The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Board hires 2 officials
Former clerk and treasurer to hold positions until special election in August
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 15, 2007
As a result of what election officials are calling an unusual oversight, London Township finds itself without a clerk and treasurer. But at a special meeting Saturday afternoon, the board voted to hire former Clerk Lewis Irby Jr. and former Treasurer Charles Stoll as employees to continue carrying out most of the duties of the offices until a special election can be held in August.
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Irby and Stoll were first appointed to the posts last May following a recall election, at which point they were administered the oath of office. But after they were elected in an August special election, the board failed to swear in the pair a second time before a Jan. 1 deadline.
That oversight has led to a complicated –– and possibly costly –– state of affairs.
When the Jan. 1 deadline passed, state election officials deemed the two offices vacated. The board then had 45 days in which it could have appointed Irby and Stoll as clerk and treasurer, but it missed that deadline, too, forcing the need for a special election in August.
The election will be held Aug. 7, according to Monroe County Clerk Geri Allen, who said the cost of the election would be passed on to the township.
In the interim, the board voted Saturday to hire Irby and Stoll to fulfill the responsibilities of the positions to which they were elected in August.
"We'll maintain these positions until the election at our current salaries," Irby said. "I'll be here in the same capacity."
Irby and Stoll, however, will not have a vote on the board, which now consists of Supervisor David Beck and trustees LeRoy Zieske and Anthony Eaddy.
As no longer township officials, neither Irby nor Stoll is authorized to sign township checks, but Irby said the township was consulting with its attorney about whether the two might be bonded to facilitate some duties. Irby will coordinate the August and November elections.
Irby said the whole affair has been frustrating.
"It's tying my hands," he said. "I just want to do my job."
Irby said the oversight of not swearing in the clerk and treasurer was unintentional. Both he and Stoll believed they had already taken their oaths of office when they were appointed, he said.
"We volunteered hoping to effect change in the township," Irby said, but he admitted it would prove difficult as long as some residents persisted in putting up road blocks.
"It's like putting speed bumps on US-23," he said.
The oath of office oversight is the latest point of controversy after years of political turmoil in the township.
Irby and Stoll came into office on the crest of a successful recall wave last May against former Clerk Larry Lee and Treasurer Lynn Davidson. Former Supervisor Kris Neuvirth, who served the township for seven years, was recalled only three months earlier.
The recalls of Lee and Davidson, both of which were by extremely tight margins (20 votes for Lee and 13 for Davidson), signaled an overhaul of township officials and demarked a division in the township.
On the same day township residents recalled Lee and Davidson, they elected Supervisor David Beck, who had served as interim supervisor after Neuvirth was recalled.
Irby said the division still smoldering in the township hinders forward movement.
"Who wins with something like this?" Irby said. "No one."
Despite his frustration, Irby said he intended to run again for the clerk's position in August.
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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