MOUNT VERNON – Safety-Service Director Rick Dzik made it official with the Mount Vernon City Council that Monday was his last meeting, as he recently accepted a job as a city manager for a Dayton suburb.
Dzik's new position in Huber Heights, Ohio, officially starts on Sept. 11. He was scheduled to participate in a meet and greet with city residents on Tuesday night. There are approximately 43,000 residents in town.
“I’ve worked on a transition plan with the mayor. Our departments, Mr. Reinhart, all our department heads are really keeping things running themselves. I don't see any real hiccups during this transition time,” Dzik said at the end of Monday’s meeting.
The Huber Heights City Council approved Dzik's position at an annual salary of $160,000 during its Aug. 21 meeting.
Mount Vernon councilmembers and department heads thanked Dzik for his time with the city. Councilmember Amber Keener said more notice would have been nice, but she said she didn’t think all the details about his transition were known.
“I just would like to say as well congrats to Mr. Dzik on his new opportunity in Huber Heights. I wish you the best,” City Councilmember Mel Severns said.
Resident complains city officials fail to return messages
East High Street resident Vicki Fitzgerald told city council that the property next to hers has had excessive rain and water runoff coming from its north and east sides since at least 2020, flooding her garage, cracking the pavement and damaging the driveway.
The demolition of a garage barn on July 18, approved by the Historic Review Committee, left nothing but a large area of mud, which is making the problem worse, Fitzgerald said. She added that her questions and complaints to city officials have either been ignored or unanswered.
“There is no communication between city officials and those constituents who might be affected by decisions made by the same city officials. You would think that in a small town, this would not happen,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald asked for the city to communicate with her and take care of its bigger problem: the levee decertification.
Police seize enough fentanyl to kill all residents twice
On Monday night, Police Chief Robert Morgan told city council that police had seized more than 470 grams of methamphetamine this year, 842 grams of marijuana, 3.8 grams of heroin, and 15 grams of cocaine.
“Here's a scary one we've collected almost 50 grams of fentanyl... If that was pure fentanyl, that’s enough to kill everybody in the city of Mount Vernon twice,” Morgan said.
Methamphetamine is the drug of choice with fentanyl a close second, Morgan said. Meth used to be laced with fentanyl to give it a little “kick” but now a lot of people use straight fentanyl, which is scary, he said.
Drug case numbers are down from last year with officers responding to 14 overdoses. Morgan said three drug overdose deaths occurred this year, which is about half compared to last year from January to late August.
Officers also investigated one suicide call.
Total calls for service for the year were 10,760 as of 4 p.m. on Monday afternoon. Morgan also reported 142 domestic violence cases and 26 sex offense cases. Officers handled more than 440 car crashes and made 3,416 traffic stops as well, with 1,300 citations and 50 warnings issued.
Morgan reported 167 felony indictments through Common Pleas Court; 70 of them included non-drug-related offenses. He added that 97 drug-related cases advanced to felony court this year.
The police department has confiscated 17 guns and has seized approximately $2,500 in cash, which is pending in the court system. The court will determine whether the department is able to keep the funds or must return them.
Police expect to fill one vacancy in the department. They currently have one candidate in the pipeline and continue their search for another to fill a second vacancy.
“We have had tremendous problems in getting qualified recruits to come to the city of Mount Vernon. But we’re not the only ones,” Morgan said.
Columbus is short by 300 officers, while Ohio State Highway Patrol is down 400 troopers. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office is looking to hire several deputies and Fredericktown is hiring officers.
“Competition for good recruits out there is at an all-time high,” Morgan said.
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