Judge probes effort to remove 2 trustees

DELAWARE — Collecting more than 4,000 signatures was enough for Liberty Township residents to get a court hearing to try to remove two township trustees from office.

But visiting Judge Guy Reece, a retired Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge, made clear in the first day of the removal-forcause hearing that removing Michael Gemperline and Melanie Leneghan won’t be so simple.

Reece upheld a motion to dismiss the first of 10 accusations against the two trustees. It accused them of plotting to replace the township ambulance service, which also serves the city of Powell, with a service provided by Delaware County Emergency Medical Services.

Attorney Brandon Abshier told Reece, “It’s a scary proposition that if trustees are thinking or contemplating certain actions, that they can be removed from office.”

Abshier maintains that the residents are upset with trustees over policy disagreements, not wrongdoing, malfeasance or inability to do their jobs, which are among the criteria to remove a public official.

Reece repeatedly asked the attorneys for the petitioners if the trustees have the authority to make changes to emergency services.

Attorney Corey Colombo conceded that they do. But he said the methods they used, including abruptly dismissing the township’s longtime medical director, are at issue.

“It was dangerous to remove someone with so much experience, with no plan in place,” Colombo said.

“Was it irresponsible? Or in a way that people disagreed with them?” Reece asked.

Because of schedule conflicts, the bench hearing is to resume on Aug. 12. It might take two weeks, Reece said, involving 20 or more witnesses.

The action is the culmination of several rancorous township meetings in which residents shouted down comments by Leneghan, who, in response, had people removed for disruptions. Gemperline, a first-term trustee, has voted with Leneghan, a second-term trustee.

At least one other trustee of a Delaware County township attended the hearing. Some wonder whether this case might lead to others like it in order to settle disputes.

Reece, 75, urged attorneys from both sides to speak to each other and “attempt to resolve matters yourself.”

It was a message that could equally apply to residents and trustees.

Doing so, Reece said, “both of you will walk away feeling that you’ve gained something.”