The calls for Scioto County Commissioner Bryan Davis to step down could soon get louder — this time from Portsmouth City Council.
At Monday’s City Manager’s Conference, council members are expected to discuss a resolution that would formally request Davis’s resignation. The item was placed on the agenda by First Ward Councilman Sean Dunne.
Davis has already been indicted on corruption charges alongside his wife Lori, provisionally suspended from office, and placed on voluntary paid leave. He was fingerprinted last week after pleading not guilty in Common Pleas Court, and is barred from contacting county employees or his fellow commissioners as his case proceeds.
His fellow commissioners — Scottie Powell and Merit Smith — have already called on him to resign, as has the Scioto County Republican Party.
Now, the city’s governing body is considering whether to publicly add its voice.
Council won’t decide Davis’s fate — only Davis himself or a panel of retired judges appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court can do that. But a resolution would be a political statement signaling that local leaders believe Davis’s continued presence, even on paid leave, is a distraction.
Council has several options Monday:
- Authorize the resolution and move it forward for a vote
- Modify the language
- Take no action
- Reject the request entirely
The proposed resolution is the latest ripple effect of a scandal that began with former Economic Development Director Robert Horton and has since ensnared county leadership. Horton and his wife Lioubov are facing their own long list of corruption charges tied to funneling public money through sham companies.
Davis and his wife Lori were later identified as the unnamed “John and Jane Doe” co-conspirators in Horton’s case. Both have pleaded not guilty.
The remaining John Doe in this case has not been identified but has spoken, through his attorney, to SCDN. That John Doe is reportedly having these similar legal issues with several other governmental bodies across multiple states. It seems that John Doe is flipping like an early morning flapjack buffet.
📌 Bottom Line: Whether Portsmouth City Council moves forward or not, the pressure on Bryan Davis is mounting. From fellow commissioners to his own political party — and now potentially City Hall — the message is getting harder to ignore: resign.
