Piqua Changes The Rules and Residents Lose
Vol. III, No. 273 - A Federal Lawsuit Still Haunts City Hall
Something changed at Piqua’s city commission meeting on February 17th, and most people in the room didn’t know why. Especially, those who noticed it.
Before the meeting began, Mayor Jim Vetter read a prepared statement. Residents could still speak — five minutes per agenda item — but the commission would no longer answer questions during the meeting. They’d “take notes” and maybe address concerns later, if they felt like it.
That’s a significant shift. And it caught at least three commissioners off guard.
For several months, Piqua’s commission meetings had operated in a fairly practical fashion: a resident would ask a question, and most times residents could expect an answer and the meeting moved forward. It wasn’t a perfect civic process, but it worked.
But something shifted at the last meeting. When resident Kim Heisler asked a straightforward question about snow plows — directly relevant to a resolution the commission was voting on. She didn’t get an answer. When she pushed back, Mayor Vetter gave her two options: speak to the resolution or sit down.
Commissioner Frank DeBrosse said from the dais: “I must have missed something. I know I certainly didn’t vote on changing the rules.”
Commissioner Paul Simmons told Vetter directly: “I’d really like to hear you answer her questions.” His comment went unaddressed.
New Commissioner Philip Wead later said towards the end of the meeting, “I agree with Kim. We will come up with something better.”
Three commissioners — publicly, on the record — expressed disagreement with how the meeting was run. That’s notable.
After the meeting, Mayor Vetter told the Miami Valley Today the change was needed to go back to “interpreting the lawsuit properly.” He said he was advised by City Law Director Jessica Stiltner to read the prepared statement.
Here’s the backstory you need to understand that comment.
In early 2024, the City of Piqua was sued by four residents in federal court who alleged their First Amendment rights were violated after being banned from city commission meetings. That dispute was connected to Piqua’s controversial lithium-ion battery burning program, which the Ohio EPA shut down in September 2023. Residents who criticized the program publicly were eventually barred from entering city buildings.
That lawsuit was settled in late 2024.
When Vetter says the commission is “trying to go back to interpreting the lawsuit properly,” he’s almost certainly referring to guidance the city received from its attorney as part of navigating that settlement — guidance about what public comment legally is and isn’t required to include. Public comment is legally a one-way channel: residents speak, officials listen.
But legal minimum and good governance are two different things.
The City of Piqua Public Information Officer said in a statement: “The Procedural Rules and Rules of Conduct have not changed since August 14, 2024.” But residents and at least three commissioners experienced something different on Feb. 17. The rules on paper may not have changed, but how they’re being applied clearly did — and it happened without a commission vote.
That’s the tension here. This wasn’t a policy debate. It was a procedural shift directed by legal counsel and administered by a mayor, without the full knowledge or consent of the elected body it governs.
Residents who show up to speak deserve to know the rules before they walk in. They also deserve to know when and how their questions will actually be answered — not just that notes are being taken.
The next Piqua City Commission meeting is Tuesday, March 3 at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will start with an executive session and after the consent agenda, the Commission will be deliberating the third reading of one ordinance and a separate resolution.
If you live in Piqua and want to speak, you’ll need to fill out a public comment card before the meeting begins. You’ll have five minutes per agenda item. Under the current approach, don’t expect real-time answers — but your questions are on the record.
Commissioner Wead has said he’s working on a better process for getting answers back to residents. Commissioner DeBrosse said he’ll continue relaying questions regardless. Those are the two commissioners most worth watching on March 3.
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