Willoughby Hills City Councilwoman Pat Grebenc has resigned from her council at-large position less than one month after her term began.
In a letter to Willoughby Hills Mayor Robert Weger and City Council dated Jan. 25, Grebenc wrote that she was resigning her position as council at-large IV because of personal reasons and that the resignation should be considered effective immediately.
City Council records show that Grebenc attended an organizational meeting and one council meeting prior to submitting her resignation several hours prior to the Jan. 25 Council meeting.
Grebenc did not participate with the other newly elected or re-elected council members — Nancy Fellows, John Plecnik and David Fiebig — in the traditional swearing-in ceremony held New Year’s Day in council chambers at City Hall, where Lake County Commissioner Jerry Cirino administered the oath of office.
Instead, she requested that Weger administer the oath to her in her home, with her husband and son as witnesses.
The oath of office signed by Grebenc and Weger shows she was sworn in on Dec. 15 for a two-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2018, and ending Dec. 31, 2019.
According to terms of the Willoughby Hills City Charter, the council clerk has posted an advertisement on the city’s website, www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov, notifying the public of the vacant position along with the procedure, and deadline for submitting applications, which is 4:30 p.m. Feb. 2. The remaining members of council will have 30 days to make an appointment, which requires a majority vote.
If council has not appointed anyone within that time frame, the mayor can appoint his own choice.
As the deadline for applications near, council already has scheduled a Feb. 3 meeting meetings with two applicants: Rick Thompson and Laura Lentz. Thompson and Lentz both ran for council seats in the November election. Lentz ran against Grebenc and lost to her by 12 votes.
The new council member will hold that seat for the remainder of the term.
This is the second resignation to take place on Willoughby Hills City Council in less than a year. Former Councilwoman Jennifer Sommers Greer resigned her position as District 1 East Council member Aug. 1.
Grebenc has not yet returned telephone calls from The News-Herald for comments.
During a Jan. 30 phone interview, Weger said all he knew was Grebenc resigned for personal reasons and he has tried to reach out to her several times, but she has not returned his calls.
Council President Nancy Fellows said she also has been unable to get in touch with Grebenc.
“I had reached out to Pat on four different occasions,” Fellows said. “The last time I reached out to her I told her (in a voicemail) I guess she didn’t want to chat. I was disappointed, but I told her I hope there was nothing wrong with her family.”
Fellows said Grebenc had the potential to be an excellent council member.
“She was doing a lot of reading and really digging in,” Fellows said. “She really was on the fast track.”
Previously
>> Willoughby Hills City Council race affirmed in automatic recount
>> Willoughby Hills mayor’s lawsuit against Council to be heard by visiting judge