The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
WH City Council president testifies
Willoughby Hills City Council President Nancy Fellows testified March 6 that Michael Germano has done “a fine job” as city prosecutor.
Fellows took the stand in Lake County Common Pleas Court during the second day of proceedings in the law director controversy.
Visiting Judge David L. Fuhry must rule whether an ordinance naming attorney Stephen L. Byron as “acting law director” is legal.
If the ordinance is deemed legal, City Council plans to conduct a hearing to discuss removing Germano as prosecutor for alleged “misfeasance and malfeasance.”
Germano agreed to temporarily act as law director for free until a permanent law director could be appointed by the mayor and approved by council.
Meanwhile, council previously had legislation on its agenda to name attorney Bradley Hull IV as “acting prosecutor” if Germano is terminated.
City officials have been at odds over who is the acting law director since longtime Law Director Thomas Lobe resigned in September.
Mayor Robert Weger contends Germano — not Byron — is acting law director.
Under cross-examination by James Lyons, Germano’s attorney, Fellows said, “I don’t know of any instances where he hasn’t been a good prosecutor.”
But a majority of council members, including Fellows, seek to terminate Germano for violating his oath of office by “portraying himself as an acting law
director,” she added.
Fellows said she believed Byron would be a good acting law director because he previously worked for the city from 1994 until 2004.
“He was an assistant law director and prosecutor at that time,” the council president said of Byron.
Lyons countered, “So it was OK for Mr. Byron to be an assistant law director and a prosecutor, but it wasn’t OK for Mr. Germano to be?”
Both Lyons and Weger’s attorney, Joseph “Randy” Klammer, asked Fellows why the acting law director application process was not open to other members of the public besides Byron and the other candidate, Hull.
Klammer said the mayor did not even know council planned to “create a new position of acting law director” and then hire someone at the Sept. 28 meeting. In addition, council should have tabled the vote because Weger had to miss the meeting to help two city officers who were shot earlier that day at a car dealership,
he added.
“I wasn’t informed as to why he wasn’t there,” Fellows replied of the mayor.
Klammer then noted that Weger sent an email to everyone on council hours before the meeting stating why he could not be there.
“I may not have read that email at that time,” Fellows said.
“I don’t read emails every minute of the day.”
Klammer then noted that even if she hadn’t seen the email, the meeting minutes prove that Councilman David Fiebig announced at the start of the Sept. 28 session that Weger could not make it because of the tragedy.
Byron, who currently works as law director for Waite Hill, Hunting Valley, Pepper Pike and Orange Village, said he also works an average of 20 to 40 hours a week for Willoughby Hills but has not yet been paid.
Council agreed to pay Byron a $10,000 a month retainer.
After a two-day break, the case will resume March 9 with more testimony from Byron.