City manager: I didn't record call
No recording exists of heated phone call with councilwoman, he says.
Huber Heights City Manager Rob Schommer said he did not record conversations with members of council, including a heated phone call with Councilwoman Janell Smith. The disclosure came in a response to a Dayton Daily News request for the alleged recordings, which were first requested by Mayor Tom McMasters, who brought a complaint against Schommer in the Ohio Court of Claims over his request.
“Although I truly wish I had recordings of conversations, especially the one highlighted in this situation, I unfortunately do not have separate recordings of conversations outside the already available public recordings, some of which I have referred to,” Schommer wrote Clerk of Council Tony Rodgers.
“However, I did archive one specific voicemail ... that was recently left by Mrs. Smith. Regarding the specifics of Mr. McMaster’s request, there are no records existing that meet his request,” Schommer wrote. Smith’s June 29 voicemail, obtained by the Dayton Daily News, features the councilwoman asking to meet with Schommer about street banners.
McMasters requested the alleged recordings after Schommer’s personal attorney sent City Law Director Gerald McDonald a letter this month. That letter claimed that Smith berated Schommer during a phone call in which she engaged in ‘a very unprofessional conversation’ with him in a discussion about new street banners. Smith denies that she was unprofessional in the conversation.
The Dayton Daily News requested any records responsive to McMasters’ request.
McMasters’ complaint states a few months ago that Rodgers told him he was “aware the city man- ager was recording his conversations with members of council.”
Schommer, in an email to Rodgers in response to McMasters’ request, said he was “disappointed a discussion consisting of hearsay and gossip has led to a significant number of allegations against me.”
“Nonetheless, and in full disclosure, I have mentioned to you that many of the conversations I have had with some elected officials are bizarre in nature, and I should record everything. I wish I had, but unfortunately I don’t have such recordings,” Schommer wrote.
Rodgers did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.
Schommer maintains his letter was never intended as a formal complaint, though his lawyer, David Duwel, referred to the document as a complaint in an email with McDonald.
Because the document was originally considered as a complaint, it went to McMasters, who as mayor investigates formal complaints against members of council.
Later, McDonald told the Dayton Daily News the letter was no longer being considered as a formal complaint, and that he would be “looking into some of the issues raised in the letter and reporting back to council to see if there are any violations involving the city.”