On Monday evening, June 7, the Knox County Republican Party had a chance to speak out against dishonest and corrupt government. It didn’t, but instead embraced it.
The Knox County Republican Party had a chance to take a stand against dishonesty and corruption in government. It didn’t, but instead embraced it by voting for Tanner Salyers to be our next county recorder. To be clear, Mr. Salyers did not do anything illegal himself; but he did condone the dishonest and corrupt conduct of the Mount Vernon Safety-Service Director, Rick Dzik.
It was just about 30 days ago that Dzik purposely changed the voting order of Mount Vernon City Council to intentionally manipulate the legislative process and final vote on two critical pieces of pending legislation. Despite this abuse of his position and public office, Mayor Matt Starr somehow rationalized that what Dzik did was not “a fireable offense” and suspended Dzik. Tanner Salyers suggested that such behavior was acceptable when he referred to Dzik’s conduct as a “small thing” and “small potatoes”; supported Mayor Starr’s decision to only suspend Dzik; and stated he is “willing for it to be water under the bridge”, gone and forgotten.
It’s done. The suspension is over. Let’s move on. So, apparently, say the Mayor and at least one member of City Council. No! It’s not that easy, and it’s not right. In one sad act, Safety-Service Director Rick Dzik threw “Honesty”, “Integrity” and “Character” out the window when, on May 10, 2021, he purposely manipulated the voting order on two major and controversial pieces of legislation being considered by City Council. Mayor Matt Starr called Dzik’s action “poor judgment”. Councilman Tanner Salyers said it was “a small thing” and “small potatoes”. Such comments raise concerns that are almost as troubling as Dzik’s conduct.
Poor judgment is a term used when children make bad choices, or adults make mistakes. Rick Dzik is not a child, and he did not make a mistake. He made a conscious and deliberate decision to cheat to try and ensure passage of legislation being considered by City Council. Dzik didn’t just change the voting order. As council member Samantha Scoles stated, “there is only one reason to request the order be changed, and that was to manipulate the vote on not one, but two, critical pieces of legislation.” Safety-Service Director Dzik used and abused his government position and authority to violate one of the most sacred tenants of our democracy, that our voting process be honest, fair and free from outside influence and interference. Despite this unconscionable conduct, Mayor Starr determined, “no law was broken”, that what Dzik did wasn’t “a fireable offense”. If the abuse of public office and manipulating the vote on pending legislation before City Council is not a violation of the law, it should be. It certainly violates the spirit of the law. If it isn’t a “fireable offense”, then what is? The fact that the Mayor and Councilman Salyers don’t seem to appreciate or are unwilling to acknowledge the dishonesty and seriousness of Dzik’s action is disconcerting. When honor, personal integrity and character are not demanded from those who are entrusted to lead; if arrogance, abuse of authority and cheating is tolerated, if not condoned, then we have a problem that goes far beyond the Safety-Service Director.
- On Monday night at the City Council meeting, two very controversial and financially expensive pieces of legislation were up for vote. One was to bring the College Twp Fire Station in Gambier under the control of the Mount Vernon Fire Dept. The second was the hiring of a Social Worker to work out of the MV Police Dept.
- After 2 weeks of discussion, it appeared that at least 3 of the 7 council members were leaning to vote ‘no’ on both ordinances. Julia Warga, At-Large Councilwoman, felt or was told that because of her employment status at Kenyon College (Kenyon contributes funds to help subsidize the Gambier fire station) she should abstain from voting for the legislation. Because Ms. Warga did not vote, the vote tabulation for this Resolution was tied 3 to 3 with the President of the Council, Bruce Hawkins breaking the tie with a ‘yes’ vote allowing for the passage.
- The second legislation was again the controversial hiring of a $100,000 (including benefits) a year salaried Social Worker who will work in the Police Dept and be paid from the ½% income tax levy funds that only 51.5% of the voters approved in 2017. To be fair a large portion of the salary expense was to be subsidized by an Area Development Foundation grant for the first two years. After that the voters are on the hook to pay. This legislation was passed by a margin of 4 to 3. Those members who want to add this additional position are Tanner Salyers, Mike Hillier, Janis Seavolt and Julia Warga.
- The story does not end there. City council roll call vote is called in an alphabetical order 1 thru 7; Francis - Woods. Each meeting starts with the last person on the list from the previous meeting moved to the top of the list; example, this meeting should have been Woods - Warga(7,1,2,3,4,5,6) then the next meeting would be Warga - Seavolt(6,7,1,2,3,4,5) and so on. This procedure keeps from having the same member starting the vote each time. Mr. Dzik knew that 3 members would vote ‘no’ on his ‘pet project’ with one or two on the fence. Those ‘no’ votes would have certainly happened early in the customary vote roll call order. Mr. Dzik told the Clerk to mix up the vote order to the following preset; 3,5,4,2,6,7,1 to affect how the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ votes were heard knowing that the easiest way to guarantee adoption was to make sure that a specific council member did not have the chance to follow too many “no” votes that could influence that council member's decision. Four votes are needed to approve the legislation.
- This unprecedented move is at least unethical tampering with the legislative process and possibly comparable to tampering with a jury in a civil court case.
- Mayor Matt Starr said that this manipulative move is not a serious offense. What do you think? Should Matt Starr fire Rick Dzik for this blatant tampering with the roll call vote? If the mayor does not take action, should the mayor be recalled. Mount Vernon residents should demand better from its Mayor.
- Only the Mayor has the ability to hire and fire the Safety-Service Director. Mayor Starr hired Mr. Dzik, Mayor Starr can fire. If you feel Mr. Dzik must go, call the Mayor’s office and voice your opinion. Office Telephone: (740) 393-9517.
According to the MV city administration, a newly proposed social worker position will be created within the Police Department with the approval action of City Council. Police Chief Morgan knows of 3 other cities in KY and Ohio and talked to one that has tried adding social workers to aid in police calls in the community. Not a large sampling to discuss.
Why do we need a Social Worker in the MV Police Department? Has a problem been clearly defined? What is the problem? What specific benefits will be derived by hiring additional non-police personnel? What plan has been given to City Council by the administration and MVPD concerning how the legislation will be carried out and how the "social worker" will be used? Specifically, what calls, in what circumstances and in what time frame will the "social worker" respond to calls received by the police? How and in what manner will the "social worker" provide timely assistance to police at the scene?