DuBOIS — New members of DuBois City Council approved immediately firing previously suspended city Manager John “Herm” Suplizio and accepted the resignation of Solicitor Toni Cherry at Tuesday morning’s reorganizational meeting.
Minutes after being sworn in to their elected posts, Councilwoman Jennifer Jackson, Councilman Elliot Gelfand and Mayor Pat Reasinger voted in favor of ending Suplizio’s employment with the city.
“I’ll make a motion to authorize the interim solicitor to assist city council with the immediate termination of John Suplizio’s employment with the city,” Gelfand said in making the motion, which was seconded by Jackson.
Sitting Councilmen James Aughenbaugh and Shane Dietz voted against firing Suplizio, with the motion carrying 3-2.
Suplizio, along with former city administrative secretary Roberta “Bobbie” Shaffer, were federally indicted in November for allegedly conspiring to divert and steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in city funds from 2014 to 2022, according to the indictment.
Suplizio, 63, had been on administrative leave since March 23, 2023. Chris Nasuti has been the interim city manager since that time. Shaffer, 58, resigned in September 2023.
Prior to the motion regarding Suplizio’s employment, Jackson, Gelfand and Reasinger voted to accept the resignation of Cherry as city solicitor.
“We’ve received a resignation from Gleason, Cherry & Cherry as solicitors,” Reasinger said. “We should have a motion to accept that resignation.”
“I will happily accept that resignation,” Jackson said in making a motion.
Aughenbaugh and Dietz voted against the resignation, with the motion carrying 3-2.
After the meeting, Jackson provided a statement to the Courier Express, promising a new era of transparency, accountability and integrity for the City of DuBois.
“For 20 years, our city has been grossly mismanaged by individuals who lacked both skill and knowledge to perform their duties. They purposefully neglected their ethical duties to only serve their personal interests and those of their friends,” said Jackson. “All of this occurred under a city council that was handpicked and manipulated into going along with every action presented to them without asking the tough questions and verifying what was told to them. That stops here today.”
Also speaking to the Courier Express was Reasinger, who said any right-to-know requests filed with the city will be answered quickly by interim city Manager Chris Nasuti.
