1/30/10

(Sigh…..) We sure get tired of reporting this type of stuff.  But it does give our city officials every opportunity to prove that our website is aptly named.

As if you hadn’t heard enough about the Wyoga Lake meeting in previous posts (found here), now we have even more to add to the mess.  We are still wondering why the city legal deartment is ignoring this whole affair.

Audio clip of Mary Bednar at Wyoga Lake Meeting

The solution to this whole problem is for Council to admit that it made a mistake and held a meeting that was outside of Council chambers and was not open to the public as the city charter requires.

In summary: 

1.  Hold all meetings in Council chambers and make sure the entire citizenry is notified, or don’t drag enough Council members together in one place to constiture a quorum.

2.  Make sure the meetings are transparent.

Warner Mendenhall, Attorney at Law

190 North Union Street, Suite 201,  Akron, Ohio 44304 330.535.9160

December 8, 2009                                                                                   Dr.RussJones,  Superintendent                                                                     Stow-Munroe Falls Schools                                                          4350 Allen Road                                                                               Stow, OH 44224

Dear Superintendent Jones,

My client Donald Bettio has determined that the Stow Munroe Falls School District has paid twice for the same legal services. Additionally, the School Board apparently paid for legal representation before the Ohio Elections Commission when it had no business before the Ohio Elections Commission.  My client suspects that Attorneys Adam Miller and Donald McTigue were paid by the school district for work they performed for the Stow Munroe Falls School District Levy Committee. These payments are contained within Ulmer and Berne Invoice #1959251.

I have attached the relevant records of the double payment and payments related to work before the Ohio Elections Commission.

My client is of the opinion that there may have been an improper use of taxpayer funds and has requested that I begin the process of instituting a taxpayer lawsuit.

Before doing so, I want to give you a chance to address these issues. Please respond in writing.

Sincerely, Warner Mendenhall

See the various copies of each transaction as a PDF here.   You will need a PDF reader such as Adobe Reader or Foxit Reader.

In a previous post we notified you of the picnic/meeting held by City Council person Council Member Mary Bednar for the residents of Wyoga Lake.  Storm water drainage was the principle subject.  We let you know that a resident of the city (from a different area of the city) was threatened with arrest if  he remained at the meeting. 

We felt that his removal was a violation of the “sunshine law” (the Ohio Open Records Act).  We also felt that this meeting was in violation of the law that states that City Council meetings must be held in Council Chambers in City Hall.  We also noted that since four members of Council were present at the meeting (Mary Bednar, Ron Alexander, Janet D’Antonio and Sara Drew)  this constituted a legal Council meeting.  Why hasn’t our city Law Director addressed this blatant violation of the Ohio Open Records Act.  Why hasn’t he enforced the law of the city dictating where meetings must be held?

You can see the invitation that started the whole mess right here.

That previous post noting these violations can be found here. 

It’s a Matter of Trust…

At tomorrow’s (1/14/10) council meeting city council will propose an emergency legislation that will allow the city’s Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) to own, or partly own, a business or businesses in Stow.  This organization will also be able to offer loans and insure them.

We have no heartburn with Council’s plan to move ahead with this legislation however we do demand that the Mayor and Council proceed legally.  A few items are bothersome:

 Does this mean we will be paying city employees to attend a “voluntary” meeting?  Does Mr. Earle, the city’s Budget Director, get paid for attending this “voluntary citizens board”?

In addition to all the above, how about charter provision 4.14 that states that council cannot pass an emergency measure that will delegate part of its power to a sub-organization.  This must be done with the usual three readings of the proposal.  Is this whole thing legal?

Here is the section of the city charter dealing with emergency resolutions:

Each emergency resolution and ordinance shall contain a statement of the necessity for such emergency action, and its enactment shall require the affirmative vote of at least six members of Council if all members are present, or the affirmative vote of at least five members if one or more members are absent.

No action of Council authorizing the surrender or joint exercise of any of its powers, or in granting any franchise, or in the enactment, amendment, or repeal of any zoning or building resolution or ordinance, or in the changing of any ward boundaries, or in authorizing any change in the boundaries of the Municipality, shall be enacted as an emergency measure.

How about some of you new members of council sitting back and taking a look at this issue.  We urge you to do the job the people of Stow elected you to do.  Is some of this proposal smelling like politics as usual?  Please make sure it’s done the way it’s supposed to be done!

In short, this means that people who pay rent will be paying more rent.  

Click here to read the entire mess in all its glory.