If Newton Falls Mayor Ken Kline is re-elected to his post, he says he will work to stop “all the nonsense that Newton Falls is often known for.”

The problem, however, is that Kline often is in the middle of the nonsense.

For instance, Kline’s recent call for City Manager Pam Priddy’s resignation is just the latest controversy in the small Trumbull County village.

Kline blames Priddy for the sudden removal of the school resource officer from Newton Falls schools, and he alleges she falsified information that she circulated publicly about that issue. Kline maintains Priddy omitted a couple text messages from a document that she shared publicly, making it appear that he and the school superintendent made the decision to pull the school resource officer — which is not true.

We’ve reviewed what Priddy circulated and compared it to information Kline says is accurate, and we found very little different, and nothing substantive.

Still, Kline called for the city manager’s removal.

Priddy responded by last week filing a lawsuit against Kline. She claims Kline initiated a “defamatory campaign” against her by alleging that Priddy “falsified documents,” and presented “falsified,” “doctored,” or “fake” documents with the intent of misleading the public.

Frankly, a quiet conversation between the two easily could have rectified this matter. But in typical Newton Falls fashion, that is not what happened.

In an unrelated matter, it also was under Kline’s tenure that the city ended up in federal court last year, and ultimately was ordered to stop restraining free speech during council meetings. The federal suit had been brought by former Newton Falls councilman Adam Zimmermann after Kline repeatedly silenced him and others from speaking during public comment sections of council meetings.

In August 2022, U.S. Judge Benita Pearson of Northern Ohio District Court ordered Falls council not to enforce rules preventing public participation and restrained speakers from making accusations or suggestions of impropriety or illegal conduct and / or comments of attacks of a personal nature. The order also prevented the village from using police power to discourage citizens or retaliate against them for protected speech, according to the judge’s ruling.

Under the Newton Falls charter, the mayor conducts the council meetings.

A separate federal suit, filed last year by Brian Kropp, also a former Newton Falls councilman, had claimed Kline and city council members violated his right to free speech by trying to restrain him and others from making critical comments during council meetings and afterward.

Kropp had alleged that council hired a special prosecutor to “retaliate” against him for stating at public meetings that village leaders are doing a poor job and should resign.

Kropp, however, dropped his case earlier this year.

During a recent candidate interview with the Tribune Chronicle editorial board, Kline did acknowledge that he was wrong in the way he was handling public comment during council meetings.

We were glad to hear him accept responsibility, but we regret that it took federal court cases and, let’s not forget, legal fees at the expense of the taxpayers, to achieve this understanding. Frankly, Kline should have done his homework in advance of taking over as mayor, and he should have erred on the side of openness. This is America, after all, where debate and discourse are a critical part of the democratic process.

Kline’s primary election opponent, David Hanson, also spoke recently about the need to keep village meetings more civil. He also commented on ongoing attempts to remove officials.

“You can’t run a city like a high school popularity contest,” Hanson said pointedly. “I have run a business, and some of the guys were very difficult to get along with. But, by God, they knew their job. The city is (like) a multimillion dollar business.”

Hanson also told us he will focus on transparency and open government.

He also spoke about the need for economic development, particularly in the areas of distribution and light manufacturing, along with growing new housing that could attract families to the village.

Hanson’s demeanor appears to be calm and logical, and we believe that after the past several years of disruptive behavior at council meetings, residents would benefit by going in a different direction.

We endorse David Hanson for Newton Falls mayor in the May 2 primary election.

editorial@tribtoday.com