Ohio Village`s Fire Chief Suspended After Accusation of Inappropriate Relationship

May 17--SWANTON -- The village's fire chief is on suspension after being accused of favorable treatment of a departmental employee with whom he is in a romantic relationship.

Howard Myers, who became chief in 2014 after serving for years in the department, was suspended April 25 by the village council, and had that suspension extended 15 days on May 9. Charges against him, according to a letter from Mayor Ann Roth, include that he was in a relationship with a subordinate and gave her preferential treatment, allowing her to set her own schedule.

He's accused of misrepresenting the relationship when inquired, in engaging in "inappropriate actions" with someone while on the department's premises, and for the "loss of control over the fire department and creating major dissension in the fire department."

Though the mayor's letter is redacted, the mayor warned the chief in December that his relationship with Amy Carter, then a departmental employee, was "dangerous for many reasons," according to the mayor's notes from the meeting.

"I emphasized that he has to treat her exactly the same as all of the other employees in the Fire/EMS department, and he should always keep notes of conversations with his staff and officers," she wrote.

The village does not have a policy against relationships between co-workers or even between supervisors and subordinates, Ms. Roth acknowledged, but she warned about how it could affect him or the department.

Village officials have been largely mum. Mayor Roth did not return messages left Friday and Monday regarding Chief Myers, nor did Alan Lehenbauer, village solicitor. Village Administrator Rosanna Hoelzle deferred comment to Mr. Lehenbauer about whether future discipline against Chief Myers was pending.

Chief Myers and Ms. Carter were similarly reluctant to discuss the matter. Chief Myers declined to comment to a Blade reporter who visited Ms. Carter's home on Monday.

Ms. Carter, when told why the reporter was there, said "you can get off my property now."

She later said via Facebook message that she would be willing to talk about "all of the corrupt and illegal things that take place at that [department]" but did not call a reporter despite repeated requests.

The resignations of Ms. Carter and another fire department employee, Laurie Evans, were announced at the April 25 meeting at which Chief Myers was suspended.

While the lead charges against Chief Myers center around his relationship with another village employee, Chief Myers is also accused of failing to properly complete schedules, using poor budgeting and payroll decisions, among other criticisms.

His personnel file shows repeated complaints from village Finance Director Karla Sexton about time sheets, the continual scheduling of a police department employee on fire shifts resulting in overtime, collection calls for past-due invoices, and other concerns regarding payroll and budgets.

Council is scheduled to next meet Monday. Ms. Hoelzle said that discussion of Chief Myers was not on the agenda for that meeting, but the agenda wouldn't be completed until later this week.

Deputy Chief Gary Roytek is heading the department in Chief Myers' absence.

Contact Nolan Rosenkrans at: nrosenkrans@theblade.com or 419-724-6086, or on Twitter @NolanRosenkrans.

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