Hillsboro City Council OKs appointment of new SSD 'for now'

Hillsboro City Council members voted Thursday, Sept. 11 to approve Hillsboro Mayor Justin Harsha’s appointment of longtime public works superintendent Shawn Adkins as safety and service director -- at least “for now,” as they will apparently later revisit the issue of his residency.    

As previously reported, safety and service director Brianne Abbott, who served alongside Harsha for all of his first term and part of his current second term (which expires at the end of 2027), resigned July 7, effective Sept. 12. In conjunction with Abbott’s announcement, Harsha named Adkins as her replacement, effective Sept. 15. 

Although Harsha was among several individuals not in attendance for Thursday’s meeting, council president Tom Eichinger said the mayor asked him “to read a statement” regarding the residency issue during what would have been the mayor’s report section of the agenda.

“‘It has been brought to my attention that there is a residency requirement for a safety director through the Ohio Revised Code,’” Eichinger read from Harsha’s statement. “‘I have been told this has been waived by council in the past. This position in the city of Hillsboro is a safety and service combined position. I think it's covered in our employee handbook for residency, which states the employee must live in the state of Ohio. 

“‘However, to be safe, I ask for your approval and waive the residency requirement for Shawn Adkins. Shawn brings a wealth of knowledge from his years of service to the city, and I couldn't think of a better person to fill this position.’”

Eichinger quoted the Ohio Revised Code, which states that “[A director of public safety] shall be appointed by the mayor and need not be a resident of the city at the time of his appointment but shall become a resident thereof within six months after his appointment unless such residence requirement is waived by ordinance.” 

The city’s policy within their code of ordinances reads that “Employees may choose where to reside within the State of Ohio without restriction, except as otherwise limited by the Hillsboro City Council in accordance with R.C. § 9.481,” and Eichinger pointed out that the SSD “position is an employee position within the city.” 

Eichinger then addressed council, asking if they were comfortable “approving the mayor’s appointment” and to consider whether they “feel that we may need to put some specific ordinance together that waives that requirement” for residency in this case.

“He has six months, obviously, to make a decision about moving,” Eichinger said.

“Mr. President, I will tell you I won't need six months to make that decision to move,” Adkins said. “I will not be moving into the city.”

Council member Jason Brown asked if Eichinger was “asking if we will allow the mayor to appoint” Adkins.

“No, the normal procedure is he appoints, and then he asks council to approve his appointment,” Eichinger said. “It's typically a tacit approval, but then he became aware of this specific situation, and we believe it's covered, so we simply need to know: Are you in support of Shawn being the safety service director?”

Council member Greg Maurer asked if an ordinance with a residency waiver would apply to all appointments or just this particular case. Eichinger clarified it would be an “exemption” for Adkins.

“Again, I think the exemption is already covered by ordinance,” Eichinger said. “We can bulletproof that by preparing a specific ordinance that specifically speaks to the safety and services director.

“That’s something we can do anytime within the next six months and still be within the realm of what the ORC allows.”

Brown asked if council member Kathryn Hapner could explain the proposals from a legal standpoint, as she is an attorney and there was no law director present for the meeting. Randalyn Worley, who had served as law director for the city since being appointed in February 2022, has also resigned, effective Sept. 5.

Hapner offered her input but also said she didn’t “like being put on the spot” with this request by administration with no advance warning prior to Thursday’s meeting.

“I think this is some communication that should have come from the mayor ahead of time to let us think about this, as opposed to simply saying, ‘oh, here we're at this meeting, let's put everyone on spot and have a vote on it,’” Hapner said. “I think it's two separate questions. The first question is, you know, is there an objection to Shawn being appointed safety service director? 

“The second question is are we willing to give a waiver so that he doesn't have to live within the city limits? That’s a separate question, and the answers to the two questions don’t have to be the same.”

Eichinger said that Harsha was made “aware of this in late August” when Worley brought it to his attention, which is “why we’re talking about it now.”

Eichinger also said he “wasn't looking for a vote” regarding the waiver, just about the approval of Adkins’ appointment, while a separate ordinance to be drafted “is an option we have” to cover the waiver. He also asked Hapner if she believed “our pay ordinance covers that” exemption.

“The pay ordinance does not,” Hapner said. “I mean, the pay ordinance does not prevent us from waiving the residency requirement, but the ORC requires that it has to be waived, if we're going to waive it.”

In response to another question from Eichinger, Hapner agreed that if council agrees to waive the residency requirement, they can do so anytime in the next six months. 

Eichinger again asked for “a voice vote” among the five other council members in attendance, asking “in favor of supporting the mayor's appointment.” Brown said, “I would be;” Maurer, Dan Baucher and Mary Stanforth said “Yes;” and Hapner said “That’s fine.”

Adkins asked if that vote signified council was “going to do something in six months, or you're OK with me as SSD full time now.”

“You're established as safety and services director,” Eichinger told him. “We have to decide, are we going to put an ordinance together to waive the residency issue so that it's more directly focused on what the ORC says? So you’re fine.”

“I'm fine for now, but in six months, I might not be fine?” Adkins asked.

“Correct,” Hapner said.

“It’s possible,” Eichinger added.

For more from Thursday’s meeting, go to https://highlandcountypress.com/news/hillsboro-city-council-mulls-more-….

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