WILMINGTON, Ohio — At the April 17 Wilmington City Council meeting, members debated fluoride legislation and approved updates to the city’s public records policy. During his report to council, Mayor Pat Haley also addressed the 2013 death of Casey Pitzer.
Pitzer, 32, disappeared after a night out in Wilmington on March 17, 2013. Her body was discovered about a week later in a retention pond near State Route 73 and U.S. 22&3.
Haley said the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office performed a complete forensic examination that included toxicology screening, tissue analysis, and review of scene evidence and environmental conditions. The coroner’s office determined the cause of Pitzer’s death to be an accidental drowning, with alcohol intoxication listed as a contributing factor.
According to the mayor, the Wilmington Police Department previously forwarded the case to the FBI for review, and former Chief Ron Fithen submitted a formal request for an independent review in January 2023. The FBI didn’t respond. In October 2022, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation informed the department it would not reopen the investigation. In 2024, additional efforts were made to get an independent review of the case. Police departments in Dayton, Columbus and Cincinnati declined to review the materials.
In early 2025, Chief Bob Wilson referred the case to the FBI for potential review. The agency declined to comment. The Clinton County Prosecutor’s Office sent Wilson a letter dated Jan. 30, 2025, requesting the Pitzer case files so the prosecutor could conduct an independent review.
Haley said that the investigative record – based on findings from the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office and the Wilmington Police Department – continues to support the original conclusion of accidental drowning with alcohol intoxication as a contributing factor.
“No evidence of foul play has been identified through multiple reviews and investigations spanning more than a decade,” Haley said.
The mayor also referenced an October 2024 ruling from the 12th District Court of Appeals, which upheld a lower court decision dismissing a public records lawsuit related to the case. The court ruled the city met its legal obligation by supplying all requested records and wasn’t required to produce documents it didn’t have.
Following the update on the Pitzer case, Haley discussed recent crime trends and efforts to improve public safety in the city.
“I ran on that record when I filed for mayor,” he said. “My goal was to reduce the crime in Clinton County.” He pointed to the past year’s decline in crime as evidence that law enforcement strategies and community policing efforts are making a difference.
According to Haley, the city of Wilmington has seen improvements across all crime categories in early 2025. He noted that police responses to Your Father’s Kitchen dropped from 299 calls between October 2023 and October 2024 to 27 calls between January and April 2025.
Data provided by the Wilmington Police Department and Clinton County Municipal Court records shows declines in several types of criminal offenses. Assault cases dropped from 26 in 2022 and 2023 to 12 in 2024. Domestic violence reports decreased from 41 in 2023 to 26 in 2024. The number of theft offenses, which Haley called “significant,” declined from 119 in 2023 to 46 in 2024. Overall, court-reported offenses dropped from 618 in 2023 to 332 in 2024.
Haley attributed the decline to several key initiatives, including the implementation of community policing to build stronger relationships between law enforcement and residents. He also pointed to the city’s no-tolerance approach to criminal activity, the municipal court’s role in holding offenders accountable, and efforts to connect individuals with addiction or mental health issues to appropriate services.
Council split in symbolic vote over state fluoride bill
Council member Kelly Tolliver introduced Resolution R-25-18, which, if passed, would show support for state legislation aimed at preventing Ohio towns and cities from being required to add fluoride to their drinking water.
Introduced in March by Rep. Levi Dean (R-Xenia), House Bill 182 would amend state law prohibiting Ohio public water systems from adding fluoride to their water supplies, banning a long-standing public health practice to help prevent tooth decay.
Tolliver said the resolution would show support for the bill, which he believes would give communities more control over what goes into their water.
“When you chlorinate water, you’re treating the water. When you add fluoride, you’re treating people,” Tolliver said. “You’re putting something in the water that you hope gets to a person. So, in essence, we are forcing fluoride on people when we fluoridate our water.”
Council President Matt Purkey noted that fluoride occurs naturally in the water, but additional fluoride was added to the city’s water following a nonbinding referendum placed on the ballot in 2016. The measure passed with 56% to 44%. While the decision ultimately rested with council, the vote reflected public input and helped guide the vote to move forward with fluoridation. Fluoridation officially began in 2020 under a plan approved by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and after upgrades to the water treatment plant were completed.
City Water Superintendent Adam Simpson explained that Wilmington’s water contains about 0.2 parts per million of naturally occurring fluoride, absorbed from soil as rainwater collects in surface water sources. The city supplements fluoride levels to 0.8 to 0.9 parts per million. Some nearby communities that treat groundwater have naturally higher fluoride levels and are required to reduce them.
Purkey said that supporting the state legislation would not affect its outcome, but could be a symbolic gesture of the council’s position. Simpson added, “I’m not aware of a single case where [fluoridation] has been reversed in the state of Ohio.”
During public comment, Wilmington resident Mary Thomas Watts spoke against House Bill 182 and similar proposals at the federal level, describing them as misguided and out of step with public health guidance.
At a recent dental appointment, Watts told council about a conversation with her dentist. “My dentist, a former president of the Ohio Dental Association who is currently on the board of the American Dental Association, told me that his colleagues across the country know exactly the decline to expect in our nation’s dental health should we return to the days of unfluoridated water,” she said.
Watts urged council to rely on science and consult dental professionals when considering support for House Bill 182 and similar efforts.
The resolution failed in a 3-3 tie. Don Wells, Jamie Knowles, and Kelly Tolliver voted in favor of the resolution. Voting against were Bob Osborn, Josh Schlabach and Michael Snarr. Purkey cast the tiebreaking vote against it. Council member David Nanstad was absent.
House Bill 182 remains under consideration in the Ohio House Natural Resources Committee since March 26. No further actions have been scheduled, and its progression through the legislative process remains uncertain.
New policy sets fees for police video requests under state law
Council approved Resolution R-25-15, updating the city’s public record policy on requests for police video, including footage from body and cruiser cameras. The changes bring the city’s policy in line with updates to Ohio law under House Bill 315. It now allows the Wilmington Police Department to charge requesters the actual cost of fulfilling video requests up to $75 per hour of footage, capped at $750 per video.
Under the policy, a “video record” refers to one continuous recording from a single source. For example, if multiple officers respond to an incident, each officer’s body camera footage is treated as a video record with separate charges. “Actual cost” refers to staff time, video storage and back-end expenses like retrieving, reviewing and redacting the footage.
Each video also includes a flat $10 fee to help cover software, storage and transmission costs. This fee is included in the total cost and falls under the $750 per-video cap.
The police department will provide a cost estimate within five business days. It won’t begin processing most requests until payment is received. Video from critical incidents, such as when an officer fires a weapon at a person, will be redacted and released at no charge to promote transparency.
The next Wilmington City Council meeting will be at 7 p.m. May 1 at the City of Wilmington Municipal Building Council Chambers, 69 N. South St., preceded by a public workshop at 6 p.m.
Original article online at: https://www.wnewsj.com/2025/04/24/fluoride-resolution-fails-council-updates-public-records-policy/