Brimfield fire chief faced firing in 2025, but landed a raise instead

In May 2025, the Brimfield fire chief was on the verge of losing his job over complaints of shouting, threatening employees and dishonesty on the job.

Instead of terminating him, township trustees in October suspended him for 10 days and offered him a three-year contract extension and a raise.

The controversy surrounding Fire Chief Craig Mullaly played out behind the scenes and in public social media posts, but a full narrative of the facts has never been reported.

The suspension is rooted in a Jan. 17, 2025, incident when, according to a formal complaint former Parks and Recreation Director Cassie Weyer submitted to former Business Manager Holly Woods, Mullaly allegedly disparaged the trustees and administrative staff and told Weyer they intended to fire her.

During a private 10-minute conversation, Weyer said Mullaly advised her to file a formal complaint against Woods, retain an attorney and search for a new job. Referencing circumstances he said surrounded his own removal as township administrator (a role he filled from 2018-2022), Mullaly also allegedly stated that he wished someone had helped him as he was attempting to help Weyer. He also, according to Weyer, added that if asked, he would deny the conversation with her ever happened.

Weyer did file a formal complaint the same day, but against him, not Woods.

"I believe that the actions of Craig Mullaly on 1/17/25 were intimidating, deceptive, and manipulative and the statements made by him about Holly Woods and the Board of Trustees were malicious,” she wrote, according to the complaint obtained by The Portager.

Mullaly declined The Portager’s requests for comment. Weyer also declined comment, other than to say that she was leaving her position for one in another town.

Woods investigates

The trustees directed Woods to investigate the matter and to keep their legal counsel, Diemert & Associates attorney Mark Guidetti, apprised. Woods’ investigative notes indicate that Weyer had said she felt like she was being watched and that, in the past, Mullaly had been "very dishonest and manipulative.”

Woods’ report includes Weyer suggesting that the Jan. 17 incident may be rooted in her noting some potentially fraudulent entries tied to Trustee Nic Coia on the parks and recreation department audit report. (The state auditor’s April 2025 management letter included those irregularities in its preliminary report of Brimfield's 2021 and 2022 finances, but removed them after Coia provided his official comments.)

In her final report, Woods noted that Mullay had denied “each and every allegation made by Weyer.” He allegedly characterized his Jan. 17 conversation with Weyer as a “mentoring conversation” that Weyer had stretched out of context into a complaint against him.

Her conclusion? Weyer’s version of the day’s events was valid, and Mullaly’s were not.

Discipline delivered

Though Trustee Sue Fields told The Portager she favored terminating Mullaly, she acknowledged that she is only one of three township leaders. She said her vote to retain the fire chief was intended to avoid what would have been yet another “firestorm” that may have erupted had the Mullaly vote been contentious.

Brimfield’s trustees ordered Mullaly to serve a 10-day, unpaid suspension by the end of 2025, though “operational needs” precluded him from serving those days consecutively, Coia said.

By the end of 2025, Mullaly had served nine of the 10 days. With Christmas scheduling and mandatory station coverage complicating the timeline, Fields said the trustees allowed him to serve the final day in January 2026.

“Based on additional facts that were presented, this is what we decided,” Coia said. “I believe this was the best disciplinary action. It’s time to move forward, and I think we're headed in that direction.”

Coia declined to say what the additional facts were, and Fields said she did not know of any.

The timeline

The trustees’ focus on Mullaly was months long and multi-faceted. Following Weyer’s complaint and Woods’ investigation, the trustees considered formally disciplining the fire chief.

May 23, 2025: Brimfield trustees summoned Mullaly to a May 27 pre-disciplinary hearing for “distracting the attention of others, unnecessary shouting, demonstration or otherwise causing disruption on the job,” “threatening, intimidating, coercing or interfering with other employees,” and “dishonesty or any dishonest action.”

The hearing never took place. Guidetti said Mullaly’s original attorney, Joel Holt, had requested a continuance and Fields said the trustees had decided to follow Diemert’s advice to follow the disciplinary procedure outlined in Brimfield’s employee handbook.

That document states that inappropriate conduct will result in “disciplinary action including verbal warnings, written warnings, suspensions without pay, and dismissal.” The township may, “at its sole and absolute discretion” deviate from any order of progressive discipline and impose whatever form of discipline deemed appropriate under the circumstances, up to and including immediate termination, the manual states.

June 26, 2025: Mullaly hired a new attorney and offered a settlement. In a letter from his new lawyer, David C. Comstock of Bonezzi, Switzer, Polito & Perry Co., the chief offered to admit he violated department rules and regulations and accept a demotion to the rank of lieutenant. The trustees never acted on that suggestion.

July 9, 2025: Mullaly sent a letter to his direct supervisor, Coia. In that letter, Mullaly referenced what he characterized as "a longstanding pattern of bullying, intimidation and retaliation” he had experienced while working for the township.

“For years I have been intimidated not to say anything for fear of losing my job, but it has come to a point where I cannot continue to be treated this way,” he wrote.

In an attached document he characterized as a “letter of concern,” Mullaly laid a slew of allegations at former Fiscal Officer John Dalziel’s feet, including having experienced “retaliatory behavior” after raising concerns about finances.

Mullaly also stated that if he spoke with Coia, his assigned department liaison, “it is used against me as retaliation.” He wrote that he was removed from his administrative position (administrative supervisor) without cause “because of fiscal decisions.”

He alleged that he had asked to meet with the trustees, only to be told “they will not meet with me.” Another of Mullaly’s 11 bullet points stated that the trustees were spreading false rumors on spending to the public “to make me look bad.”

He stated that he had submitted a written letter of harassment, but had received no formal response, and the letter had disappeared.

July 15, 2025: Diemert & Associates penned a letter to Comstock suggesting that if Mullaly wished to avoid the disciplinary process, he should resign and find alternative employment within 45 days. Guidetti characterized the letter as part of the settlement discussion, not a recommendation.

July 23, 2025: At Woods’ request, Mullaly and Woods met to discuss the matter. 

July 29, 2025: Mullaly emailed Coia about his own hostile work environment complaints, naming Woods as a perpetrator.

Mullaly also suggested there was “more to talk about” than his original complaint letter had contained and requested that all statements be “talked about with a non-bias [sic], neutral investigator.” Should the trustees fail to investigate and address his concerns, Mullaly asked why he was not being treated like other employees.

Sept. 15, 2025: The trustees signed Mullaly’s disciplinary agreement — including the 10-day suspension. 

Beyond Fields’ statement that the disciplinary measure the trustees issued was in keeping with their attorney’s advice to follow the employee handbook, the trustees offered no explanation as to what happened next: 

Oct. 29, 2025: Brimfield trustees approved a three-year contract extension for Mullaly, through September 2028. His current salary of $114,212.80 will be augmented by annual 3% increases.

(The 3% raise was not unique to Mullaly. The trustees had on April 22, 2025, approved 3% increases for all non-union, non-employment agreement employees in the administrative offices and police department.)

The township’s legal agreement also includes Mullaly’s pledge that he would “promote a harmonious work environment.”

Subject line: verbal harassment 

Mullaly’s concerns about verbal harassment, with him as the victim, stretch back to at least 2023, when he sent a Sept. 23 email to Woods and Fields.

In it, Mullaly states that he was in Dalziel’s office at about 1 p.m. the previous day when Dalziel fielded a call from former Trustee Mike Kostensky. Mulally stated that Dalziel said he would call Kostensky back when he was done with his own meeting.

“After hanging up about ten seconds later Mike Kostensky called back, wanted John to put me on speaker phone then proceeded to cuss me out for the few minutes,” Mullaly wrote.

“The criticism and persistent attacks towards myself and the fire department were offensive, inappropriate, and uncalled for,” Mullaly wrote. “The consistent theme of his conversation was how ‘f***ing embarrassing I/we were to to the township.’”

He stated that Kostensky “continued his verbal abuse because we sold out of sausage sandwiches at Brimfest.”

Mullaly also accused Kostensky of having verbally abused him for the past year and a half, putting him in “a very uncomfortable position” and mentally affecting his work and home life.

“I fear retaliation for this, but again a line was crossed where I felt I have to say something,” he wrote.

He stated that he had spoken with Dalziel about Kostensky’s “intimidating nature towards me” before, and stated that Fields was also made aware of the Sept. 25, 2023, incident.

Fields told The Portager she recalled learning that Kostensky and Mullaly had had words, but said she stayed out of the fracas.

“It’s very unfortunate that grown people, adults, cannot play in the sandbox and do business and show respect to each other,” she said. “For the most part, I have tried not to get all involved in it.”

She said she tries to fulfill her responsibilities as a township trustee, which to her means being one of three equal people who must prioritize their duty to Brimfield residents.

“People don’t understand. You’re not a powerful person. You are a servant; you become a servant to the people,” she said.

Kostensky, whose term as township trustee ended Dec. 31, 2025, told The Portager he was “nothing but nice” to Mullaly.

He admitted he was angry that the township had run out of sausages during Brimfest, and added that he had told Mullaly he would have donated more himself had he known.

“If I so verbally abused him, why would he call me every Monday? Why would you call the person that verbally abuses you?” he asked.

The aftermath

Kostensky called Mullaly’s disciplinary issue “not a big deal” and said it was more a matter of “lawyers going back and forth” than anything else.

“What he has now is a last chance. That’s pretty stern. He’s a good fire chief. He made some stupid decisions, period. He’s not doing anything criminal,” Kostensky said.

Kostensky said that “last chance” refers back to an incident where Mullaly used $943 of township funds to purchase a household vacuum cleaner, replacement air filters and a backup battery “for general fire station cleaning purchases,” according to an April 25, 2025, state auditor’s report.

Mullaly had the items sent to his home, where he “inadvertently backed over the box,” the report states. The township never requested repayment, and “a replacement was not requested because the township had other functioning vacuums available for use,” the report states, adding that the township should ensure all purchases “have a clear and necessary purpose” and that employees should be held accountable “for the proper use and care of township property.”

As for Woods and Weyer, neither are employed by Brimfield anymore. Weyer told The Portager she had resigned effective Dec. 12, having accepted a public service position in Cuyahoga County.

And the trustees made a unanimous decision on Aug. 20, 2025, to eliminate Woods’ position as township business manager. Kostensky told The Portager in a recent interview that the decision was a simple cost-saving measure for a position that did not fit the township’s needs. Woods’ salary was $116,688.

Woods speaks 

Woods believes it was not a budgetary decision at all.

“That was not the case,” Woods told The Portager in a November interview. “It was a convenient way to escape responsibility for appropriately responding to employment matters and addressing employee issues.”

Besides the Mullaly investigation, Woods said the trustees sought to sidestep concerns Brimfield Police Captain Chris Adkins had raised about the hiring process surrounding township Fiscal Officer Jasmine Golden, who was sworn in Aug. 6.

In a previous interview with the Portager, Adkins said Woods’ background check should have been more extensive. Had he done it, he said the trustees would have had the information about Golden’s bankruptcy, and the complications surrounding her appointment as fiscal officer would have been avoided.

Woods, though, said the background check she performed was more rigorous than what is required for elected officials. She also said Kostensky and Fields, who held an ultimately unsuccessful July 31 meeting to revoke Golden’s appointment, did not want to hear Woods’ assurances that Golden was legally able to perform her job.

Kostensky discounted Woods’ statement, adding that since she was responsible for running Golden’s background check, she should have provided more complete information. As it was, he said he’d only learned about Golden’s legal difficulties via an anonymous package left on his doorstep the previous day.

Coia did not return The Portager’s request for comment on Woods’ allegation. Fields declined comment on the matter beyond saying that her own relationship with Woods was good.

“I hope that wherever she went is an improvement to what she left behind,” Fields said.