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VIENNA -- The board of the Western Reserve Port Authority that voted Wednesday to pay former aviation director Dan Dickten a quarter of his annual salary -- totaling more than $23,870 -- did so by a unanimous 8-0 vote, according to Dan Keating, the Port Authority's attorney.
Dickten resigned in April. The decision to pay Dickten the remainder of his salary was a gesture of appreciation for his eight years of service to the port authority and the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, Keating said.
"I can only speak for myself," Keating said. "I think (Dickten) did a good job."
"We wanted to show our appreciation for his past years of service," said port authority chairman Martin Loney.
Dickten's time as aviation director was not without controversy, however. Dickten and unnamed members of the port authority board were at the center of a controversy that led to a settlement in January 2017 with a former employee who claimed she was directed to "use her sexuality rather than her marketing experience" while working as a marketing / business development coordinator for the airport.
Dickten called the allegations "untrue and insulting." The port authority's insurance carrier paid the woman a $30,000 settlement.
"Nowadays, anyone can raise an allegation," Keating said Friday. "It happens in private and public employment. It doesn't mean there are any merits."
Under Dickten's tenure, the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport struggled to find commercial airlines to offer flights out of the airport. Allegiant Air took its last flight in January.
The port authority also settled a lawsuit in February with Aerodynamics Inc. for $150,000. The port authority alleged the airline owed the port authority more than $360,000 paid as a revenue guarantee to ADI. ADI, which briefly offered flights to Chicago in 2016, countersued, demanding nearly $300,000 due in subsidies.
Neither Keating nor Loney said they believed the difficulties in retaining airlines could be attributed to Dickten.
"Allegiant started here and moved on," Keating said. "It was their success here that allowed them to do that."
"The decision to leave was made by the airline, not us," Loney said. "That was a decision made at their corporate headquarters, not at ours."
Port authority board member Ron Klingle called Dickten "an exceptional individual."
"He was knowledgeable and passionate," said Klingle. "I have nothing but great things to say about him."
In May, Dickten also cashed in 40 hours of accrued personal time and 456 hours of vacation time, worth more than $22,000.
ckromer@tribtoday.com