Henning
CLAYTON — A capacity crowd attended the Feb. 20 meeting of Clayton city council over the controversy of council reversing its vote on the proposed 529 home Warner Village residential development on Sweet Potato Ridge Road on 183 acres.
Council voted against the development at its Jan. 16 meeting in front of a capacity crowd but voted to bring the ordinance back for reconsideration at its Feb. 6 meeting with virtually no citizens in attendance.
No notice was provided to the public regarding the reconsideration that took place on Feb. 6. This caused Councilman Ken Henning to accuse council of a lack of transparency and failed leadership.
Henning revisited his displeasure with how council was handling the issue at the Feb. 20 meeting.
The proposed development is bordered by residential properties in Englewood to the south and in Union to the north. Several Clayton and Englewood residents attended the Feb. 20 meeting.
Some attending the meeting spoke in favor of the development citing the need for more housing in the community. The vast majority spoke against the development or implored council to listen to residents’ concerns and do the right thing.
When all was said and done, council voted 4-3 to table the vote on the development until the next meeting due to the controversy. Councilman Brendan Bachman made the motion to table the ordinance until the March 6 meeting, a motion seconded by Tina Kelly.
Henning alleged that during the Jan. 16 meeting when council initially voted against the ordinance that City Manager Amanda Zimmerlin made an inappropriate comment suggesting that the developer could sue the city.
“This statement was reckless and unnecessary, potentially jeopardizing the well-being of Clayton,” Henning stated.
He also alleged that on Feb. 4, council received an email from Law Director Martina Dillon with instructions not to share the contents of that email. Henning alleged the email outlined the steps for reconsideration and also contained a pre-written script for how council members could reverse their previous decision. Henning claims four members of council followed that script word for word.
He alleged that when Councilwoman Tina Kelly made a motion to reconsider the ordinance at the Feb. 6 meeting she followed a prepared script.
“The only people who had prior knowledge of the reconsideration were council members and those with which they may have privately shared Martina’s email with — an act that would have been highly inappropriate given the attorney-client privilege,” Henning said.
He alleged that the reconsideration was orchestrated behind closed doors. Henning alleged the developer never requested a reconsideration to the council and that there are no emails, public records, or meeting discussions showing that council members collectively considered or requested a reconsideration hearing.
“Why was ‘potential reconsideration’ not listed on the agenda by the city manager? In my opinion, ‘leadership’ did not want the residents to know about this,” Henning said.
Henning pointed out that council employs the city manager.
“The city manager is not in charge—council is,” Henning stated. “But time and time again, she has demonstrated a disregard for our authority and a commitment we make to listen to councils’ boss – the residents.”
Henning also alleged that former Councilman Dennis Lieberman circulated an email to approximately 40 people filled with misleading statements and personal attacks against him.
Henning alleged the email included personal email addresses of council members, city staff, and Clayton commission members in an obvious attempt to avoid public records requests.
“Clayton deserves transparency,” Henning said. “Clayton deserves accountability. And I will not be silenced by those who seek to attack me for standing up for our residents.”
Reach Ron Nunnari at (937) 684-9124 or email Rnunnari@aimmediamidwest.com.
