NEWTON FALLS, Ohio - Newton Falls City Council passed a resolution during Wednesday night's council meeting seeking the removal of Mayor Ken Kline.

Council voted 3-2 for his removal from his position on charges including parliamentary procedure violations in two different meetings.

1st Ward Councilman Gideon "Bud" Fetterolf, 2nd Ward Councilman John Baryak and 3rd Ward Councilwoman Tesa Spletzer all voted in favor of the ordinance. 4th Ward Councilman Kevin Rufener and Councilwoman at-large Julie Stimpert voted against it.

The allegations of misconduct stem from past council meetings where the meeting was not held under control. The most recent council meeting had to be adjourned and the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office was called.

"Mr. Kline has been the mayor for three and a half years, it's not a quick study," 1st Ward Councilman Gideon "Bud" Fetterolf said. "This is something he should know. Instead of learning what they are, it's progressively gotten worse. I called it, an emergency meeting to adjourn, we got nothing done. That wasn't the first time things have not gotten done."

Newton Falls Law Director Bradric Bryant spoke out against the resolution.

"It will add to the community divisiveness problem and cost the village a significant amount of money regardless of the result," Bryant said. "It will likely result in litigation and won't be resolved until next year. The mayor would not be removed before the election even if the council would vote to do so."

4th Ward Councilman Kevin Rufener called the motion "garbage" and said it was nothing more than a personality conflict.

"I was guilty of nothing," Mayor Kline told 21 News. "I'm trying to keep control and an atmosphere like this is just really ridiculous. These guys make fun of the citizens and I don't stand for that. These are my friends, I love my community and if they don't like that then so be it. If I'm removed, I can't re-run, so they've decided an election."

"I'm getting this done to me and we've got people in the community that have basements flooded, our parks need equipment fixed, but we're doing this," Kline said.

Mayor Kline is entitled to legal representation at the village's expense, according to Bryant.

A motion to pay for Kline's attorney in this fight failed, something the law director believes isn't legal. The same voting split as the resolution applied to the motion with Fetterolf, Baryak and Spletzer voting no and Rufener and Stimpert voting yes.

Kline has 15 days to decide if he wants a public hearing on the matter. If he loses the public hearing, he can appeal to the Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.