VW County development director fired

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Questions Van Wert County Economic Director and Extension Educator Sarah Smith had about her job have apparently resulted in her termination from the position she held for a little over three months.

According to the letter Smith received from Ohio State University Extension West Region Director Stephen Wright, her firing stems from public statements she has made during a recent meeting held on the future of the county’s economic development office and in conversations with local development officials.

Wright’s letter terminating Smith, effective immediately, noted: “During the past several weeks, you have engaged in ineffective communications with internal and external partners which has had a negative effect on the Van Wert Economic Development Office and OSU Extension.”

The letter further stated that Smith’s statements “differ substantially from the core values and philosophy held by OSU Extension and the university.”

Smith said she was upset, not so much for herself, but because her firing leaves the county without an economic development director. “Obviously, they aren’t worried about us (the county) having an economic development director in the interim,” she noted.

Smith, who said she “just wants what’s best for Van Wert County,” referred to herself as a “casualty” of recent discussions over whether the county wants to continue its development relationship with OSU Extension.

Although she admitted that some of her statements were probably unwise, Smith said she also feels having questions about how local economic development should work shouldn’t be grounds for dismissal.

“Having new ideas shouldn’t result in you getting fired,” she added.

Smith’s termination comes just as work on the Jobs Ready Site north of Van Wert finally begins to take shape. Van Wert Mayor Don Farmer, who declined to comment on Smith’s firing, announced recently that funds had been received from an Ohio Department of Development grant needed to go forward with the project. That $500,000 installment from ODOD, plus an additional $500,000 from the city’s “rainy day” fund, will provide money to purchase options on a majority of the megasite property, as well as acreage needed to install a rail spur to the site.

Smith, who was hired in April for the position formerly held by Nancy Bowen, now a regional economic development official for the OSU Extension, is a 1996 Crestview High School graduate and former U.S. Air Force officer who also earned a master’s degree in human relations from the University of Oklahoma.

Shortly after she was hired as development director, though, Smith questioned her priorities as being both an OSU Extension educator, as well as the county’s economic development director.

“Those are two full-time jobs,” she noted Wednesday following her firing. “I feel I sort of got boondoggled into the position in the first place.”

Smith’s termination could further strain relations between local officials and OSU Extension, especially since several said they weren’t notified of Smith’s firing by Extension officials. “It’s a bit of a surprise,” said Delphos Safety-Service Director Greg Berquist, who said he found out about the firing from Smith herself only minutes before talking to the independent.

Berquist also said he had had recent conversations with Wright about questions that had arisen during a recent discussion of local economic development among county officials, adding that the OSU Extension official did not mention anything about Smith at that time. “Nothing in the conversation had anything to do with personnel,” he noted.

County Commissioner Thad Lichtensteiger said he had a conversation Wright after he found out about Smith’s firing on Wednesday.

“That’s the one thing I find troubling about this relationship, Steve,” Lichtensteiger said he told Wright. “You talk about this great cooperative and collaborative effort we have jointly between OSU and Van Wert County and yet you can just unilaterally fire our employee and we find out about it after the fact.

“What are we supposed to do with that?” the commissioner said, adding, “That makes me think we need to rethink the nature of our relationship.”

In the meantime, while OSU Extension officials plan to proceed with finding a replacement for Smith in the same manner they did when hiring her — with little county input — Smith’s firing will likely accelerate a discussion among local development officials about whether the county’s development contract with OSU Extension should continue.

A meeting has been scheduled for 2 p.m. today to further discuss the situation.