Council dysfunction deepens as clerk responsibilities shift to Fankhauser amid legislative bottleneck
by Logan Andrew | FreeWire Magazine — Your News, Your Voice
BUCYRUS, OH — Bucyrus City Councilwoman Vicki Dishon has stepped down from her role as Pro-Tem Council Clerk, effective immediately, while continuing to serve as an at-large member of council. Her resignation marks the second departure from the clerk’s office in less than two weeks, following Council Clerk Miranda Wise’s resignation, which takes effect July 25.
The back-to-back resignations leave council without a designated clerk during a critical stretch—just as several time-sensitive pieces of legislation hang in the balance.
Among the most urgent: a rezoning measure for Avita Health System’s proposed orthopedic clinic, and an income tax levy of 0.065% to fund operations at Aumiller Pool. The levy must be passed by August 6 to appear on the November ballot unless it’s declared an emergency, in which case fewer readings would be required.
Officials familiar with the stalled legislation say many of the edits being requested are stylistic—not substantive—yet have still held up votes on major initiatives.
Law Director Brandon Gobrecht said the city will need to lean heavily on teamwork to navigate the gap in staffing.
“Moving forward after Mrs. Dishon resigning from Clerk Pro-Tem, it will require a lot of teamwork. I believe the Pro-Tem signature responsibility will fall to the administrative assistant, but the actual duties of the Clerk will fall to the Council President as department head. I cannot stress this enough: we need to come together as a team to get through this with as few problems as possible,” Gobrecht said.
With no replacement yet named, those clerk duties now fall to Council President Kurt Fankhauser, whose tenure has already been marked by growing friction among members. While procedural disagreements and formatting edits have always been part of the legislative process, council’s ability to function appears to be deteriorating rather than improving.
As the August deadline looms, the question now is whether council can put its differences aside long enough to move forward.
FreeWire has reached out to Dishon, but as of this writing, there has been no response. We will continue to provide updates as the situation develops.
