RANDY McNUTT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON -- Looking toward the 19th-century downtown and the Golden Lamb Inn, the eye meets a Colonial-style brick building at the corner of Main Street and Broadway.
Lately, it is more than Lebanon's town hall. It is a battleground. Four of seven council members want to fire or discipline City Manager Richard Hayward, who has been on the job about 10 years. A vote could be taken as soon as April 14.
As a result, council members say, they have received threats, citizens are circulating council-recall petitions and neighbors have criticized neighbors.
"Lebanon is fracturing down the middle," said Councilman Michael Coyan, whose family has lived in town since 1796.
Mr. Hayward said he does not know whether he'll be fired, but he is gratified at the support he has received from the public.
"People are telling me to hang in there," he said. "Whatever the outcome, at least I know a lot of people appreciate what has been done in the community. It's nice to know that people care."
His council opponents say they don't dislike Mr. Hayward, but they think he has promoted projects -- a proposed city golf course and a cable television system -- that could put the city at risk financially. A related problem, Mr. Coyan said, is too much growth for the city of about 14,000 people.
"We have joined together to slow and control the rampant growth that's threatening to destroy Lebanon," Mr. Coyan said of his allies. "Richard has been more pro-growth, and the track record proves it. Some of that growth has been necessary, but by 1993 it had gotten out of proportion. That's one reason why I ran for council. And why Mayor (James) Mills ran. Our ideas bind us, not dislike for an individual. Simply, we share a philosophy of government. We believe government belongs to the people."
Mr. Hayward's supporters are veteran council members Amy Brewer, a teacher; Jackson Hedges, a Lebanon lawyer and a former mayor; and Gil Jarrard, a local school bus driver.
Those who have criticized the manager are Mary Ann Cole, a businesswoman; Mr. Coyan, an arts administrator and part-time college teacher; Mark Flick, a manufacturing company vice president; and Mayor James "Dick" Mills, retired from the Ohio Department of Transportation. Mr. Hayward received a favorable review in August, and instead of asking for more money, he asked for a three-year contract extension. Before Mr. Hayward's critics gained a 4-3 majority, council renewed the manager's contract through 2003. He earns $70,000 annually. "He is a quality individual who has done everything we have asked," Mr. Jarrard said.
After Mr. Flick's arrival in December, however, the balance shifted. He and some other council members questioned whether the $5 million telecommunications proposal was financially sound. On March 24, council tabled project financing until after voters consider the project in the November election. The project would create Lebanon's own cable television system.
Last week, Mr. Flick called for Mr. Hayward's firing, claiming the manager has not followed written and verbal instructions on the telecommunications project.
However, Ms. Brewer said Mr. Flick has "a personal vendetta" against the manager.
"It's a sad situation when one 90-day wonder can come in here and disrupt everything," Mr. Jarrard said of Mr. Flick.
Mr. Hayward does not say much about the situation, except that he has provided council with everything it needs and he is cordial to its members.
"If this thing wasn't happening in the spring, it would be in the summer," he said. "Mr. Flick has been looking for a reason (to fire me). They've got the votes. They can terminate me. At that point, I'll decide what to do."
By opposing the city manager, Mr. Coyan said, his integrity has been questioned and his family maligned.
"People don't understand what's happening," he said. "For the first time in 30 years, you have four council members who have no ties to banks, realty companies and developers. Yet we have been portrayed as a "gang of four,' and as people who don't know what we're doing."
