Saturday, February 17, 2007
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NEWTON FALLS -- The man selected to become the next city manager says he was forced to resign from his last position because he fell out of political favor.
"They wanted someone to just do their bidding," Jack Haney said Friday of city council in Beavercreek, where he was city manager until last August.
Beavercreek is a city of about 40,000 people outside of Dayton where Haney, 54, served as assistant city manager and then city manager until his resignation.
Beavercreek Councilman Jarrod Martin agrees with Haney, who is wrapping up contract negotiations with Newton Falls Mayor Thomas Moorehead. Newton Falls City Council has selected Haney as its city manager.
"As city manager, everything goes to the guy at the top," Martin said of Haney.
Martin explained that Beavercreek City Council wanted a city manager "who would play a stronger leadership role."
Lawmakers wanted someone to take more control over various city departments, Martin added.
Credit-card use investigated
Martin said the questionable use of city credit cards by some city workers had become an issue after council received some complaints from the public about their use.
Beavercreek council has been rewriting the city's travel policies, Martin said, because they are old and "often forgotten."
He noted that questions concerning travel expenses were mainly directed at the police department.
"Nobody did anything improper. There was no misuse of funds," Haney said, adding the travel reimbursement was dictated by the contract with the police union, Fraternal Order of Police.
Martin said some complaints about travel expenses by the public turned out to be not valid after they were investigated by council.
Haney pointed to the police contract as one area that was questioned, but it was determined the procedure used followed the labor pact.
Some council members wanted the police chief fired for no reason, Haney said, and he refused to do it.
Question about bill
A question also was raised about Haney's paying his bill for his daughter's wedding in 2005 at the city-owned Beavercreek Golf Club.
Martin said Haney didn't pay off an 11,000 personal credit card bill for the wedding within 30 days of the event as required.
Haney countered that 9,000 was credited to his card before the wedding and he was given an extension to pay off the balance by a club official until Haney got his tax refund. Haney was assistant city manager at the time.
Martin said there was no problem with Haney in paying off the debt.
In describing Haney, Martin used words such as integrity and ethical. "He's responsible," Martin said of Haney.
If an agreement is reached between Moorehead and Haney, he will replace David Watson, whose contract was not renewed in May and who left the city in September.
yovich@vindy.com