Rehiring of Lafayette service director draws criticism

LAFAYETTE TWP. — An accusation of "repaying favors" has been directed at Lafayette Township trustees following their decision to rehire Service Director Rick Evans after his employment was terminated in November. According to township documents, Trustees Marty Warchola, Lynda Bowers and Michael Costello voted unanimously Nov. 18 to fire Evans effective at 3 p.m. the following day. However, that decision was reversed Jan. 10 after Bowers and Costello were voted out in November's general election and replaced by Ty Fullerton and Christopher O'Neil. That Jan. 10 meeting was the first for new Trustees Fullerton and O'Neil with proceedings that night also including them being sworn in. The move to rehire Evans also came by unanimous vote, including a reversal from incumbent Warchola. On the evening Evans was terminated, newly elected trustees were invited into a private executive session by incumbents to review information regarding the situation, according to meeting minutes. Lafayette Board of Zoning Appeals member Justin Peroli characterized Evans' reappointment as a reward for supporting Fullerton and O'Neil during the election. "It's repaying favors," he said. "It's the same reason why, before even doing the budget for the township this year, they gave out massive pay raises. I mean, I know for a fact that the interim service director for the department was paid $24 an hour and when they rehired Rick they're paying $31 an hour. That's almost a 30 percent pay increase." Fullerton said he did not understand the reasoning behind Evans being let go. "So many residents I had spoken to had always praised the road crew and Rick in particular," Fullerton said. "They all liked the job that they performed and I was actually kinda thrown back that they wanted to let them go at will, with no determination, no reason why and I just felt that was wrong, because he's deserving of the position. He's done a good job. I think he will continue to do a good job." Fullerton said Evans' raise was a pay bump for the position, not a personal favor for Evans. "You got to understand that the increase in pay was given to the service director position," Fullerton said. "The past administration had given the assistant service director a raise in December and then a road man got a raise as well. Rick was appointed after those numbers were agreed upon." Peroli said that Evans had a history of aggressiveness and anger issues, making him a liability regardless of his abilities. Fullerton claimed that Peroli was taking things out of context to suit a personal agenda. "Totally trying to spin a narrative in the direction he wants to spin it," Fullerton said. "Like I said before, though, everybody's allowed free speech and their own opinions. But here he is spinning the truth around, that is just so false." Township legal counsel William Thorne said Evans' termination came without cause but also acknowledged a complaint filed Oct. 7 against the service director by fiscal officer Laura Ruebensaal. In that complaint, Ruebensaal accused Evans of abusive language and intimidation while working in the office. Ruebensaal's accusations were also extended toward township administrative assistant Kim Buell, whose resignation was accepted by trustees during a Dec. 30 special meeting. "The events of this afternoon demonstrate a clear disregard for an office environment as well as complete and utter disrespect from (Evans) and (Buell). The office is clearly filled with distrust toward elected officials and with these two township employees assuming all kinds of untruths. Without knowing the facts behind a records request that we were at the office researching, Ms. Buell charged into the office demanding to know what we were doing and why it couldn't be done while she was there. She was literally screaming at Trustee Bowers. "Mr. Evans proceeded to walk past my desk and heard me say, 'Oh my,' regarding the screaming Ms. Buell was doing. He turned on his heel, pointed at me and shouted, 'This is all your (expletive) fault! There are ways of (expletive) doing things,' to which I replied, 'What are you talking about? I didn't even know about the request until last night and it wouldn't have changed the outcome today.'" Ruebensaal accused Buell of changing record-keeping passwords multiple times after being told the fiscal officer must have access to those documents. "In all of my 25-plus years in the corporate world, I'm shocked this is being tolerated in an work environment much less in the township we reside," Ruebensaal wrote. "This is the epitome of a hostile work environment and the fact this behavior is being allowed to continue is shameful. The verbal disrespect and aggression shown toward elected officials is mind-boggling." Peroli also reported Evans acting aggressively toward a resident, an exchange caught on video that involved Evans calling the woman "bat(expletive) crazy." He also claimed Evans logged hours for employees they hadn't worked. "That (video) was sent by a resident who didn't feel that was appropriate behavior from a member of the township speaking to a resident," Peroli said. Authenticity of the video was confirmed by Costello, who claimed he did not see the footage until late-November. Costello added that it was not the only documented time Evans was aggressive toward residents. "We came out to look at a drainage ditch, a culvert essentially, in front of somebody's house that the gentleman had felt was not dug adequately," Costello said. "This guy was telling Rick how he thought it should be done and Rick kind of flew off the handle and basically told him he doesn't know what he's talking about." Costello's own issues with Evans reportedly began with how he handled the logging of hours for his employees. The former trustee said he attempted to obtain a document related to that matter in November. Instead, Costello said he was given a listing of dates and hours worked with no detailing of employees' identities or how many hours of labor specific employees had put in. "This was something he had put together, you know, spur of the moment when I asked for it," Costello said. "Even though I asked for it, even though he's required and has acknowledged on the record that he's keeping such a log." Evans did not respond to requests for comment in this article. Contact Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.