Curliss resigns as Deputy Law Director
It was announced Saturday that Deputy Law Director Laura Curliss has resigned her position with the City of Hillsboro.
In her letter to Law Director Fred Beery, Curliss stated that “In light of the fiscal crisis that faces Hillsboro and the city’s need for the services of labor counsel, I resign as Deputy Law Director effective at midnight today to allow the remaining funds in the budget for this position to be put toward the services of labor counsel.”
Mayor Drew Hastings agreed with the need for labor counsel.
“The fact of the matter is that local government is a service organization and so most of the budget pays for the people who provide those services. If the City’s revenues cannot pay for those services, something has to give. I do not want to lay-off anyone, but lay-offs appear to be in our future if fiscal emergency is to be avoided. Contracting with Paint Creek Joint EMS/Fire District was our best hope for balancing the budget in 2012 and into 2013 and beyond.”
According to Beery, Curliss’ primary responsibilities included assisting the Mayor and SSD with transition matters, ordinance revisions, public records issues, drafting 2012 fire contracts with six townships, exploring joint fire district formation (declined by the townships), and with the Mayor’s draft agreement with Paint Creek Joint EMS/Fire District which was presented to Council after the townships first began to contract with the PCJEFD.
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Curliss was announced as deputy law director during a press conference Jan. 3. Curliss was the executive assistant to former Wilmington mayor David Raizk for seven years. She was an assistant prosecutor for the Clinton County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, and she has worked as a teacher and a judicial law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
According to a press release from earlier this year, "Her legal experience includes criminal prosecution, government contracts, grants, fire district matters, insurance and risk management, compliance management and economic development transactions." She has served on the Miami Valley Risk Management Association, the Downtown Wilmington Community Improvement Corporation, Clinton County Open Lands and the Clinton County Trails Coalition."
"She has a lot of education on municipal government. It was a lot easier for me to go to the city of Wilmington and get clear, unbiased answers than to deal with my own hometown," Hastings said in January. She brings a level of expertise to this position that's really invaluable. I don't know if you will necessarily see her all the time, (but) the results of her work with the administration. I think that position of deputy law director will probably be somewhat busier than than it has been in the past because I think we have an aggressive agenda. You'll see a lot more out of that position, I think, than you have in the past "