Council member accuses mayor of unauthorized negotiations over Chagrin Valley fire and EMS contract

A council member identified in the meeting as Hoover delivered an extended statement alleging the mayor exceeded his authority in dealings related to the village—s contract with the Chagrin Valley Fire Department. Hoover described a multi‑month sequence of meetings, emails and representations to outside municipalities and to CVFD that, he said, were undertaken without council authorization and that prevented council from pursuing a comparative procurement process for fire and EMS services.

Hoover said he initially sought alternatives to the CVFD contract on grounds of cost and testified he asked the mayor to pursue a short, one‑year option to give council time to gather comparative proposals. According to the speaker, the mayor instead shared CVFD—s proposed contract with Russell Township and attended outside meetings and advisory‑board sessions where he represented South Russell without council authorization. The speaker quoted an April email from Chagrin Valley—s chief thanking the mayor for participating in "early discussions," and he referenced a June 13, 2022 council motion that the safety‑committee chair serve as the village—s designated representative to the CVFD advisory board, saying the mayor—s actions were inconsistent with that motion.

Hoover said the mayor informed CVFD leadership and outside trustees that Russell Township would not bid and that the mayor would ask council to vote on the CVFD contract on Oct. 13. Hoover further described changes to the village newsletter text and an email trail he is seeking through records requests; he said he has referred certain social media posts to law enforcement and asked the village solicitor and IT resources to preserve and collect relevant emails and electronic records.

Hoover urged council to take several steps: to pursue retrieval of emails and documents tied to the contract negotiations, to seek legal review of whether the mayor—s actions exceeded his authority under council motions and the Ohio Revised Code, to notify contracting partners that the mayor lacks unilateral contracting authority, and to pursue legislation or motions to prevent unilateral mayoral negotiation of third‑party contracts without council authorization.

No formal council vote on disciplinary or legislative actions related to the mayor occurred during the meeting. Several council members acknowledged the remarks; some said they would work with the speaker and solicitor to pursue follow‑up. The mayor did not make a substantive public response during the floor remarks recorded in the transcript.

This account limits itself to statements made on the record during the meeting; allegations described by Hoover reference emails, past meeting attendance and a June 13, 2022 council motion and will require document review to substantiate.