DUBOIS – A vote to terminate suspended City Manager John “Herm” Suplizio failed in a 2-2-1 vote during Monday night’s DuBois City Council meeting.
The vote follows a chaotic two weeks. Previously council had voted to begin buyout negotiations with Suplizio.
But, on Friday Clearfield County President Judge Fredric Ammerman granted a temporary injunction that halts it.
The legal action was sought by three DuBois residents—including presumptive council members Jennifer Jackson and Elliot Gelfand.
Now the City of DuBois is barred from making any further payments to Suplizio until the end of the current council’s term.
The aftermath was immediately evident at Monday’ night’s council meeting.
Council voted to pay invoices, barring anything related to Suplizio, including health insurance.
Mayor Ed Walsh and Interim Manager Chris Nasuti said they will investigate the matter as Finance Officer DeLean Sheperd had concerns.
“I can’t just not pay healthcare,” said Shepard.
It was noted that a hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 30 regarding the injunction.
Following public comment, Councilwoman Diane Bernardo made a request to add an immediate new item to the agenda.
Bernardo presented a motion to terminate Suplizio, effective Friday, Aug. 31. However, the 31st is Thursday and—had the vote succeeded—Suplizio’s termination would’ve been effective Friday, Sept. 1.
Councilman Pat Reasinger objected to the vote on the grounds that it would potentially let Suplizio walk away with his pension.
If only fired, Suplizio—as a private citizen—could rollover his entire pension into a private account of his choosing.
This would make it hard, if not impossible, to claw back money if he were to be convicted of the alleged crimes.
If Suplizio remained employed until his conviction, the City of DuBois would be in a position where it could deny Suplizio his pension.
His pension would come from the non-uniformed pension fund that was revealed to already be in a very questionable state as of Monday’s meeting.
“I hate to say it, but I’d like to keep him for that reason,” said Reasinger.
The first to vote was Shane Dietz but only after a long pause. “Please say no,” said Reasinger.
Dietz quickly voted in favor, then Bernardo followed suit.
Councilman Jim Aughenbaugh was the third to vote. “I don’t know. I don’t understand,” he said. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”
Aughenbaugh admitted he was struggling to follow how this situation had evolved over the past two weeks.
He said council was planning to negotiate a voluntary termination with Suplizio with residents simply demanding he be terminated.
Now he said council was voting to terminate Suplizio outright, and those same residents fear what it could do to the non-uniformed employee pension fund.
A member of the audience suggested that council consult with an independent, third-party legal counsel on how to best handle the situation.
“You can [terminate Suplizio] in two weeks if it is okay,” said Reasinger.
Aughenbaugh, however, stated he couldn’t make a decision and abstained.
The public questioned if he was actually able to abstain from the vote, but it wasn’t addressed during the meeting.
Reasinger then opposed, making Walsh the deciding vote. And Walsh opposed—for now.
“We’ll make this [decision] in two weeks after we get some legal opinions,” said Walsh.
