[ back ]
Date set for recall vote; mayor responds
(by Sandi Latimer, staff writer - July 21, 2010)
Registered voters in West Jefferson will go to the polls Sept. 14 to decide whether or not to keep Scott Hockenbery as mayor.
Village council set the special election date at its July 19 meeting. Madison County Board of Elections officials suggested the date after confirming that petitioners seeking Hockenbery’s recall had submitted enough valid signatures to put the question on the ballot.
“The Board of Elections recommended that date so it doesn’t interfere with the general election,” Council President Darlene Steele said.
By setting the recall election date before the overlap occurs, West Jefferson will save some money. The special election will cost the village approximately $10,000, but could have been more if the Board of Elections staff had to put in overtime hours to process two separate elections at one time.
Hockenbery has 10 days from July 19 to sign council’s resolution setting the special election date. The Board of Elections will write the ballot language, which the Secretary of State must approve before ballots are printed.
Petitioners seeking the mayor’s recall accuse Hockenbery of nepotism, improper use of village funds and creating a hostile work atmosphere. Should voters recall the mayor, Steele would become acting mayor.
Hockenbery’s response
Hockenbery did not attend the July 19 council meeting, but he did respond to the Messenger’s e-mailed request for comment on the special election.
“I am glad that the date has finally been set, because I am looking forward to moving past this and being able to focus solely on important matters of the village,” he wrote in an e-mail. “I have done nothing to merit such a recall except disagree with the direction our previous mayors took the Village of West Jefferson, and have successfully taken action to correct this.”
He stated that the election is a waste of $10,000 of taxpayers’ money and the recall effort is “based on lies and personal agendas.”
“As an elected official, no matter how hard you work, there will always be a small percentage who will never be satisfied. I will not let these people dictate my actions, and my hope is that the community will not let these sore losers dictate their actions either,” Hockenbery wrote.
He said his record as mayor speaks for itself, noting that few municipalities in Ohio have increased their revenues during the recession, as West Jefferson has through planned economic development.
He added, “We have increased our services and added needed positions when most communities have been forced to stop services and cut employees. Some people are upset because I believe paid employees of the village should work at a level that residents deserve and removed if they do not. In the end, it is these results and changes that I believe will lead to a majority vote of ‘no’ on the recall question.”
Hockenbery’s absences at meetings
Hockenbery has not attended a council meeting since May when he walked out after Steele called him out of order for interrupting her while she was answering a resident’s question.
At the July 19 meeting, West Jefferson resident Paul Holden asked, “Has anyone talked to Ron Parsons (village law director) about how many meetings the mayor can miss?”
“I have talked with him,” Steele said. “If it was one of us who missed six meetings, we’d be out of here. The charter only says the mayor should attend council meetings.”
Resident Virginia Miller commented, “Not only is he not coming to meetings, he is not in his office and he doesn’t return calls or e-mails.”
Finance Director Jack Herrell, who also serves as clerk of council, said he slides council information under the mayor’s office door. On occasion, police officers have delivered village paperwork to Hocken-bery’s home, he said.
Steele said Hockenbery also is not attending meetings with state agencies. She has been attending those meetings in his place.
When residents asked why the mayor was still being paid when it appears he isn’t attending to his duties, Steele said “he claims to be accessible,” but added she has talked with Parsons and Madison County Prosecutor Stephen Pronai. She did not elaborate on those conversations.
[ back ]
