Ontonagon Village Council terminates manager’s employment, again

At a special meeting convened at the Ontonagon Fire Hall on April 7, the Ontonagon Village Council, after a contentious vote,  ended the employment of Joseph Erickson, village manager. This firing had begun in February when the council voted to end Erickson’s tenure as village manager, however this action was deemed as illegal because Erickson had not been afforded the opportunity to state a defense at a formal hearing. Erickson had subsequently been reinstated and then put on suspension pending said hearing.

Erickson was represented at Wednesday’s hearing by his attorney, Adrian Wolfe of Marquette.

Three individuals spoke during the period of public comment; Ted Baird, a local attorney praised Erickson  by saying he was “extremely meticulous and hard-working.” Local contractor, Norman Pestka related that as a result of the manager’s “sitting on his hands,” his personal integrity had been called into question when he and the manager had worked together on a village project. Pestka had been accused of the theft of village property and it was only after Erickson had informed the council of the confidential arrangement, that had been undertaken without the village council’s knowledge, that Pestka was cleared. Pestka charged that Erickson had “thrown me under the bus.”  Another damaging comment came from Don Kulis, who charged that inaction by Erickson had caused a 5-month delay in clearing the way for his home construction and he also charged that subsequent sewer connections to his home site were defective and he held the village and the manager responsible.

Erickson, who had the option of having the hearing conducted in a closed session or open to the public, had chosen the latter. Erickson, in his own defense, stated that his termination was a breach of contract and, after refuting several charges, added that he had no expectation that this hearing would result in his reinstatement. Erickson’s attorney now pointed out that the initial firing on Feb. 25 was illegal as a village ordinance requires that the manager can only be dismissed on at least 4 votes of the trustees. The Feb. 25 vote had been 3 to 2. Wolfe also stated that the reasons for Erickson’s termination did not, under Michigan law, constitute “just cause.”

Trustee Sarah Hopper stated that Erickson had done things without going through “proper channels.” At no time was Erickson charged with any wrongdoing to benefit himself.

Following this, Village President Tony Smydra made clear that at this point that Erickson was still a village employee and he called for a motion to either reinstate or end Erickson’s employment.

At this point, Erickson’s attorney interjected by stating that the council could choose to terminate Erickson “without cause.” Being dismissed without cause entitles the former manager to expanded severance benefits.

Hopper then made the motion to terminate Erickson’s employment, with cause, effective immediately. The vote was 4 to 3 with President Smydra voting in favor of termination.

Erickson’s attorney immediately challenged the vote stating that dismissal of the manager requires 4 votes by the trustees, and as President Smydra, by definition, is not a trustee, his vote didn’t count. Smydra then announced that the motion to fire Erickson had failed.

Immediately, Trustee Don Chastan offered a motion to terminate Erickson, but without cause.  This motion carried with four trustees voting in favor and two voting against the motion.

The meeting, which had lasted 1 hour and 25 minutes was adjourned without further issues.