Friday, August 13, 1999
Mayor threatens to pull critic off committee
Villa Hills official says remarks unfair
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
VILLA HILLS — Mayor Steve Clark has told an outspoken critic of his policies to quell some of his comments or risk being kicked off the city's historical committee.
Mr. Clark said he threatened to kick resident Steve DeVoto off the committee because Mr. DeVoto has unfairly criticized a photographer hired by the city council to take pictures of city-sponsored events and provide photographs for a book on the history of Villa Hills.
“I am asking as the mayor that you refrain from this type of divisive behavior,” Mr. Clark wrote in a recent letter to Mr. DeVoto.
“If you fail to do so, I will be forced to remove you from the committee you currently serve on. Volunteers and paid or contractual employees are not political targets at will,” the mayor said in the letter.
"He's a bully'
But Mr. DeVoto and at least one member of council think the mayor is trying to silence a critic of how he has handled the city's budget and his performance since he took office in January.
“He's a bully,” Mr. DeVoto said of the mayor. “What right does he have to pull me off the committee because of things I've said or written in letters?
“I have rights under the First Amendment, and I don't need (Mr. Clark's) approval or anything else to exercise those rights,” he said Thursday.
Councilman Mike Sadouskas said he has told Mr. Clark that threatening to pull Mr. DeVoto off the committee “was not the right way to handle the situation.”
“It wasn't wise for the mayor in his official capacity to ask a citizen to stop exercising their public rights,” Mr. Sadouskas said Thursday.
“It looks like (Mr. Clark) doesn't want to take criticism. But as public officials we have to accept that.”
Political battle
The dispute underscores a political battle that has been brewing in this largely residential city of about 7,700 since last year, when Mr. Clark, a newcomer to Northern Kentucky politics, beat longtime incumbent Mayor Denny Stein in what most local political observers considered an upset.
Mr. DeVoto and Mr. Sadouskas, as well as some other members of council, were political allies of Mr. Stein and have sparred with Mr. Clark since he took office.
Mr. DeVoto has been particularly critical of the city money Mr. Clark has spent and the way he has handled the city's budget. He has written letters published by community newspapers expressing his feelings.
“The whole basis of my letters have been to attack and criticize the deficit spending the mayor is getting us into,” said Mr. DeVoto, a financial planner and tax expert.
“I'm questioning the money, not attacking the person. But he's trying to silence me,” he said.
Mr. Clark said he is not heading the city toward a budget deficit. And he said he can take criticism from Mr. DeVoto or anybody else.
“(Mr. DeVoto) has the right to his opinions, and he can say anything he wants about the mayor or a council person. It's no big deal. People are allowed not to like me or what I do,” Mr. Clark said.
But the mayor said he decided to take action against Mr. DeVoto after he referenced a photographer the city hired in one of his letters.
“When he starts attacking a contractual or paid employee of the city, I find that reprehensible, and I will put a stop to it in one form or another,” Mr. Clark said.
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