special council meeting was set for 5:59 p.m. Thursday to vote on the clerk appointment and several other time‑sensitive ordinances.
Rules waived for critic’s address
In a dramatic sidebar, council suspended its rules to allow Adam Frizzell — a resident who has been the subject of Fankhauser's latest “Bucyrus Exposed” YouTube video — to address them during new business. Frizzell argued that public positions must follow civil‑service posting laws and alleged Fankhauser had falsely claimed he refused a drug test when applying for a computer‑supervisor job. He threatened lawsuits against the city and Fankhauser personally. “You can expect a lawsuit from me for improperly posting that position and creating an unfair employment practice,” Frizzell said. Council allowed him to speak but did not respond to his allegations.
After the meeting, Frizzell told FreeWire that he still retains emails, new‑hire paperwork and a voicemail from Safety–Service Director Tommy Starner referencing a required drug test, which he says support his claims. He maintains the Computer Supervisor position he was offered last June was never publicly posted, no civil‑service exam was administered and that requiring a drug test violated state rules for classified positions. Frizzell cited an Ohio Administrative Code rule stating that every vacancy announcement for a testing‑designated position must include notice that final applicants are subject to urinalysis; according to him, no such notice was given. The city has not publicly responded to his assertions.
Other highlights
- Council referred a request for “Deaf Children at Play” signs to the Health & Safety Committee.
- Members promoted the next evening’s National Night Out community events, encouraging residents to participate.
- The property‑maintenance appeals board appointment was tabled after confusion over who serves and whether legislation is required. Fankhauser originally proposed appointing Lisa Alsept to a term ending in 2028, with James Cady and Lisa Whited as alternates, but questions surfaced about prior board members Floyd Farmer and Steve Pfifer.
- Discussions over whether to amend the city rule requiring legislation be filed 24 hours before meetings went unresolved. Slater argued the rule sometimes delays critical business; Dishon insisted she needs time to read legislation.
Adjournment
After a 10‑minute recess and nearly two hours of debate, council excused Sharrock and adjourned at 8:51 p.m. The meeting underscored both the routine functions and the persistent friction inside Bucyrus City Hall. With a special meeting looming, council members will reconvene Thursday to try once more to fill the clerk’s seat and clear a backlog of legislation.
