LINCOLN HEIGHTS, Ohio — Lincoln Heights, Ohio is a town of 3,300 people.
In it, visitors will find churches, a small park and the municipal building where councilman Daronce Daniels has spent more than seven years making policy for the little village.
That was until solicitor Deepak Desai sent Daniels a letter informing him, as of Sept. 27, his seat was forfeited and someone else would be appointed to serve the position he'd been elected to in 2017.
After he reached out to WCPO, we asked him why Desai, an appointed city attorney, had disqualified him from public service.
"So, the way our council works says you have to be fully paid on your taxes. That's what it says in our charter," Daniels said.
According to a letter Daniels shared with WCPO from Desai, the city had been trying for months to get him current on his 2023 tax bill.
In the letter, Desai wrote that since April 2024 he repeatedly attempted to get Daniels current on his city tax bill.
The letter indicated Daniels would ignore multiple attempts for information.
"On Tuesday, July 2, 2024, I sent you an email requesting an update. I also sent you a text message that same day requesting an update. You did not reply to my email or text message," Desai wrote.
He later wrote, "On Tuesday, July 16, 2024, I sent you a text message requesting an update. You did not respond."
Finally, Desai wrote that the attempts to get the tax bill resolved were exhausted.
"...more than 5 months have passed. Therefore, a reasonable amount of time for you to remove your disqualification has expired."
In an interview Tuesday, ahead of what was supposed to be a council meeting, Daniels said he'd paid what was shown to him through the RITA system, the town's tax processor.
We asked why he wasn't more responsive to Desai's questions or why he didn't pay what had been asked. Daniels said he was suspicious of the amount Desai had been indicating he should pay.
"If you're talking about the period from July to September, I wanted to do my own due diligence," he said.
Daniels said rifts among council members have made him mistrustful of the town's operations.
"I wanted to make sure there's no foul play here," he said.
WCPO reached out to all council members and Desai through multiple emails and phone calls for comment but didn't hear back.
We attempted to talk with village representatives at the meeting scheduled for Tuesday evening to find agendas on the municipal building with a large red "canceled" stamp across them.
Daniels was surprised by what he called an abrupt cancellation.
"They have not responded to you, they have not responded back to me, they have not responded back to my lawyer," he said.
Daniels' attorney sent a letter to the village solicitor Oct. 7 saying the town's own code doesn't allow the solicitor to unilaterally remove an elected council member. The attorney said only a vote of council would make that possible.
The letter continued to say Daniels has paid more than the amount in tax indicated in the RITA system and "this matter should be closed."
Daniels said he would attend the next council meeting and expected to serve the remainder of his term.
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