What do changes on village council mean for Waynesfield?

The 2022 election may be over, but the conflict in the Village of Waynesfield’s political scene is still evident.

Residents recently elected Jesslyn Winegardner, Deborah Ball, Tim Walti and Bill Motter, who unseated current incumbents.

“I am excited to see a new council in there,” Mayor Rodney Luma said, noting working with some members of the current council has been rough.

“They got their way of doing things and I got my way of doing things, and

they don’t go together,” Luma said.

Village Administrator and former mayor Mike Ridenour is reluctant to agree. He said council members

have been fine working together.

“I try to structure what needs to happen and run it past council for what needs their blessing and just move forward on it,” Ridenour said.

Bill Motter, who returns to council in January, said Waynesfield residents made their choice when they

elected the mayor but that the rift is still there.

“It’s going to be a healing process for sure. We are

never ever going to be a Mayberry,” Motter said. “We

need to work together. As far as members of council we need to show each other respect. We also need to

show the mayor the respect that he deserves.”

One perceived area of disrespect was council

members excluding the mayor from executive

sessions related to legal action regarding an alleyway. Luma is neither a

plaintiff nor a defendant in the case.

The village was involved in a lawsuit over ownership and paving of an alleyway. The lawsuit continued for

more than a year and caused division.

“The current mayor was in with those people and that’s why he was excluded,” Ridenour said. “He was on the plaintiff’s side all along.”

Some believed the alleyway case proved pivotal in the election.

“In my opinion, I think it was a major factor in the

outcome of the voting,” Motter said.

Waynesfield Village Council member Robert Neeley has voiced a conspiracy theory about the election.

“I call into question the absentee ballots on this election,” Neely said.

He called the 28 absentee votes an outrageous number,

and believes there were people going to the nursing

home to collect votes, with involvement from Board of Elections member Diana

Dulebohn and the recently deceased pastor Don Smith.

He called it “a plan to get back at the town for losing their stupid lawsuit.”

Neely’s accusations are demonstrably unfounded as 22 of the 26 absentee ballots were cast in person, and

none of the absentee voters reside in a nursing home. Absentee ballots that are not

cast in person are returned to the Board

of Elections via the U.S. Postal Service.

When asked if he thought the lawsuit was a factor in the village council race Ridenour said, “Yeah, I definitely believe so. I

believe some people had their hands in it and made it happen,” Ridenour said. “I don’t want to speculate on anything else.”

Ridenour said the rough relationship with Luma came as a

result of Luma asking for resignations early on.

“When you come into office and you

slide a piece of white paper in front of everybody at the first meeting and ask for their resignation, you

know what do you expect,” Ridenour said. “Hopefully people can put their nonsense to

bed and move forward for the good of the village.”

Neeley is trying to get Mayor Rodney Luma suspended,

claiming ethics violations involving requiring a village employee move debris from a residence using village equipment, and getting a ride from an employee. Neeley also believes Luma shouldn’t file

property complaints when his own property is allegedly in violation. He has a similar complaint involving collecting

back taxes as well as a complaint about F***joe Biden being written on a van window.

Newly-elected candidates are more focused on the village needs.

Motter wants people to be able to come to

council without the fear of not being heard.

“Where you work if you have a complaint, and you complain, and you don’t hear anything about it, it’s going to piss you off.” Motter said.

He said rules should be enforced equally and that when they aren’t enforced equally it causes a division in a village.

Motter pointed out the four people who were elected stayed clear of social media. Elected candidates didn’t organize or go

out and campaign together, although many

share ideas of wanting to bring business to the village. He did acknowledge, however,

some signage in town had their four names on the same sign.

“I got calls that we want you four in there,

but do something once you get in there,” Motter said. “Don’t fumble the ball.”

Motter plans to work with council members regardless of stances taken against him during the campaign.

“It’s over, it’s done, they did what they thought they had to do,” Motter said.

Ridenour said, “I think the village has

moved quite a bit forward and we will

keep going in that direction. I would hope that everyone has the

best interest of the village at heart. We will

have to see what happens.”

In the coming months the village will be working through a few construction projects. Luma said one of his goals is to see natural gas come to Waynesfield

“We’ve been trying to work on that, but it takes money,” he said.

Walti said he appreciated the people that voted for the new council

“I definitely am looking forward to working with the new candidates,” he said, adding he wants to

hold town hall-style meetings to keep the community involved.

Deb Ball said they want to see progress and that people are

excited about bringing in new businesses. Ball values honesty and transparency.

“I would like to see a bigger crowd come to the council meetings,”

Ball said. She wants people to feel comfortable presenting problems.