In an effort to restore communication with city administration, Toledo City Council voted 12-0 to adopt a resolution Wednesday requesting that Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz reverse course on his directive banning his staff from engaging in one-on-one meetings with city councilmen.
Councilman Katie Moline introduced the resolution, which she said is necessary to “encourage and urge open dialogue amongst elected officials in Toledo government.”
“It’s a simple but strong message and it’s reliant on one branch of government stopping an action,” she said. “Council came here and did our job today, we didn’t shut down the government, we didn’t stop communication.”
The mayor’s decision to cut off the councilmen from communicating with his staff stemmed from his dissatisfaction over council’s handling of the city auditor’s employment with the city of Toledo.
Council oversees auditor Jake Jaksetic’s employment and on Nov. 1 voted to suspend him for 30 days rather than fire him. Since then, the mayor has maintained a no one-on-one contact policy with councilmen because Mr. Jaksetic makes his staff feel “unsafe.” The policy is in place even though Mr. Jaksetic no longer works in the building.
Previously, the mayor has said his actions come from his desire to “send council a strong message.”
With council unable to meet with members of the staff, government has become dysfunctional in a manner not typically seen at the local level, Councilman Sam Melden said.
“When the headlines about the local issues in the city of Toledo politics and state and federal all look the same, we’ve really lost the plot in some ways,” Mr. Melden said.
Placing the blame squarely on council, Mayor Kapszukiewicz said that the current situation is the result of council keeping Mr. Jaksetic on the “payroll for so long.”
“I understand that the episode shines an embarrassing light onto a council that has paid a $90,000 annual salary for nearly a decade to an employee who has not performed his job and who makes some of his co-workers, especially some of his female co-workers, feel unsafe,” the mayor said in a written statement Wednesday.
Mr. Jaksetic could not immediately be reached for a response Wednesday evening. A telephone message was left for him.
Referring to comments from councilmen as “an example of the ridiculous of the rhetoric,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz denies that canceling one-on-one meetings has had adverse effects on government function.
“Just tonight, City Council passed 22 ordinances that appropriated nearly $25 million toward important projects like a new YMCA, improvements to our fire stations, and investments in tools our firefighters need to do their jobs,” he said in his statement. “This demonstrates the real work of city government that my administration and city council have always done together, continue to do together, and will always do as long as I am mayor.”
The mayor also said that he would not issue any further comment on the situation.
“Ultimately, only city council can resolve this mess it has created,” he said. “I hope it does so soon.”
Citing two meetings that were abruptly canceled, Councilman Nick Komives disagrees and said that the mayor’s actions have harmed public policy. One meeting dealt with nuisance properties that had been scheduled four weeks ago and involved a project that is months in the works while the other involved lead pipe removal.
“It’s just really unfortunate that we have reached this supposed impasse, but the reality is that we are co-branches of government,” Mr. Komives said. “We all have jobs to do, and there are 12 of us today who have said that we would like to do our jobs. So I am hoping that this can be resolved quickly because the citizens, and the residents of the city deserve it.”
First Published November 9, 2022, 11:58 p.m.
