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Delta administrator abruptly fired after vote of council

Andy Glenn says the action was the result of council members' personal agendas; a council member says the move was in best interest of village.

DELTA, Ohio — The village of Delta abruptly fired Administrator Andy Glenn at the start of Monday evening’s village council meeting, with no obvious reason for the dismissal.

An executive session was called and Glenn’s employment was discussed without his involvement in the meeting. After the session, a vote was immediately called. The vote was 6-0 to dismiss Glenn, with council member Ashley Todd abstaining.

Council member Robert Shirer would not say if there was a single event or a collection of events that led to the decision. He added the decision was possible because Glenn is an “at-will” employee.

“The decision was made with the best interest of the village in mind,” Shirer said. “We thought it was best for all involved to part ways.”

When reached for comment, Glenn said he had no idea of council’s plans and that they did not allow him to address any of their concerns. He said his final day in office was Monday but that he will be paid for the next 90 days.

He provided the following statement Tuesday:

"While I was completely blindsided by the actions of council Monday night, as I started piecing together different events from the past couple weeks, the forming of this perfect storm started becoming very clear.

Last week I had a conversation with Robert Shirer, who led this attack on me last night, about his wife violating section 709 of the Delta Codified Ordinance by parking her coffee truck in the public park, on public streets, and within 500 feet of school property. I told Mr. Shirer how I was not comfortable ignoring this as it would be seen as clear favoritism because of his position on council. At the time of our discussion, Robert appeared to be understanding of my concerns, but clearly that was not the case.

Also just last week, I had a verbal discussion with a village employee, who is married to (council member) Daphne Demaline, about his negative attitude and the fact that it needed to be corrected, which apparently Mrs. Demaline did not like because until last night, we have never had a negative interaction.

And what I believe was the third strike against me was a conversation I had with (council member) Chad Johnson two weeks ago. Mr. Johnson admitted to me that his main opposition to eliminating the Pre-94 tax abatement was that he took advantage of it when he built his house in Delta, and that this was the only reason he built in Delta. Mr. Johnson said that this, and the fact that he moved his photography studio out of Delta and into Swanton would make him look like a hypocrite if he supported eliminating the Pre-94 CRA and would ruin any chance he had at becoming mayor one day.

I can only apologize to the residents of the Village of Delta that they are run by a council that is only concerned about furthering their own personal agendas, not doing what is best for the residents. I had no idea how deep the corruption was in the Village when I began trying to clean it up. I am glad that I at least was able to get the attention of the State Auditor’s office, as I am confident they will leave no stone unturned… which is what I am convinced that (council members) Lynn Frank and Tony Dawson are the most concerned about.”

When asked about the allegation about him in Glenn’s statement, Shirer first asked if Glenn provided any documentation of the conversation. When told that he had not, Shirer responded: “This never happened. That is my statement about that.” He then later called back to provide correspondence with former Administrator Brad Peebles. 

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An email from Peebles to Shirer’s wife said, “You have every right to park in the public parking spaces along Main Street as we have discussed.” That message was then relayed to a resident who had complained in a letter; Glenn was cc:’d on that email.

Demaline laughed when read Glenn's statement: "This is the first I am hearing about any interaction," she said. "I always thought he liked my husband."

She echoed Shirer's explanation for the firing: "We simply felt it was best for both parties to part ways and move on." She also would not point to any event or events that prompted council's action.

11 Investigates left a phone message for Johnson. It had not been returned as of late Tuesday afternoon.

Glenn was hired in May 2023. He is also a longtime Springfield Township trustee.

Last week, Glenn was involved in the resignation of Police Chief Robert Austin. 11 Investigates brought Glenn documents indicating that Austin was married to two women at the same time in 2014, when he was with the Sylvania Township police department. Austin resigned when confronted with the evidence.

READ MORE: Delta police chief resigns after 11 Investigates discovers he was married to two women at the same time

Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification is investigating Austin’s actions, according to emails obtained by 11 Investigates.

As far as Glenn’s mention of the Auditor’s office in his statement, he said he turned documents over to investigators that he said involved questionable activities of previous administrations.

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