SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP, ALLEN COUNTY, Ohio (WLIO) - Shawnee Township residents gathered Monday evening as a private, closed-to-the-public pre-disciplinary hearing began for Fire Chief Austin Miller.
Community members lined the area outside the Shawnee Township Administration Building and Police Department while the hearing took place inside. None of the current Shawnee Township trustees were present, though their attorney attended on their behalf.
Miller, who appeared publicly Monday night, has been on paid administrative leave since May 30. According to his public file, he faces a Group 2 infraction for the alleged misuse of a township-owned vehicle controlled by a department head. Outside the building, Your News Now spoke with the two incoming Shawnee Township trustee-elects to get their reaction to the day's proceedings.
"Paul Neff and myself, along with community residents, are here just showing our support for Chief Miller. Our thoughts, going into this, was that the current administration would hold until come January 1 to where we would be able to get the information, get the facts, and then from there, make the decision on where to go with Chief Miller and hopefully bring him back into Shawnee Township as our chief," says Kenny Gross, Shawnee Township Trustee Elect.
"The community and all of us have got questions about what is the reason, so with this hearing, we're hoping to find out. We're going to be taking over the first of the year, and we'd like to know what we're dealing with and who's going to be chief and what the results are. It's affecting not only Austin Miller's family but the community and the morale at the firehouse, so we'd like to just get the new direction and move forward," says Paul Neff, Shawnee Township Trustee Elect.
Many of the residents who showed up expressed support for Miller. One resident shared his thoughts with us.
"I just recently retired from the fire department after 26 years. To me, it seems like a big difference of opinion. Chief Miller is not their 'yes man,' and they're taking it to heart. I was part of their investigation with their attorney, and the last person was interviewed back in July and here it is at the end of November, and they're just now calling the pre-disciplinary hearing. Kind of doing it all here at the end, sounds like they got an axe to grind to me. It's not right. The right thing to do is to postpone it, let the new trustees look over the information and make the best decision that they feel for the residents, along with Joe Recker who's going to be along with them," says Ryan Schott who spoke in support for Shawnee Fire Chief Austin Miller.
On Monday night, the Shawnee Township Firefighters Local 2550 union posted a statement on Facebook regarding the pre-disciplinary hearing, saying, “I-A-F-F Local 2550 calls on the outgoing trustees to table any disciplinary action until after the first of the year... The incoming trustees should be given the opportunity to review the evidence with fresh eyes and make the determination themselves, as they will be the ones responsible for the future of the department.”
