Leadership was at the forefront of the discussion during the petitions and delegations portion of Monday’s Ellsworth City Council meeting. Three people spoke, beginning with Mayor Dan Finnegan, who talked about leadership versus hate.

“One of the basic tenets of leadership is to strive to find a way forward, no matter how hard the task,” he said. “Without hesitation, we can all agree that engaging in different types of hatred doesn’t help us reach our goals.”

Finnegan said as a community, Ellsworth has it in its power to be great, but that will all be lost if the cycle of hate isn’t broken.

He noted Ellsworth has seen times of greatness and times of decay.

“Will a company come here if there is hate and the lack of a strong, ethical foundation,” Finnegan asked. “The answer is simply no.”

Finnegan said the events experienced by the council in 2024 serve, perhaps, as a warning.

“We need to heed the warning,” he said. “Stem the tide of hate and learn from these experiences. We have the power to lead or the power to destroy. I hope tonight we start to turn the corner.”

Mary Schmidt said Council Member Don Panzer let her know he wanted to apologize for his actions at the Nov. 25 council meeting in which he wadded up a piece of paper she gave him to read. Schmidt said Panzer also told her he would answer the question regarding Krizek Park that she asked him to answer at that meeting and that he refused to answer at the time.

In short, Panzer said as of Dec. 1, the city still doesn’t have the Federal Emergency Management Agency flood plain maps. Panzer said he talked to State Rep. Troy Waymaster (R-Bunker Hill) and was told the state’s hands are tied until they get that floodplain map.

“We’ve been sitting here over a year and still waiting for FEMA to respond before we know what we can do,” Panzer said.

Schmidt then told Ellsworth City Administrator Dustin Stambaugh she did not, nor does she now, celebrate his leaving, especially because it was preventable.

“Action on the part of Dustin Stambaugh last spring and into the summer could have prevented this bickering and fighting,” she said, “but he failed at that, just like the tenets.”

Schmidt said she will continue to do what is necessary to clean up city hall and the city council using proper means and fully legitimate paths forward.

“This is the only way for this town to heal,” she said.

Cindy Miller spoke about the incident of embezzlement within the city, noting it has led to further allegations of additional corruption. She noted the person alleging that corruption was not allowed to speak by the council, leading others to believe a cover-up was taking place. That, in turn, led to personal investigations and reports being made.

“Right or wrong on how it was done, it was done,” she said. “And in doing so, there’s been a lot of venting on Facebook,” Miller said.

Miller said she is not sure why there haven’t been charges brought against some.

She asked the council if they were upset there was an email saying there was more corruption and it’s being taken seriously or because it’s being done in the wrong order.

“For any of us who make you (the council members) feel less than you are or feel you are doing things inappropriately or out-of-order, shame on us,” Miller said.

Editor’s note: An additional story about the Ellsworth City Council meeting is on p. A5.