Marion commissioners vote to not remove Mcguire
In a special meeting Wednesday with Marion County Board of Developmental Disabilities (MCBDD) Superintendent Cheryl Plaster, the Marion County Commissioners voted to not remove Jim Mcguire from his board appointment after he gave an anti-gay speech at the River Valley graduation commencement May 27.
After opening up the public meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, the board sought the advice of legal counsel from Marion County Assistant Prosecutor William Owen in executive session.
The legal counsel saw no legal requirement to remove Mcguire from his position with the county board, Owen said after the return from executive session to a public meeting at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
"The board of commissioners did not deliberate. The board of commissioners sought the advice of counsel. It is my advice to the board, which I believe they have accepted, is that it would not be legally proper for the board of county commissioners to remove Mr. Mcguire from his position," Owen said.
"The board of commissioners is the appointing authority. It also has the authority to remove."
This legal advice was drawn from Ohio Revised Code Section 5126.0213 which provides grounds for the removal of a board member from a county board of DD.
This follows Mcguire's announcement Friday that he wasn't going to resign from his position with the DD board, though the county board had asked for his voluntary resignation or his removal by the county commissioners.
Owen said the grounds for removal are "very clear," and Mcguire didn't violate any of the terms which include neglect of duty, misconduct, malfeasance, ineligibility to serve, poor performance or the failure to attend necessary meetings and trainings.
"There has been no evidence presented would indicate that Mr. Mcguire has engaged in any wrongdoing or has violated any of the terms," Owen said.
While the law cited gives reasons why a board member must be removed, it does not specify if a board member can or cannot be removed simply because the appointing authority desires it.
“It is based upon on the advice of counsel that the board at this time will take no action regarding Mr. Mcguire. Is that an accurate statement of the record?” he asked the commissioners.
Each commissioner then responded, "yes."
Mcguire, who was in attendance of the Wednesday meeting, did not comment, but he asked when a board member should abstain from a vote as he knows each of the three commissioners on a personal level.
“I happen to know all these three people just because I'm in the community,” he said.
Owen assured him each commissioner could vote on the matter as there was no conflict of interest, the grounds for abstaining from a vote.
After the meeting, Plaster said she hopes the board can move forward and successfully get back to its mission to serve people with developmental disabilities in Marion County.
"I also was aware of the legislative restriction, but as we said before, we knew it was a commissioner appointment therefore the commissioners have to make a decision. Our hands are tied legislatively," she said.
"The hope now is to move forward and serve individuals with disabilities and get back to our mission and to our goal of helping people with disabilities to live, learn and earn within their own community."
Story by: Sophia Veneziano (740) 564 - 5232; sveneziano@gannett.com