On June 28th, the Stevensville Town Council of two unanimously approved the appointment of Sydney Allen to fill the Ward 2 vacancy created by the resignation of Patrick Shourd. Allen was the only applicant. She had previously applied when Bob Michalson resigned last December, but Shourd was chosen at that time. Council members Paul Ludington and Jaime Devlin made the decision this time. Allen was immediately sworn in and took a seat at the table.
The council also considered the Ward 2 vacancy created by the resignation of Dempsey Vick. There were two applicants, former mayor Jim Crews (who also previously served on the council), and Sue Devlin, the mother of council member Jaime Devlin. Jaime Devlin excused herself and left the room for the deliberation.
Ludington said that he didn’t think either applicant was a viable candidate. He said to appoint Devlin would be inappropriate and added, “There isn’t anything on the planet that would allow me to appoint Mr. Crews.” Later he said that he didn’t believe that Crews had anything to offer “other than obstruction.”
The council of two, this time Ludington and Allen, voted unanimously to re-advertise the position for an additional two weeks.
With Devlin back in the room, the council of three voted unanimously, on the advice of the Town’s attorney, to hire an investigator at $200 per hour to look into the matter of the mayor’s claim for legal fees incurred from his case against Leanna Rodabaugh during last year’s recall attempt. The Town originally paid the claim but the mayor subsequently paid the money back to the Town.
Jim Crews says
The town did not pay the claim, Dewey had the check written to pay the claim and the claim never came before council and still has not come before council. Fact is a freedom of information request has been submitted and remains unanswered by the town showing the original invoice the both sides of the cancelled check. You see, Dewey engaged the attorney without consent of the Town Council for his private purpose. It was his bill, not the towns. Why should we pay his legal bills when he created the bill for himself. Maybe I can get a $12,020.20 load for a while without anyone knowing about it.
Ludington denied the Citizens of Ward 2 a representative that would have looked after their interests. He claims obstruction, the truth is I would have worked hard to make the mayor and the council abide by the laws of the town and state. In fact, he voted after being told that he was breaking the law to authorize mayor Dewey sole signature authority on the town’s check book which is against town law and the claims must be reviewed by the town’s financial officer before being presented to the council Devlin and Ludington voted to approved this and they were also told that seating Sydney Allen on the council without her oath being filed with the County Elections Administrator, and allowing her to start voting is against the law. They did not care despite being advised of the laws. You see, that is the kind of obstruction I would have caused. I would have made them obey the laws. Now that the council freely breaks the law, why should any of the Citizens of the town obey the law, they darn sure not.
I cannot help but notice Victoria Howell did not report these little issues, and she was right there listening.