Former council member’s petition calls for Mantua mayor resignation

Nearly a month after removing former Mantua Police Chief Joe Urso from his post, village council on Nov. 18 received a petition calling for Mayor Tammy Meyer’s resignation.

Former Mantua Council Member Kevin Maloney, who cast the only vote to retain Urso and resigned from council immediately after the 12-hour hearing adjourned on Oct. 22, told The Portager he collected and verified about 80 signatures from village residents.

As council president in 2022, Meyer had initiated an investigation scrutinizing Urso and Mantua police officer Miranda Brothers, his close friend and subordinate. The investigator, Aurora Law Director Dean DePiero, concluded in March 2023 that Urso and Brothers should be disciplined for failing to observe village rules, policies or procedures.

DePiero recommended certain adjustments be made as to Brothers’ supervision, but did not recommend that Urso be removed from office.

“In my opinion, she [Meyer] has been gunning to remove the chief ever since,” Maloney told The Portager. “There has been, in my opinion, an underlying agenda all along to remove the chief regardless of whether the cause was sufficient to do so.”

Meyer was elected mayor in November 2023. 

Maloney characterized his resignation last month as his statement that he could serve the village better as an outside force than as a council member. If Meyer or council change their tune, he said he would consider another run for village leadership.

Other residents speaking during the public comment portion of the Nov. 18 meeting called for council to rescind their votes ousting Urso, for the mayor and all of council to resign, expressed their disappointment in village leaders, or spoke in support of the former chief.

Council members did not respond and did not refer to the petition during their meeting. Meyer did not respond to The Portager’s request for comment.

Soon after losing his position, Urso filed an administrative appeal that he be reinstated. The hearing that resulted in his termination was unfair and did not accord him his constitutional due process rights, his court filing stated. The matter remains pending in Portage County Common Pleas Court.