City appeals decision on suspension

The City of Wickliffe has filed a motion with Lake County Common Pleas Court to appeal a decision made by the Wickliffe Civil Service Commission overturning a 2019 suspension issued by the city to their building commissioner, Raymond Sack.

Originally, Sack was suspended for three days in late 2019 after it was determined that he had referred residents to contractors that were not among those preapproved by the city.

Court records indicated that a pre-disciplinary hearing was held for Sacks on Oct. 25, 2019. At the hearing, a 2016 email which Wickliffe Law Director Scott Zele directed to Sack was presented.

The letter read in part, “The City has been contacted by a contractor who is alleging that members of the Building and Service Departments are referring residents to certain contractors.” The email goes on to outline, “not only is this improper but could also result in legal and economic legal damages against the City. Please make sure this is made clear to all employees of your respective departments.”

After playing a recorded phone conversation which alleged to capture Sack referring residents to non-approved contractors at the same meeting, Wickliffe Council President and Hearing Officer Edward Levon issued the suspension.

Sack appealed the decision before the Civil Service Commission, citing that the 2016 email was not an established official correspondence method of the City of Wickliffe.

This had been brought up during the pre-disciplinary meeting.

“I have reviewed the

Nov. 21, 2016, email and I do not find that it is limited to employees under Mr. Sack’s supervision,” Levon stated. “The fact that Mr. Sack was an addressee to the email and Mr. Sack did not deny receiving the email leads me to the conclusion that Mr. Sack received this email. This conclusion is also supported by the recorded telephone calls where Mr. Sack states that he was not recommending the specific contractor

name that was provided.”

Sack’s appeal centered around the legitimacy of the 2016 email and a request by his legal team for the city to provide transcripts of the phone conversations alleged to capture Sack recommending non-approved contractors to residents.

These requests were not honored at the time of Sack’s appeal before the Civil Service Commission. As a result, the commission

determined that the city did not meet its burden of proof and that Zele’s email did not constitute official city policy.

The notice of appeal, filed Feb. 21 with the Common Pleas Court, is an attempt by the city to overturn the commission’s determination.

Requests to speak with Sack’s attorneys and the attorneys representing the City of Wickliffe were not immediately returned.