State ex rel. Layshock v. Moorehead

923 N.E.2d 210, 185 Ohio App. 3d 94
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 13, 2009
DocketNo. 2009-T-0076
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 923 N.E.2d 210 (State ex rel. Layshock v. Moorehead) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Layshock v. Moorehead, 923 N.E.2d 210, 185 Ohio App. 3d 94 (Ohio Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} This quo warranto action is presently before this court for final disposition on the merits, based upon the parties’ competing summary-judgment motions and their partial stipulations of fact. Upon reviewing the parties’ legal arguments and various evidentiary materials, we hold that relator, Patrick D. Lay-shock, has established that he is entitled to continue to hold the position of mayor of the city of Newton Falls, Ohio. Therefore, the issuance of a writ of quo warranto is justified to enjoin respondent, Thomas Moorehead, from attempting to exercise the powers of that public office.

{¶ 2} As of July 1, 2009, relator was serving the city of Newton Falls as its duly elected mayor. As a municipal official, relator’s various responsibilities are delineated under Article II of the Newrton Falls Home Rule Charter. Included in those obligations was the duty to preside over meetings of the city council. In addition to also setting forth the mayor’s qualifications, salary, and the manner of his election, Article II provides for the procedure that must be followed when the mayor is absent or disabled, or when he has vacated the position.

[96]*96{¶ 3} On July 6, 2009, a regularly scheduled meeting of the Newton Falls City Council was held. At the outset of this meeting, relator was present and presided over the proceedings. However, at one juncture, respondent, as the council’s vice president, raised a question concerning whether disciplinary action should be taken against relator for certain actions he had previously taken. At that point, relator handed his gavel to the president of city council, thereby relinquishing control over the meeting. He then left the council table and sat in the area of the room that was reserved for the public.

{¶ 4} As part of the usual procedure during regularly scheduled meetings of the Newton Falls City Council, the public is given the opportunity to address the members of council. At that moment of the July 6, 2009 meeting, relator stepped to the podium and announced that he was resigning his position as mayor, effective August 1, 2009. After completing this statement, he excused himself for the evening and immediately left the meeting, despite the fact that the members of council had not adjourned at the meeting.

{¶ 5} Respondent presided over the remainder of that particular meeting. Once it had ended, the city council went into executive session. While discussing the events of the “regular” meeting, respondent stated that in his opinion, the office of mayor had already become vacant. The council members then asked the city law director a series of questions regarding the possible legal effect of relator’s actions. Based upon the law director’s answers, the members instructed him to inform the county board of elections of the resignation. However, they adjourned the executive session without taking any further actions in regard to accepting the resignation.

{¶ 6} On the morning of July 7, 2009, only one day after the foregoing meeting, respondent contacted Kathleen King, the city clerk for Newton Falls, and instructed her to schedule an emergency meeting of city council for Wednesday, July 8, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. Respondent also told King that the emergency meeting would pertain to the “comments” relator had made during the last council meeting. Consistent with Section 8, Article III of the city charter, King prepared a notice of the proposed meeting and an agenda. She then sent copies of the two documents to each member of city council and to relator. According to King, she completed the basic process of mailing the notices of the emergency meeting by 12:00 p.m. on July 7, 2009.

{¶ 7} Only four minutes after 12:00 p.m. on that same date, relator walked into King’s office and handed her a written correspondence. In this letter, he expressly stated that after due consideration, he had decided to rescind his prior resignation and continue his term as city mayor. In giving her the letter, relator did not give King any oral instructions concerning how she should process the document. Nevertheless, the letter was specifically addressed to King and [97]*97contained the following request: “Please make sure that all of council receives a copy of this letter.”

{¶ 8} Once relator had left King’s office, she observed that she had made a mistake in the original notice she had just sent regarding the emergency meeting for July 8, 2009. As a result, she immediately corrected the problem and sent new notices to all concerned parties. This correction process was finished by approximately 1:30 p.m. on July 7, 2009. However, in providing these corrected notices to the members of city council, King did not refer to, or include a copy of, relator’s rescission letter. In fact, she did not officially mail copies of the July 7, 2009 letter to the members until Friday, July 10, 2009, when she included it as part of the packet for the council meeting after the emergency meeting.

{¶ 9} On the morning of the emergency meeting of July 8, 2009, relator gave a second written correspondence to King. The purpose of this second letter was to clarify a statement in his first letter as to when the rescission of the resignation was to take effect; i.e., the second letter indicated that he intended to resume his obligations as mayor immediately, not on August 1, 2009.

{¶ 10} Like his first correspondence to King, relator’s second letter asked her to again provide copies of the letter to all council members. Although King did ultimately send the requested copies on Friday, July 10, 2009, the council members did not receive actual notice of either letter prior to the emergency meeting.

{¶ 11} At the outset of the emergency meeting, relator tried to take his seat at the city council table. However, respondent immediately informed him that he would not be permitted to preside over the meeting because the council members had concluded that he was no longer the city’s sitting mayor. According to respondent, he and his fellow members had determined that the office of mayor had become vacant once relator had left the July 6, 2009 meeting without the permission of council.

{¶ 12} In presiding over the emergency meeting, respondent first moved the city council to consider a new resolution under which relator’s resignation as mayor would be accepted. As part of the ensuing discussion, respondent stated that in his opinion, a potential conflict of interest existed because, in addition to serving as the Newton Falls mayor, relator was also a sitting member of the Trumbull County 9-1-1 Board. Based upon this, respondent maintained that the resignation should be accepted as a means of protecting the citizens of Newton Falls.

{¶ 13} After respondent had ended his comments on the proposed resolution, the five members of city council voted unanimously to accept relator’s prior resignation as mayor. As a direct result of this vote, respondent was designated [98]*98as the “acting” mayor of Newton Falls, pursuant to Section 5, Article II of the city charter. Nevertheless, even though he began to perform the various duties associated with the office of mayor, he never took a separate oath in regard to that office and also retained his seat on the city council.

{¶ 14} Within two weeks of the enactment of the “resignation” resolution, relator brought the instant action for a writ of quo warranto. As the grounds for his sole claim, relator maintained that by assuming the duties of city mayor, respondent had unlawfully usurped that office.

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Related

State ex rel. Layshock v. Moorehead
125 Ohio St. 3d 1459 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
923 N.E.2d 210, 185 Ohio App. 3d 94, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-layshock-v-moorehead-ohioctapp-2009.