Athens City Code Director John Paszke was fired Monday after various disputes with Athens City Council and Athens administration.
If someone is hired to enforce code, it’s in his or her best interest to work closely with the people who write it.
Former Athens City Code Director John Paszke was fired at about 8:30 a.m. Monday in favor of finding a new code director who would work more closely with Athens City Council and the administration, Deputy Service-Safety Director Ron Lucas said.
“I know that we have, at this body, concerns with code enforcement,” Athens City Councilwoman Michele Papai, D-3rd Ward, said Monday night. “It comes up frequently.”
In 2014, Athens City Council disagreed with the code office while the city tested out a new garbage and rubbish law. The new section of the law banned all trash cans visible from the street. The law itself caused a riff between council and the administration, and at one time then-Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl vowed to veto it.
Though council members were the catalysts behind the update in the long-standing law, members voiced outrage at the way Wiehl ordered Paszke to conduct a hard sweep of enforcement.
In mid-October 2014, code enforcement officers under Paszke’s command doled out 400 warnings under the new law in less than a week.
The ordinance eventually passed with a 6-1 vote at the end of 2014, but it wasn’t without months of contention.
“Time to get different leadership in the code office,” Athens Mayor Steve Patterson said.
Lucas said the administration, headed by Patterson, wanted a code director who would be innovative.
“I think that’s what (Patterson's) looking for in the next code director, someone who has that ability to challenge the ordinances and say, ‘Well, if we rewrite this or we look at this a different way, we’ll be more successful in our interpretation,’ ” Lucas said.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="c21a45a0-c955-11e5-bd75-871b3539305a"}}
Patterson said that calls for a more hands-on approach.
“I think it’s important to have somebody who is directing code who knows that part of their role can be or should be looking at how we may need to amend code, overhaul parts of code that the code enforcement office oversees,” he said.
Monday’s sudden firing mirrors that of former Athens City Code Director Steve Pierson in June 2008.
When Wiehl was elected mayor in 2008, he replaced Pierson with Paszke by Nov. 21, 2008, according to Paszke’s personnel file.
“It’s probably very similar,” Lucas said. “It’s something that occurs when a new administration comes in.”
According to Paszke’s termination letter, Paszke “serves at the pleasure of the Mayor” and could have been terminated without cause.
Patterson, on the other hand, said the termination stemmed from citizen concern.
“I don’t think it’s a pattern,” Patterson said. “A lot of our citizens have been dissatisfied with how the code enforcement office has been (enforcing) code.”
The code office is run by Lucas, City Planner Paul Logue and Service-Safety Director Paula Horan-Moseley, Lucas said.
A job posting has not yet been listed, Lucas said.
Paszke was earning $25.71 an hour.
@emilybohatch
eb346012@ohio.edu
