A Sylvania Township trustee is asking a Lucas County judge to review the process that selected a new trustee earlier this month, contending that a majority did not vote and paperwork was signed too late.
Trustee John Jennewine said that new trustee Jill Johnson was illegally selected to fill the term of John Crandall, who officially resigned July 1.
The decision on a new Sylvania Township trustee fell to Mr. Crandall’s re-election committee when Mr. Jennewine and Trustee Neal Mahoney could not agree on a replacement. The trustees could not reach a decision over the 30 days they had to fill the seat.
Mr. Mahoney has said he and Mr. Jennewine had narrowed the list of 17 candidates to two: Douglas Koop, who operates a private physical-therapy family business, and Mrs. Johnson, a Sylvania Schools board of education member.
Section 503.24 of the Ohio Revised Code required the committee on Mr. Crandall’s last-filed nominating petition to appoint a qualified candidate to fill the vacancy for his unexpired term. The committee had 10 days to act.
The “committee of five” included Dave Simko, township fiscal officer, and his wife, Kathy. They both voted in favor of appointing Mrs. Johnson.
Robert Crandall, who is John Crandall’s son, was also on the committee. He abstained from the vote to appoint Mrs. Johnson. A fourth member of the committee, Sue Crandall, is Robert Crandall’s wife.
Mr. Simko said Sue Crandall participated in “committee of five” discussions about appointing a new trustee. She was not present for the vote on Mrs. Johnson.
The fifth member was Mary “Sue” Crandall, who is John Crandall’s wife; she died earlier in May.
The committee vote was Aug. 8.
“I learned of the appointment on Thursday night, and all I got was a text message saying Jill was appointed,” Mr. Jennewine said.
When he read the story in The Blade, he said he became concerned that the vote did not follow the Ohio Revised Code.
“The ORC clearly states it takes three board members; only two people voted,” Mr. Jennewine said.
Others who had applied for the trustee position also reached out to him, along with community members, he said.
Mr. Jennewine submitted a letter of concern to Judge Jack Puffenberger, of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas probate division, on Friday.
“It just seems like this process was out of kilter from early on,” Mr. Jennewine said. “A clarification from the judge would be good.”
Judge Puffenberger said any complaint must be filed with a court of appeals or the Ohio Supreme Court.
“Right now it’s not in my hands,” he said Tuesday. “I have no jurisdiction over this matter.”
Judge Puffenberger said an attorney for Mr. Jennewine or another interested party must file a “writ of quo warranto” — a legal action that determines if someone has the right to hold a public office — with the appeals court or the supreme court.
If one of those courts eventually decided that the appointment was improper, it could then come back to him, Judge Puffenberger said.
If the “committee of five” had failed to vote on a trustee replacement, like Mr. Jennewine and Mr. Mahoney had, then the decision would have gone to Judge Puffenberger.
The judge said he has made several appointments around Lucas County when officials could not reach a decision. They include school board members for Washington Local Schools and Sylvania, and four Toledo City Council members after the federal bribery indictments in 2020.
“I’ve had a number of appointments when people couldn’t agree,” Judge Puffenberger said.
One of the “committee of five” members said the process was followed correctly.
“It's kind of a sad thing for the township for John to be doing this,” Mr. Simko said Tuesday. “We followed the prosecutor’s office instructions on how to do this and how it was to be handled.”
Robert Crandall said he did not want to comment about why his wife did not vote and said she was unavailable for comment.
“I'm comfortable and confident with the way I voted,” Mr. Crandall said.
Mr. Mahoney on Tuesday said he had no issue with how Mrs. Johnson was appointed.
“None, whatsoever. The process worked and she’s been appointed. She’s our trustee, as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with her.”
Mrs. Johnson was sworn in earlier this month and participated in the Aug. 20 trustees meeting as a voting member.
When contacted on Tuesday, she said to call her attorney, Doug Haynam.
“A majority of the voting members of the committee selected Jill to be the township trustee. She’s been sworn in and she’s doing the job,” Mr. Haynam said. “I can’t imagine a more qualified and capable person to do that job.”
Ohio case law said a majority of those would be two of the three people who were voting — the Simkos and Robert Crandall.
He also said the vote “clearly happened within the 10-day period.”
“It boils down to John didn’t get his guy so he’s taking shots at Jill,” said Mr. Haynam, who is a longtime Sylvania City Council member.
Andrew Mayle, who is Mr. Jennewine’s attorney, said that in addition to not having a majority vote, the Simkos did not sign the official resolution appointing Mrs. Johnson until Aug. 13. This is three days after their authority to appoint a new trustee expired, Mr. Mayle said.
“The law had sunset on their ability to do anything,” he said.
This means Judge Puffenberger must make an appointment, Mr. Mayle said.
“If he doesn't agree, I can respect that but we may have to take action with a higher court,” Mr. Mayle said. “I’ve never seen two citizens claim themselves the power to install someone in office. That’s a bold claim they’re making. I’ve never seen anything like this before and I don’t think it’s right.
Sylvania Township is one of the largest townships in Ohio, and this issue must be clarified, he said.
“This is nothing against Mrs. Johnson. This is a process issue,” Mr. Mayle said. “That appointment, we believe, is invalid and she does not properly occupy that seat on the township board of trustees.
“She doesn't belong on the board any more than Santa Claus belongs on the board,” he said.
Michael Kott was one of the 17 applicants for trustee. Mr. Kott, who is a member of the township zoning commission board, said he withdrew his name after he made it to the top four.
He said he is worried about the cloud this is casting over the township as Nov. 5 approaches and voters will decide an additional 2.5-mill levy to raise $4.3 million annually for fire and EMS operations.
“We’re trying to pass a levy,” he said. “This is not going to resonate well with the voters.”
Mr. Kott added that he, too, is not opposed to Mrs. Johnson.
“Everyone just wants it done correctly,” he said.
The man who started this whole situation in motion when he stepped down said he has tried to stay out of discussions.
“I did let the committee know I would support them no matter what they did,” John Crandall said Tuesday.
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