MAD RIVER TWP. — An employee from the Mad River Township Fire and EMS Department is under investigation, but the board of trustees isn’t saying why.
A public notice said the meeting was “to consider designating a private citizen to investigate a public employee for possible discipline and prepare necessary charges.”
Immediately, the board went to executive session behind closed doors. The board’s president, Bob McClure, said it was to discuss a complaint against an employee.
When the board returned from executive session it designated a private attorney to handle the investigation.
The board did not take public comments.
After the meeting, McClure told News Center 7′s Molly Koweek that Mad River Township will pay for the investigation but he said he couldn’t say how much. He said the township received a complaint. However, he wouldn’t say who is under investigation or elaborate on the nature of the complaint.
The attorney the township designated, Lynnette Dinkler, would not reveal any information about the investigation to News Center 7.
This investigation comes after controversy in 2019, when a criminal investigation against a former Mad River Township Fire and EMS Department lieutenant detailed two sexual misconduct complaints against him by two female co-workers when he worked at the Bethel Township Fire Department.
He was fired. Then, the Mad River Township trustees launched an investigation into his hiring, which resulted in no administrative charges against the current chief, Tim Wendling, or then assistant chief, Jackie Ashworth. The decision led to the resignations of 12 experienced employees from the firehouse.