MOUNT VERNON – A resolution of no confidence in Safety-Service Director Rick Dzik was introduced in Mount Vernon City Council’s Monday, June 28, calling for the mayor to dismiss him.
Council member Samantha Scole’s resolution was given a first reading with no discussion, which is standard procedure. Two more readings typically are necessary before the council votes.
“It is not Council's job to issue discipline," said Mayor Matt Starr. "That is my job, which I did swiftly and decisively."
Asked if he had plans to meet with council members on the issue, Starr told the Mount Vernon News, “I have no other meetings planned, because Rick and I have moved on and turned the page.”
Dzik had been suspended without pay for two weeks by Starr after the Safety-Service Director changed the council’s voting order for a meeting in which two controversial issues were up for votes: a College Township fire and EMS contract and the decision to create a community advocate position for the Police Department.
The council has little recourse beyond the passage of a resolution, based on a response to questions posed to Law Director Rob Broeren.
“Under the Ohio Revised Code and the Codified Ordinances of the City of Mount Vernon, the Mayor has the sole authority to appoint and remove the Safety-Service Director,” Broeren told the News.
