By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall
I attended an Eastlake City Council meeting on February 24th that, I believe, will have ramifications for the city and its residents that they may not like. Prior to the actual council meeting there was a special meeting to determine if the council should move forward with a vote to remove Council-at-Large Chris Krajnak from council after 1,400 of Eastlake citizens just voted her to the office.
Here is my edited video of the meeting. The edits were to make the video watchable, and not to edit out pertinent comments by the council members or their lawyer Mr. Joseph Klammer.
Leading the charge to remove Ms. Krajnak is the Ward 4 Councilwoman Danyiell Kostelnik. There was no word on this matter in the meeting from the Eastlake Mayor, Kevin Kostelnik. He is the husband of the aforementioned Danyiell Kostelnik. I do not think that I am going out on a limb here by stating that the Mayor, if he knows what is good for him, agrees with his wife Danyiell.
Although Ms. Kostelnik seemed nervous, and at times incoherent while reading her speech, I was able to ascertain that she was accusing Ms. Krajnak of theft in office. Here is the definition of defamation:
Defamation in Ohio requires proving a false statement of fact was published to a third party, causing reputational harm. It includes libel (written) and slander (spoken). Plaintiffs must show negligence or malice, with a one-year statute of limitations. Truth is a complete defense.
Council Vice President John Meyers requested that the two antagonists meet privately to determine if there was any path of reconciliation so that the city and its residents would not have to endure what is coming down the path. That suggestion went absolutely no where.
There was a vote taken to decide if the city council wants to move forward with the lawsuit to remove Ms. Krajnak. Here are the results of the vote:
Voted not to move forward with the lawsuit:
Chris Krajnak & Council Vice-President John Meyers
Voted to move forward with the lawsuit:
Ward 1 – Todd Gulley
Ward 3 – Jason Kasunick
Ward 4 – Danyiell Kostelnik
Council-at-Large – Jim Overstreet
Council-at-Large – Michael Semick
By observing the crowd reaction to the statements from council members, it is my opinion that the crowd was squarely on the side of Ms. Krajnak. It may not be scientific proof but the cheering was definitely on the side of Ms. Krajnak.
This story is far from over. Everyone is now “lawyering up”, and the citizens are on the hook for some hefty legal fees. My statement to the five council people and the mayor, “you shall reap what you have sown”.
We will try to follow and document this issue for the Lake County citizens.
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Categories: Community Activism, Eastlake, Lake County Cities & Townships, Uncategorized