MANTUA, Ohio — In Mantua, the village will soon be looking for a new police chief — after an overnight council meeting ended with the firing of the current one, who was accused of violating village policy.
The hearing lasted nearly 12 hours, ending at 6 a.m. — and at times, it felt more like a trial.
At the center of it all is Mantua Police Chief Joe Urso, accused of violating policy by directly supervising Officer Miranda Brothers, with whom he is allegedly in a romantic relationship.
"In any professional work environment, a supervisor-subordinate relationship should be a professional relationship. It just lends to favoritism, special treatment, unfair treatment,” said David Sluka, a village councilman.
During the hearing, Sluka listened as both the mayor and a former officer who brought forward multiple accusations— including claims of nepotism and favoritism.
Documents show that Mayor Tammy Meyer gave Urso multiple verbal and written warnings over the past two years, instructing him to stop supervising Brothers. At one point, the mayor even took over that responsibility herself. But according to her memo, Urso continued to intervene.
"They [the previous mayor and current mayor] were trying to change the reporting structure to accommodate the relationship, rather than condemn it or move somebody around. They tried to work around as best they could, and going to the record, the chief still didn't comply,” said Sluka.
While village policy doesn’t prohibit romantic relationships between employees, it does prohibit supervising someone you’re involved with.
"Well, there were those who were in a sergeant role, who were asked to manage the female officers, and we heard from some of them that chief would intervene and, in some cases, kind of override decisions they made,” said Sluka.
Despite those rules, council members found that Urso continued to oversee Brothers' schedule, leave requests and disciplinary matters.
In the end, the council voted 5–1 to fire him.
"The working relationship he committed to was inappropriate, the way that he handled that was inappropriate, unprofessional, the environment that was created as a result of that, many felt very uncomfortable,” said Sluka.
Not everyone agreed. Some members of the public spoke in support of Urso during the hearing.
"I have no hesitation in standing behind Chief Urso and can confidently say he is an asset to this village,” said one commenter.
Still, Sluka believes the council made the right call.
"I just want it to be a department of integrity, more than anything else,” said Sluka.
Urso and Brothers both spoke during the meeting and denied the claims against them.
Urso, who had led the department since 2017, was placed on paid administrative leave earlier this month. News 5 reached out to his attorney for comment on the decision.
Brothers remains employed by the department. In Urso’s absence, Hiram Police Chief James Clemens is now overseeing Mantua’s police operations.
