Dover Council meets Monday for first time since mayor’s indictment
DOVER (WJER) (March 21, 2022) – City Council will meet this evening for the first time since the city’s mayor was indicted on 15 counts related to pocketing wedding fees and hiring his son to a city job.
City Council President Shane Gunnoe says there is nothing on the agenda to specifically address the situation with Mayor Rick Homrighausen.
“Quite frankly, it’s a mess,” Gunnoe said. “The entire situation of our current city administration, in my opinion, is a mess, and the mayor’s indictment just continues to further tarnish the city of Dover’s reputation and the other good people who work there.
“One of the other Councilmen said it best, ‘I wish he would he would save the community a lot of heartache and do the right thing and resign.’”
Gunnoe says council members and the law director are discussing options for removing the mayor, but they don’t have the authority to just fire him on the spot.
Gunnoe says the special prosecutor in the case – Robert Smith from the Ohio Auditor’s Office – can initiate a suspension hearing at the state level to seek Homrighausen’s removal or suspension from office.
“Whether that decision has been made by the special prosecutor, that’s his decision to make and not City Council’s,” Gunnoe said.
Gunnoe says he expects questions and comments about the mayor’s indictment tonight from members of council and the public.
Homrighausen usually attends City Council meetings, but Gunnoe says he hasn’t heard from the mayor, and the mayor hasn’t replied to his emails, since the indictment March 18.
Homrighausen is scheduled to be arraigned on the 15 criminal counts, including eight felonies, on March 30.
Council’s committee meetings start at 7 this evening, with the regular Council meeting at 7:30.