In
a rapid fire set of changes, the Ohio Division of Wildlife has
reassigned people who had been removed in 2017 from key
mid-management positions by the just-ended Governor John
Kasich-Natural Resources Director James Zehringer era.
And
the new bosses also jettisoned other mid-management personnel.
In
making the changes, the agency brought in as one of its two assistant
chiefs a principal in the so-called “Brown County Five,” a group
of several Wildlife Division officials who nine years ago were
charged with felony counts for alleged misconduct in the manner of
handling the discipline of a former county wildlife officer. The
charges were later dropped following a successful appeal to the Ohio
Supreme Court that their protections against self-incrimination were
violated by the state.
Newly
installed Wildlife Division chief Kendra Wecker announced the changes
to agency employees via electronic notification. This memo
highlighted the following changes:
The
appointment of Todd Haines as one of two assistant chiefs: the
elevation of acting to permanent Assistant Chief, Pete Novotny; the
return of Ken Fritz as Executive Administrator for Wildlife Law
Enforcement; the return of Scott Hale as Executive Administrator for
Fish Management; the move of Rich Carter from Executive Administrator
for Fish Management to the assignment of head of Special Projects
including capital and engineering associated projects; the return of
Dave Kohler as the full-time Human-Wildlife Conflict Administrator;
the return of Stacy Xenakis as the agency’s Federal Aid Supervisor;
the transfer of David Lane to the Ohio Division of Forestry; the
transfer of Tammy Terry to the Ohio Division of Parks and Watercraft;
and the departure of former Wildlife Division Assistant chief Mike
Luers (though no indication as to Luers’ subsequent status).
In
an official release the Wildlife Division says that Novotny began his
career in 1996 as the wildlife officer assigned to Harrison County.
He was promoted in 2015 as the manager of the division’s District
Three office. Since April 2018, Novotny has served as acting
assistant chief and administrator of the division’s law enforcement
section.
The
official release says that Haines began
his career with the Wildlife Division in
1987, working as a wildlife research technician in Oak Harbor. In
1993, he moved to southwest Ohio, working as a management supervisor
in the division’s District Five office. Since 2003,
Haines has
served as the manager of that office.
However,
Haines likewise was a member of the then-so-called “Brown County
Five.”
Haines
and the others in the so-named “Brown County Five” group were
successful in their appeal that the state was wrong in forcing them
to testify against themselves in the case of former county wildlife
officer Allan Wright.
Wright
was ultimately dismissed after allowing an out-of-state wildlife
officer to use his home address in order to buy a resident hunting
license. The so-named “Brown County Five” were accused of
handling the matter administratively instead of criminally by the
state, with actual charges brought by then-Brown County Prosecutor
Jessica A. Little.
The
Ohio Supreme Court later ruled the defendants were subjected to
testifying without the self-incrimination protections guaranteed
under federal law. Following the Ohio Supreme Court ruling, the
charges against the defendants were dropped.
The
group later filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Little and
the state though this suit was later dismissed as well.
In
her electronic note to Wildlife Division employees, Wecker said that
“2019 is going to be an outstanding year marking a new era for the
Division of Wildlife.”
“Your
support, hard work and dedication are appreciated and together we are
going to accomplish wonderful things. I am looking forward to
meeting each one of you and spending time in the field,” Wecker
said.
Mike
Budzik, now retired Wildlife Division chief and current natural
resources adviser to DeWine, believes that Wecker has developed “a
truly awesome team that will be focused on the resource, constituents
and employees.”
“It
is well balanced in terms of experience representing the proper
mixture of field service and administrative service,” Budzik said.
- By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
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