BUCYRUS, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)–The Bucyrus City Council is grappling with critical legislative delays following the recent resignations of Council Clerk Pro-Tem Vicki Dishon and Council Clerk Miranda Wise.

Dishon resigned abruptly on Wednesday, leaving her position effective immediately, while Wise submitted her two-week notice, with her last day set for July 25th.

This turn of events leaves the Council without an active clerk during a pivotal time for local legislation.

Compounding the Council’s ongoing turmoil, at least two key pieces of proposed legislation are stalled due to extensive revisions and edits being demanded by Council members, including Aaron Sharrock, Clarissa Slater, and Vicki Dishon. Law Director Brandon Gobrecht and Zoning Director Mike O’Keefe indicated that recent requests for changes to the Avita legislation are largely stylistic in nature and do not alter the fundamental content of the proposed legislation.

One particular piece of legislation pertains to the construction of a new Orthopedic Clinic being built by Avita and requires rezoning.

Historically, Councilwoman Dishon has threatened to vote against legislation lacking her requested changes, further stalling the legislative process. Furthermore, the Council is addressing a critical initiative for funding the operation of Aumiller Pool, with plans to place a 0.065% income tax levy on the November ballot. The Finance Committee approved this proposal in May, but an imminent deadline loom—unless the legislation is declared an emergency, it must be read three times before the August 6 deadline to be included on the November ballot.

Attempts by Crawford County Now to reach Dishon for comment through her city email were unsuccessful. City Council President Kurt Fankhauser expressed his disappointment at Dishon’s abrupt resignation, stating:

“It is sad to see Mrs. Dishon resign from being the Pro Tem Council Clerk so abruptly right when Council needs her most since Clerk Wise’s recent announcement that she will be leaving Council in less than 2 weeks. I had high hopes that Mrs. Dishon would be a good pro-tem Clerk since she is always so picky with the legislation and minutes so that they are accurate. Council is facing serious challenges with keeping a long time Clerk hired over the last decade. We have several pieces of pending legislation that need immediate passage including the legislation for Avita’s proposed expansion and the Income Tax Ballot Levy for Aumiller Pool which is facing an upcoming deadline in August. The Council Clerk’s role needs to be filled ASAP and I am hopeful someone in Bucyrus is willing to apply, but with the constant nit-picking of the wording of minutes and legislation from Council Members themselves I fear we may have a hard time filling the position in a timely fashion,” Fankhauser said.

When asked for a comment, Law Director Brandon Gobrecht replied:

“Moving forward after Mrs. Dishon resigning from Clerk Pro-Tem, it will require a lot of teamwork. I believe the Pro-Tem signature responsibility will fall to the administrative assistant, but the actual duties of the Clerk will fall to the Council President as department head.

I cannot stress this enough: we need to come together as a team to get through this with as few problems as possible.”—Law Director Brandon Gobrecht.

Crawford County Now will continue to follow this developing news story.