More than two months after the final implosion at the Avon Lake Power Plant, a group of neighbors is bringing their concerns over the demolition to court.
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Tuesday, Avon Lake Mayor Mark Spaetzel appeared for a hearing in Lorain County Probate Court. It was his first appearance since a group filed a lawsuit calling for his removal from office.
The so-called “Ohio Citizens for Honesty Integrity and Openness in Government Ltd.” presented their allegations during a city council meeting on February 24.
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The 31-page lawsuit alleges the mayor violated city ordinance and his duty to serve Avon Lake residents when he did not delay the planned implosions at the former Avon Lake Power Plant. A small blast in July and a larger implosion in December had sparked concerns over the potential health and environmental consequences.
Spaetzel has previously called the claims “false and baseless.”
Tuesday’s hearing did not address the allegations, but turned into procedural sparring over venue, representation and statutes.
“This is a chicken and an egg kind of situation,” Lorain County Probate Judge James Walther said during the hearing.
He explained it was the first case of its kind he had presided over in his position and the statute giving Ohio probate courts authority over removal from office cases was written in 1871.
Walther raised questions about the role of Gerald Phillips, the attorney who filed the lawsuit and presented himself as representation for the seven other plaintiffs in the case. The judge said the statute calls for the city law director to prosecute such cases.
Phillips filed a motion to disqualify Avon Lake Law Director Gary Ebert from the case because he was appointed by the mayor and may have a conflict of interest in the case. He also asked to disqualify Spaetzel’s attorney Kevin Butler because of his ties to the city.
Ebert and Butler argued their representation and any conflicts are irrelevant because the case should not be in probate court at all. Both said Avon Lake’s city charter already outlines a procedure to remove a mayor. It requires city council members to vote on removal or a referendum by residents.
“It’s a baseless case. There’s no conflict of interest when we all agree that a case should be dismissed and that’s what’s happened here,” Butler told News 5 Tuesday.
Phillips countered, “The mayor and the law director may say, ‘There’s no facts, it’s baseless, it’s false.’ Well, the implosions went [forward]. They should’ve been stopped.”
Judge Walthers did not rule on the motions presented Tuesday. He set a tentative trial date for March 14, but told the court he would make several decisions before then.
By Monday, he plans to issue rulings whether to disqualify any of the attorneys and will decide whether to dismiss the case entirely.
Phillips said his group would appeal a dismissal.
