Disillusioned and tired of the ‘dishonesty? and ‘spineless? actions of certain members of the Oxford Village government, Councilwoman Teri Stiles quietly tendered her resignation immediately following the Aug. 14 meeting.
‘I’m quitting because of the dishonesty on the council and in the administration,? said Stiles, who was appointed in March 2006. ‘I think they have some honesty issues to work out amongst council and I wish them luck. I would like to see council keep an eye on (Manager) Joe (Young) and administration practices.?
With the Sept. 11 village election less than a month away, Stiles immediately resigned by presenting village President George Del Vigna and Councilman Dave Bailey with handwritten letters she wrote during the meeting.
E-mail copies were sent to the rest of council and the village manager.
‘I’m disappointed,? Del Vigna said. ‘It was a shock. I think she’s been progressively doing a better job every month. I’ll miss her being on the council.?
Council will vote on whether to accept Stiles’s resignation Aug. 28.
‘If it was up to me, I would not accept it, but I’m not the sole person on the council,? Del Vigna said.
Who knew what and when
Stiles resigned following a lengthy discussion at the council meeting regarding Aug. 4 incident at 98 S. Glaspie St. during which Thomas Edward Smith, 51, organizer of the youth skating/biking/music event held there during Celebrate Oxford, was arrested after village police discovered approximately 40 grams of marijuana in his office and outside his tent.
It appears Smith had been camping on the village property for one or two days.
Stiles was upset because she believes certain village officials had information about Smith prior to the event, but didn’t inform anyone or do anything about it.
That information included Smith’s outstanding warrants for check fraud and driving with a suspended license, his July 15 detention at the U.S.-Canadian border and July 31 arrest by village police (both related to his warrants) and alleged improper activities/ordinance violations on the Glaspie St. property such as camping, building a fire and running around outside in his underwear.
‘There was plenty of time to stop (the event) had the council been notified,? said Stiles, who freely admitted knowing about the check fraud warrant prior to the event, but not about the other issues. ‘If I’d had known about the other stuff, I probably would have made a big issue of it.?
To make matters worse no one took really took any responsibility during the council meeting, in Stiles opinion.
‘Not one of them stood up and said, ‘I’m responsible for not telling council about this, and this and this,? she said. ‘They’re spineless in my mind.?
‘Everybody was negligent here, myself included,? Stiles noted.
Stiles felt like she was hung out to dry because she publicly admitted she knew about the warrant out of Bay County for Smith’s arrest as the result of a check fraud charge.
‘I’m the only one that stood up last night and said, ‘My bad,? she said. ‘They all sat there and let me hang for it.?
Apparently, the warrant was made known to certain village officials by resident and former council member Steve Allen in mid-July.
Allen and Smith had performed together at a blues festival in Canada July 14-15. Upon returning to this country, U.S. Customs officials detained them at the border for three hours and thoroughly searched Allen’s vehicle because of the warrant on Smith.
‘My car was seized and I was sat down in a waiting area, while Mr. Smith was picked up, and handcuffed and arrested on an outstanding warrant,? Allen told council during the Aug. 14 meeting.
Bay County authorities didn’t wish to come down and pick up Smith, so he was released, according to Allen.
Immediately following the border incident, Allen said he told Stiles, village President George Del Vigna, Manager Young and Police Chief Mike Neymanowski about Smith’s warrant.
‘Upon my return to Oxford, I shared that information with a number of you sitting at this table here,? Allen said. ‘It sent up a huge red flag for me. I thought you all needed to know.?
Only Del Vigna said he knew nothing about the check fraud warrant prior to the Aug. 4 event. The village president said Allen told him about the border incident following Smith’s arrest for the marijuana that was allegedly in his possession.
‘I talked to him when that fiasco was going on,? Del Vigna said. ‘And that’s when he told me about the border incident.?
However, Allen told this reporter he informed Del Vigna about the July 15 border incident at the village president’s house ‘within a week? of it happening.
Neymanowski said when Allen informed him about the incident at the border and Smith’s warrant, the chief advised him to take the information to council.
‘He did bring that to my attention one night we were out,? Neymanowski told council. ‘I told Steve please bring that to higher ups, which I believe he did.?
In hindsight, the chief said he wishes he would have handled it differently.
‘Looking back now I wish I would have e-mailed everybody, then we would have had something documented,? Neymanowski said.
Young admitted to this reporter Allen informed him about it.
‘Sure it was a concern, but was it enough to warrant taking further action, that was the whole question,? Young said. ‘We determined it wasn’t at this time.?
When asked to whom the ‘we? referred, Young replied, ‘The chief and I.?
But Neymanowski said he wasn’t involved in any discussions with Young or council members about Smith’s detainment at the border prior to the Aug. 4 event.
‘Joe’s (Young) confused a little bit,? the chief said. ‘The only discussion I had with Joe concerning Mr. Smith was at the time of his (July 31) arrest. Maybe he’s got it mixed up. Steve’s (Allen) the only one that brought it to my attention and I told Steve to pass it on. I didn’t have any contact with any of the council members or anybody else.?
Young said he did keep a close eye on Smith.
‘I kept watching, going over everyday to see what he was doing, what’s he spending, what’s he planning to do, questioning why, where, what and how,? he said. ‘I kept personally more involved (rather) than letting him go off and do his own thing.?
‘We had concerns from the very beginning before any of this happened because of his behavior,? said Young referring to things such as Smith’s claims that 5,000 people were expected at the event.
DPW Superintendent Don Brantley told this reporter he saw things like Smith’s tent and campfire ring on the Glaspie St. property. He even said he saw and heard about Smith walking around in his boxer-briefs.
‘I kind of suspected maybe he was staying there, but I didn’t have any concrete evidence,? he said.
Brantley regrets not coming forward and mentioning these things.
‘I’m probably just as guilty as everybody else because I didn’t really say a whole lot,? he said. ‘Joe (Young) was back there. Council members were back there and saw it.?
Brantley said he figured it was all going to be over with in a few days, so he wasn’t ‘going to make a huge issue out of it.?
‘To be honest, I have no idea why I didn’t put a kibosh to the tent and the fire ring,? he said. ‘Hindsight’s 20/20.?
Stiles steps up
Stiles said after Allen informed her about the border incident, she asked Smith about the oustanding warrant.
‘I knew about the check. I confronted Tom,? she said during the council meeting. ‘He explained to me (the bad check) was (from) an event that he promoted several years ago to a band that did not play.?
‘I didn’t see any red flag. I didn’t see (any reason) to pursue it any further,? Stiles explained. ‘Call me stupid. Call me naive. Call me whatever. I was enthusiastic about this event and I had trusted Tom.?
Looking back Stiles believes her tendency to look for the best in people adversely affected her judgement in this case.
‘I definitely try to see the best and I try to see in people what I expect people to see in me,? she said. ‘I guess council people need to be a little more jaded about their opinions than I have been. I’m jaded now.?
Stiles noted the alleged check fraud and Smith’s explanation didn’t give her any reason to doubt him because she judged him based on his work at Oxford Community Television Channel 19.
The two worked together at the TV studio for three months. Smith resigned from the station July 21 while Stiles quit Aug. 15.
‘He never gave me any indication, ever, that I should think he’s a bad person or that he’s capable of doing bad things,? Stiles said. ‘He was always right on with whatever he did, always right on time and always open and above aboard with everything he did. I didn’t have any reason to doubt his character.?
Stiles wished to make it clear that just because she knew Smith professionally doesn’t mean she pushed council to support him or his event.
‘He asked me what he needed to do to get a skate park at 98 Glaspie and I told him he needed to take it to council and present his idea and council would take it from there,? she explained. ‘I didn’t even make the motion to support this. I seconded it. I didn’t go to bat for him independently.?
Family and health more important
Stiles’s believes her service on council was also taking a toll on her family and health.
‘I was giving too much of myself to it because I do that in my life,? she said. ‘I wasn’t being fair to my family because I was bringing it home. I was bringing the council home and that’s not fair.?
‘I’m not going to risk my health and energy anymore. I’m done,? Stiles noted.
The election goes on
Even though Stiles has resigned, her name will still appear on the Sept. 11 village ballot, which contains five candidates for four council seats.
‘To the voters of the community, my apologies,? she said. ‘Don’t waste your vote on me because I’m not running.?
If Stiles were to be elected, she could decline to take the oath of office, according to Young, and council would then appoint someone to fill the vacant seat.
Council would not be required by law to appoint the next highest vote-getter in the five-person election.
Who gets the seat would be based on council’s ‘discretion,? Young said.