New Concord Mayor Jennifer Lyle stays in office amid calls for resignation
NEW CONCORD, Ohio – Conflicts between New Concord Mayor Jennifer Lyle and the village council has led to calls for her resignation by several members of the council.
The council passed their second vote of no confidence at their Sept. 8 meeting and four council members have sent Lyle emails requesting her resignation based on what they described as lack of transparency, poor treatment of village staff, and hiding efforts to secure funding for a private entity.
When these concerns were brought up during Monday night’s meeting, Lyle left the meeting early saying she has been repeatedly blindsided and attacked by the council during their meetings when they can come to her directly. Village Council President Robert Dickson ran the rest of the meeting where all four members who wrote emails read them aloud.
“It takes a team to run any organization. We certainly do not act as a team. I for one do not take your words as being truthful until I can verify the information,” said Stan Taylor, one of the four village councilman who read their email. “For the good of our community and our employees, I am asking for your resignation as mayor. This community cannot survive another two years with you as mayor.”
Dickson said that her emailed response to their request was that she will not resign as she still had work to do for the village and that their concerns were unfounded. Dickson was not comfortable reading her email aloud during the meeting on her behalf after she had left the meeting.
“But the fact that she left tonight without responding and the fact that, I believe that she has no intention of resigning but she had no intentions of addressing any of these issues this evening and this was her way to avoid that,” Dickson said.
Lyle won her first term in the 2019 election and won her second term unopposed in 2023 with the term ending Dec. 31, 2027. WHIZ reached out to Lyle who issued the following statement.
“I take my responsibilities and integrity as mayor very seriously. I was elected twice to serve this community and I remain committed to helping New Concord thrive. Our residents deserve leaders who can deliberate, disagree, and still work together on their behalf. At the end of the day, the people of New Concord are counting on us. That’s where I intend to keep my focus,” Lyle said.
The following documents are the emails sent from councilmen Dickson, Taylor, Levi Shegog, and Jim Whitehair all sent on Sept. 11. These documents are also accompanied by Lyles response which was sent on Sept. 22.
