CITY GOVERNMENT Vignon quits posts on council, panel

The ex-councilman didn't want Route 14 to become another U.S. Route 224.
COLUMBIANA -- Donald L. Vignon says he's been devoted to improving the city since his election to city council nearly four years ago.
He's advocated constructing sidewalks along state Route 14 in the commercial area and increasing the city's compensation for hooking new developments to its utilities.
But, in the wake of fellow council member Patricia Keylor's calling for his replacement on the planning commission at the January council meeting, Vignon resigned last week from both the commission and council.
Explaining why he quit, Vignon said this week he felt angry and unappreciated as a result of Keylor's move, which he believed was motivated by Mayor Lowell Schloneger.
Keylor, reached by telephone, refused to explain why she had asked for Vignon to be replaced.
"I don't have to talk to you," she said to a reporter, abruptly hanging up the phone.
Vignon said the mayor apparently wanted someone who would be more inclined to go along with the majority of council members who have opposed Vignon's moves to install more sidewalks or impose "impact fees" on developments. The fees would pay for increased utility costs and services from such developments, rather than having the costs fall on city residents.
Schloneger did not return phone calls inviting comment on Vignon's resignation.
"For you to want to replace someone with almost 45 years of construction and engineering experience with someone else in that position is an insult," Vignon wrote to council in his resignation letter, regarding Keylor's move, his planning seat and why he resigned.
"I guess if you don't want me on the planning commission, there is no point in me wasting my time on the city council."
End of term
Vignon was elected to council in 2001. He was later chosen as the council's representative on the five-member planning commission. His council term was due to end at the end of this year.
Daniel Blasdell, city attorney, said it was improper to seek to replace Vignon on the planning commission until his council term officially ended in November.
But, Vignon, saying he felt like "a thorn in the side" of other council and commission members, decided to resign anyway.
Nonetheless, Vignon said he intends to continue to share knowledge from his work as an electrical engineer and in construction with city officials to protect and improve Columbiana.
He said his aim on council was to prevent Route 14 from turning into an accident-plagued traffic jam with no sidewalks or crosswalks, such as the U.S. Route 224 strip from Poland to Canfield has become.
Also, he expressed concern the city's increased costs for providing utilities and services to developments would outstrip tax income from them if fees to compensate for their impact were not imposed.
Not at meeting
Vignon's resignations came in a letter read by council member Donald Leonard at the council meeting last week. Vignon did not attend. Council will consider a replacement for him during its 7 p.m. meeting April 5 in city hall.
Leonard, a real estate consultant and broker, said he often voted with Vignon on various issues, in the face of opposition from other council members.
"We worked well together. We both love Columbiana," Leonard said.
"We wanted everyone to be treated the same with respect to the city's rules and ordinances."
Leonard said council members have varied the rules for some developers with regard to such things as the length of a dead-end street or the lighting required, opening the way for others to seek preferential treatment.
"Columbiana, one of the most affordable places to live, is growing too rapidly without a good plan," Leonard said.
"Development costs us more in services and utilities than the tax revenue we get from it," the council member said, supporting the idea of impact fees. "We need to stop giving away the country store."
William Kimpel, council president, said that while Vignon's engineering and work experiences were very valuable to the city, "unfortunately Don began to assume that his opinions of city issues, as well as those of Don Leonard's, were the only correct solutions for the direction of Columbiana."
He added, "Through dedication and hard work, we are a democracy of many opinions, not a monarchy of one."
Another council member, Earl Corey, said Vignon's resignation came as complete surprise.
Corey said he believed Keylor was acting on her own in seeking to replace Vignon. "There was no conspiracy," he said, contending council members had not discussed the move beforehand.
"I feel very pleased with how our town is growing," Corey said.