NORTH CANTON: A former part-time city law director will swear in the city’s first full-time law director this morning.
Roy Batista, who served North Canton as part-time city law director in the 1970s to 1980 and again from 2000 to 2003, is scheduled to administer the oath of office to attorney Tim Fox at 9:30 a.m. in council chambers.
City Council unanimously voted to appoint Fox during its meeting Monday night.
Fox, 49, is leaving the Canton law firm Black, McCuskey, Souers & Arbaugh, where he practiced civil litigation.
“Civil litigation is much like being law director,” Fox said. “You don’t know what you are going to see. It could be someone who is angry or someone who has been in an accident or a barking dog. My job is to apply the law to the facts as I see them.
“I’m eager to get started.”
Mayor David Held called Fox the best candidate for the job.
“He has a great deal of experience and a real heart to serve the people of North Canton. I fully support the decision of council,” Held said. “It is also another step as we move toward cost-efficient and effective local government.”
Awaiting Fox is legislation covering foreclosures on poorly maintained properties and several personnel issues, said Batista, who also served as interim law director after Hans Nilges resigned from the job at the end of July.
“The best advice I could give him is to get along with council, because he works for them,” Batista said.
Fox was elected to represent Ward 3 in 2011. He stepped down from that post Sept. 6 after Ward 2 Councilman Jeff Peters, who chairs the Personnel Committee, approached him and asked about his interest in the law director’s position.
The city received 16 applicants for the post, which pays $72,000 a year.
Fox holds a law degree from the University of Cincinnati Law School and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Western New England University. He retired from the U.S. Air Force as a master sergeant, working as a data systems analyst.
Fox and his wife, Malissa, live in North Canton.
Dottie McGrew can be reached at dottiemcgrew@neo.rr.com.