YELLOW SPRINGS — The village manager in Yellow Springs has resigned from his position.
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The Yellow Springs Village Council held a special council meeting on Friday. According to its agenda, they were set to discuss Village Manager Johnnie Burns’s contract.
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Dozens of Yellow Springs residents showed up to the meeting on Friday to support Burns.
“Everything that’s been accomplished over the last 14 years has his fingerprints all over it,” one resident told the council.
Citizen after citizen spoke out to the village council, filling the room with frustration, telling memories, and strong emotions.
Alex Price, a business owner in the village, said Burns has been “the best thing” that’s happened to Yellow Springs in the last 20 years.
The meeting started with an executive session to discuss Burns’ contract, which lasted more than two hours. As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, four other similar sessions have been held since July 20.
After the executive session ended, Burns came in and resigned from his position.
“Nothing about this process was easy,” Councilmember Senay Semere said. “Nothing about it is going to please you all.”
Before the meeting adjourned, Burns spoke directly to members of council.
“What’s happened today has happened. Have mercy, have grace with my staff moving forward because it’s going to take time to get the next leader in place,” Burns said.
He assured those in the room that while his time in office might be over, his service is not yet done.
“I’m a phone call away,” he said.
WHIO reached out to the Village of Yellow Springs for a statement and it said:
This is a sensitive time for our community. We are doing our best to navigate a complex situation. Given legal and contractual reasons, it has been difficult to share more information throughout the process.
Johnnie Burns dedicated 13 years of his career to Yellow Springs. We appreciate and honor the years he has invested in building and maintaining this community.
- Gavin DeVore Leonard, Council President
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