Herbst and the city’s law director, Jerry McDonald, both declined to comment Wednesday night on the details of the issue. Then the city released a statement Thursday afternoon.
“On June 5, 2024, City Council discussed potentially removing the city manager primarily due to ongoing general concerns relating to management style, communication, and direction,” the statement reads. “There was no single specific item that lead to the discussion for change. Prior to a vote on the matter, Mr. Wendt tendered his resignation pending the execution of a separation agreement.”
Wednesday’s council agenda said the closed part of the meeting was to discuss action about a public employee or official, but did not specify who or why. Nevertheless, residents and others attending the meeting knew Wendt was the subject of conversation. Prior to entering executive session, council members heard from more than a dozen attendees over the course of an hour-long public comment segment.
Wendt was in his usual spot on the dais for the early, public part of the meeting, including while speakers were talking about him. He was not there at the end, when Herbst announced the outcome. In between, he declined comment when approached by the Dayton Daily News.
“Nobody knows why we’re here (for this meeting), just that there’s a concern from the council,” Liz Cicchetti said during the public comment portion. “If Dan himself is not a good enough city manager for our council, my concern is who’s going to be ... for the next 15 or 20 years, are we just going to be on a hamster wheel and be here every three years questioning our city manager?”
There has been one especially high-profile issue in the city in 2024. The Vandalia-Butler school district sued the city in April, for what the school system alleged were years-long “breaches of revenue sharing related to tax-abated properties.”
That root issue began before Wendt was hired in 2021, but the lawsuit was only filed after months of recent discussions. The sides reached a settlement agreement in May that calls for the city to pay the schools $4.35 million.
City officials did not say that issue was the cause of the personnel change Wednesday night
The next currently scheduled City Council meeting is on June 17.
City Council meeting details
The private “executive session” parts of the meeting were split into two: an initial two-hour session among only the seven city council members, and a subsequent one-hour session during which Wendt addressed the council members.
A majority of the members of the public who addressed council expressed their support of the city’s top administrative official, highlighting Wendt’s efforts in his three-year tenure, such as his support of various city infrastructure projects, including new playground equipment at city parks and renovations at the Rec Center.
“My children are playing on playgrounds that aren’t going to cut them ... they can play outside and we have police who are surveying our neighborhoods, we have streets that are being cleaned when it snows,” said Cicchetti, who said she’s more concerned about a lack of transparency on City Council.
Amber Holloway, who was Vandalia’s assistant city manager under Wendt until December and is the current city manager of West Carrollton, also spoke Wednesday in support of her former boss.
“(Dan) has unparalleled energy (and) is one of the most charismatic and people-centric leaders that I’ve ever known,” said Holloway, who spent nine years with Vandalia, first as city planner, then assistant city manager for six years. “... When Dan came to the city in 2021, he really pushed us to think more strategically and to share a collective vision ... under his guidance, I feel that we were able to really move the needle in a way that we hadn’t before.”
Two of Wednesday’s speakers shared skepticism of Wendt’s time in office.
Resident Jack Froschauer said he felt Wendt did not support residents who opposed a 1 million square-foot warehouse/office complex proposed along Northwoods Boulevard in 2022. The project was ultimately abandoned months later prior to a council vote, with the developers citing concerns from residents.
“At the meetings for the planning group and subsequent meetings with the developers, there was no evidence that Dan was on our side,” Froschauer said. “... Dan got here and he didn’t familiarize himself with the neighborhoods and the city, and right away he wanted to make a big impression.”
Froschauer also expressed concern about the lawsuit between the city and the schools, saying the city failed to give residents an explanation of how the alleged breaches occurred.
“Nobody ever had any idea what happened. (City officials) just said, ‘Okay, we’ve got it taken care of and we only owe $5 million,’ ” he said. “... Somebody’s got to be accountable.”
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