Embattled Maumee City Administrator Patrick Burtch has announced his plan to retire.
The announcement came during a special meeting of the Maumee City Council Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Burtch said he will discuss his impending retirement with Mayor Jim MacDonald.
After the meeting, Mr. Burtch said he has been doing this work for 40 years and planned to retire “soon,” later specifying a date of Aug. 16.
“Just tired,” he said, declining further comment.
The past seven days have been a whirlwind for the city of Maumee, with the Ohio Supreme Court invalidating a petitioned recall of Maumee’s mayor and six of the city’s seven councilmen because the city’s charter contains no procedure for a recall election.
The recall was an effort to, in part, replace members of city government with individuals who would have been amenable to firing Mr. Burtch.
The state high court ruled July 17 that the Lucas County Board of Elections improperly concluded that a recall provision described in Ohio law applies to city officials.
The elections board received seven petitions seeking to oust Mr. MacDonald and six councilmen as part of an ongoing controversy over Maumee’s handling of illegal sewage overflows from its treatment plant into the Maumee River and its ensuing attempt to assess fees and costs to residents for inspecting and repairing their sewer connections.
A day after Monday’s regularly scheduled council meeting, Maumee City Councilman Scott Noonan — one of the six councilmen who had been targeted for recall — resigned his seat effective immediately. Mr. Noonan’s term expires Dec. 31, 2027.
Nancy Gagnet, spokesman for the city, said Tuesday the council would discuss “a method for replacement” of Mr. Noonan as set forth in the city charter during Wednesday’s special meeting that was ultimately where Mr. Burtch made his announcement.
Following the meeting, Mr. Burtch was asked if recent events led to the retirement announcement.
“No,” he said.
Details, such as any compensation package, were not immediately available.
‘That kind of guy’
Mayor MacDonald said Mr. Burtch would be difficult to replace.
“It’s going to be hard to find somebody with his kind of expertise and level of education, and experience that he brings to the job,” the mayor said. “He’s got such a technical mind. When you go on a project, he knows building codes, and he knows construction.”
“He knows more than anybody on the scene,” he said. “He brings all that to the table, which typically a city administrator doesn’t.”
Mr. Burtch is driven and passionate, Mayor MacDonald said.
“And he really does have a kind heart for the residents. There are people that would call him and say they had flooded basements or a tree that’s fallen down,” he said. “One lady, it was 4 in the morning, her basement flooded. He came out with rubber boots on to try to console her and help her. He’s just that kind of a guy.”
The mayor said he knows Mr. Burtch was not beloved by all residents.
“With that level of expertise and drive that he has, sometimes it rubs people the wrong way,” he said. “They think he’s a know-it-all, but I’ll tell you, he does know it all.”
In addition to leading on the sewer issues, Mr. Burtch re-established the tree program in the city and brought in several economic development projects, said Gabe Barrow, council president.
“Working with Patrick is like working with 10 professionals,” said Mr. Barrow, who was a little choked up after the announcement. “Nobody works harder than Patrick.”
Mr. Burtch helped the city navigate extreme sewer and Environmental Protection Agency issues.
The answers to the issues were not always well received.
One solution for the city’s sewer fixes was to require an inspection before a home was sold. The council passed the ordinance last summer, but the legislation was wildly unpopular. It was subsequently repealed, but the ire directed at Mr. Burtch was not abated.
“Give Burtch the Boot” and “Trapped in Maumee” signs sprouted in lawns across the city.
“As the chief administrative official of the city of Maumee, I am obligated to consult staff and outside experienced consultants and recommend such measures as are necessary to remediate illegal dumping,” Mr. Burtch said in August.
“The mayor, city council, and I must follow the law, even if it proves unpopular,” he continued. “That doesn’t mean I am uncaring. I care very deeply about the residents of Maumee, and although it was not rolled out as well as it could have been, the sewer conveyance ordinance was intended to address this very complicated problem and reduce future costs to our citizens.”
At the time, Mayor MacDonald acknowledged Mr. Burtch’s approach was not popular in the city.
“He knows the laws we need to adhere to,” he said. “Sometimes when they are followed to the letter, it edges people a little bit.”
Sewer issues and more
While he enjoyed the support of the council and the mayor, the chorus of voices calling for Mr. Burtch’s ouster continued to grow. In January he told city council he had been threatened and asked for cooler heads to prevail.
In February, he admitted he sometimes contemplated retirement, but he believes city leaders were making progress with sewer issues, economic development, and uptown improvements, and he wanted to see that through.
“I love what I do, and I feel like we’re making a difference,” he said at the time.
Since the sewer inspection was rescinded, the city enacted other programs to be in EPA compliance. In March, Mr. Burtch announced that Maumee reached a favorable deal with the Ohio EPA that allows more time to comply with mandates and should eliminate the need for costly storage tanks.
The situation dates back to 1984, when the city was allowed to dump 25 million gallons of sewage into the Maumee River. The city was also told to separate storm and sanitary sewers. In 1996, city officials told the EPA that the separation was complete, but it was not — and even more sewage was being dumped.
When Mr. Burtch was hired in 2020, he realized what was happening and reported it to the EPA.
The eventual plan for sewer fixes could cost $120 million to $170 million to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows.
Councilman Jon Fiscus said he is confident the city will continue to move forward with its sewer solutions.
“We have a great staff in place here. Even with Patrick retiring, we have people that should be able to keep steering in the right direction, with all our projects and sewer situation,” he said.
“It’s a tough decision, I know,” Mr. Fiscus said. “But in the long run, we’ll make it through.”
He was asked if Mr. Burtch just did not have council support anymore. Mr. Fiscus, Margo Puffenberger, and Phil Leinbach submitted a Blade letter calling for “leadership style” changes last week.
“I don’t know. I can’t speak to how he felt,” Mr. Fiscus said. “We don’t agree on everything. Council is seven very different people. But in the end, we’re all trying to do what we think is best for Maumee — not only the council thinks that but the employees feel the same way.”
Mr. Fiscus described Mr. Burtch as relentless.
“It was tiring to watch him work. He never stopped,” he said. “Tenacity is one word I would use to describe him.”
Mr. Burtch grew up in Waterville and graduated from Anthony Wayne High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s in public administration from the University of Toledo, and a doctorate in public policy and administration from Walden University, a private for-profit online school headquartered in Minneapolis.
He served as the village manager for Dundee, Mich., for 22 years and as city manager of Jackson, Mich., from 2011 until he was hired by Maumee in 2020.
First Published July 23, 2025, 10:36 a.m.