New city manager
City Manager Jim Palenick was selected in May and started work in July. He hopes to see the economy coming back and improving in the future. He took over from Acting City Manager Susan Cohen who resumed her duties as administrative services director.
Middletown Paperboard fire
A homeless Middletown man was sentenced to five years of community control after admitting to starting a New Year’s Day fire at the 11-acre vacant former Middletown Paperboard complex. Joshua Lamb, 35, was charged with arson, a fourth-degree felony, and aggravated arson, a second-degree felony, for starting the fire at 300 S. Verity Parkway that burned for days. Lamb pleaded guilty in September to the arson charge.
Hillbilly Elegy: The film
In November, “Hillbilly Elegy” had early screenings in Middletown and in Dayton prior to its Netflix debut on Nov. 24. While the film had mixed and some harsh reviews by national film critics, it appeared to be popular with the general public.
Lawsuits
The city continued to be embroiled in legal battles in 2020.
John Hart II, who co-owns Start Skydiving, won a lawsuit against members of the Middletown Airport Commission for infractions of the Ohio Open Meetings Law/Sunshine Law about their meetings.
Former city manager Doug Adkins, filed a federal Equal Employment Opportunity complaint in May against the city alleging age discrimination in his 2019 termination. However, the EEOC denied his claim in late November. Adkins can still pursue the matter in state court.
Former airport employee Ashley Schulte filed an EEOC complaint against former airport manager Daniel Dickten for discrimination. In September, she filed a federal lawsuit against the city on claims of unpaid wages.
Schulte, Dickten and Matt Eisenbraun, assistant economic development director, were all accused hacking into Start Skydiving computer records. Misdemeanor charges were filed Dec. 22 against them in Middletown Municipal Court on Dec. 22. On Dec. 17, Start filed a federal civil lawsuit against the city, Eisenbraun and Dickten in their official and individual capacities, on charges as part of an “ongoing vindictive, corrupt, and deceitful attempts by the City and its key personnel to kick Start out of the airport and to harm its business, despite Start’s 20-year lease at the airport which runs through 2029.”
The city’s ongoing legal action continues against Manchester Hotel LLC over the ownership of the former hotel and auxiliary building after the city revoked the development agreement in 2018. While the developer finally received $4 million in Ohio Historic Preservation tax credits in December, the case remains pending in Butler County Common Pleas Court with a trial scheduled for February.
Middletown Regional Airport issues
The lawsuits filed by Start Skydiving and criminal complaints filed by Hart II were the latest milestones in the continuing dispute with the city over various lease issues. In May, City Council voted to change the skydiving drop zones citing safety issues and the need to identify the drop zones so the city can complete its Airport Master and Layout Plans. During the summer, there was a war of words between consultants as well as community members who supported or not supported the skydiving company filling the council chamber.
After a number of complaints by local pilots and others, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a compromise map for drop zones which aligned with much of the city’s decision. In addition, the city opted, after one year, to go back to privatization of the Fixed-Based Operator business. Start filed the federal lawsuit on Dec. 17.
AK Steel bought
Butler County’s third-largest employer, AK Steel, was purchased in March by Cleveland-based Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. for $1.1 billion. In September, Cleveland-Cliffs purchased the U.S. assets of ArcelorMittal for $1.4 million. The deal made Cleveland-Cliffs the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America.
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