Grafton Council approves separation agreement with former Village Administrator

Grafton has accepted a resignation agreement with former Village Administrator Joe Price, who agreed to resign after he spent several months on paid leave. Mayor Charles Duke placed Price on paid leave in April after numerous current and former village employees filed complaints against him with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and Ohio Ethics Commission. Village Council approved the agreement by a vote of 3-2 with no discussion during a meeting on Sept. 3, but, later in the meeting, members of the audience shouted from their seats at the Council members who voted in favor of the agreement. Council President Matthew Dukles, 1st Ward, Elizabeth Sauer, 2nd Ward, and Tim Strah, At-Large, voted in favor of the agreement. Lynette Kitts, 4th Ward, and Patrick McCort, 3rd Ward, voted against it. The agreement included compensation for Price in the amount of four months of his regular pay as well as the value of his accumulated vacation time. The agreement also included a statement on behalf of the village saying that Price had committed no actionable wrongdoing. Duke had opposed the resignation agreement, arguing that the city should instead terminate Price without any compensation. "They gave him the golden parachute and they gave him everything he wanted," Duke said. "And it was absolutely a disaster. The residents are so mad that they have ripped Council a new one. " Price argued in a Letter of Distress sent on Aug. 2 that he was owed over $23,000 in compensation time which the village was withholding from him. Despite Duke's opposition, it was his own Law Director R.J. Budway who had introduced the separation agreement to Council. "(Budway) drafted the agreement that was given to him by Joe Price's attorney," Duke said. "It wasn't something we came up with. It was something that Price's attorney came up with. ... We had to do something. We've gotta get rid of this idiot (Price)." Price questioned why Council had passed the measure, echoing the feelings of some in attendance at the meeting who stood and demanded, some shouting, to know why Dukles, Strah and Sauer had voted as they did. "(Price) got everything he wanted because I had three Council people that just seemed to want to do the Alibaba and bow down to this dude," Duke said. "And I don't understand it. I just don't understand why they, and, and the public just totally annihilated them and they really just bambled and bumbled around and couldn't come up with a good reason of why they did what they did." All three members of Council who voted in favor of the agreement explained their vote to some extent once asked by those at the meeting, who often shouted over one another. "I basically voted for this because it was a way to sever him (Price), with compensation as a corporation would do, and protect the village from a lawsuit," Councilman-At-Large Tim Strah said at the meeting. When a resident asked Dukles why he had supported the agreement, Dukles said that he agreed with Strah that it was best to cut ties with Price while paying him separation compensation to avoid a lawsuit. "And you think that's the best thing for the people of Grafton?" the resident asked. "It wasn't the best thing to suspend him with pay and get nothing for it," Dukles replied. Several attendees at the meeting said from off camera that Price should have been fired. "That's your opinion," Dukles said. A man who is also off screen, now yelling, says "That's everybody's opinion." "Oh really, I did not realize that," Dukles said, turning to Sauer. "The entire village of Grafton, right here!" There were just over 20 people in the audience, including Price himself, who argued with members of the public more than once about the allegations against him. Price did not return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday, but provided a statement via text message. "Grafton is in my rear view mirror as my journey carries on," Price said. "I choose to remember the good people of Grafton who still mean the world to me, together we accomplished much in a relatively short period of time. Nine years ago they welcomed me into their community with open arms and lovingly embraced and blessed me in many ways seen and unseen. I love them all in return and wish Grafton continued success." A number of current and former employees have filed complaints with the state that Price harassed or discriminated against them for a variety of reasons. Price has denied these accusations, but at least one discrimination lawsuit has been filed with the Lorain County Common Pleas Court. Price has been working for Painesville since Aug. 5. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.