Residents urge removal of acting manager, call for forensic audit and independent investigation

Several residents used the public-comment period at Monday’s New Lebanon Village Council meeting to press for formal investigations and personnel action against the acting municipal manager.

A petition presented to the council demanded a roll-call vote to terminate or place the acting manager on unpaid administrative leave, to rescind consolidated authorities that the petitioners say concentrate unchecked power, and to refer the village to the Ohio Auditor of State for a forensic audit under ORC §117.11 to probe alleged unauthorized expenditures and recordkeeping. The petition text also called for “an independent external investigation” into an alleged breach of a fire chief’s Lehi account, citing possible violations of Ohio Revised Code and federal computer-access laws.

“The Charter belongs to the people, not to the administration,” the resident presenting the petition said, urging council to take immediate votes and to accept the petition into the meeting minutes. The petition asked the council to treat the allegations as a matter of urgency and to place several items before the body for immediate action.

Municipal leadership declined to take those personnel votes at the meeting. The chair moved to take the council into an executive session to confer on pending or imminent litigation and on the appointment and hiring process for a village manager, but after debate the council postponed that executive session until a full complement of members can attend.

Why it matters: Petitioners framed the demands as responses to alleged favoritism, inconsistent personnel practices, and possible legal exposures that, if substantiated, could carry financial and reputational risk for the village. The council did not adopt the petition’s requests during the meeting and deferred further action until a subsequent session.