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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > November

November 2009

Courts too busy to cut in budget crunch

By Josh Sweigart | Monday, November 30, 2009, 05:17 PM

Business is brisk despite recession — in fact, largely because of it — in the Butler County judicial system, according to local court leaders.

And that makes it nigh impossible to make requested cuts to local court budgets, judges and the county prosecutor told commissioners in budget hearings Monday, Nov. 30.

Butler County Common Pleas Court has the largest court budget, and proposed maintaining it at nearly $5.4 million after cuts made earlier this year.

“I just don’t see how we can cut any more money,” Judge Michael Sage told commissioners, saying the cuts pared his budget down below 2004 levels.

The court handled 9,039 cases that year, compared to 11,400 so far this year, Sage said. Criminal cases alone have spiked from 3,092 in 2007 to 3,373 this year.

“I think it’s economy related,” Sage said.

County Prosecutor Robin Piper took a similar stance, saying he cut roughly $148,319 from his budget this year. Commissioners — staring at a projected $6.6 million deficit next year — asked Piper to cut more than $400,000 from his current $4.1 million budget.

But it can’t be done while meeting his statutory responsibilities, Piper argued, offering that his attorneys make less than those in surrounding jurisdictions.

Piper bolstered his argument with evidence in the form of letters from the local Fraternal Order of Police, the Butler County Chiefs of Police Association, local police departments and other agencies warning against deep cuts.

“The increase in crime and the resulting perception of criminals having free rein in our communities will have a deleterious effect on property values, quality of life, and even the psyche of Butler County residents,” said a letter from Fairfield Twp. Police Chief Richard St. John as president of the police chiefs association.

That letter also warned against cuts at the sheriff’s office and juvenile court.

And Piper presented a witness Monday.

“I’d hate for us to begin to suffer…successful prosecution-wise for lack of funds,” Oxford Police Chief Stephan Schwein told commissioners, saying his visit was unsolicited by Piper.

One of the few court agencies to make the requested cuts was county Clerk of Courts Cindy Carpenter. This, despite civil case filings — including domestic violence — being at an all-time high.

Carpenter, who is also a candidate for county commissioner, reduced her budget next year to just under $1.6 million, which is $62,466 more than she was asked to cut.

Submitted budgets from offices county-wide leave commissioners roughly $5.3 from their goal with less than a month left in the year.

How do you think they should get there?

Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment | Categories: County budget

Should commissioners fill top job with insider or outsider?

By Josh Sweigart | Friday, November 27, 2009, 03:59 PM

With a budget crisis looming, Butler County commissioners say they’ll likely act next week to name a temporary replacement for outgoing county Administrator Tim Williams.

This person will help steer county government through the rest of the year, when commissioners are tasked with stitching together a 2010 budget that includes $6.6 million in cuts.

After that, commissioners say they’ll likely turn to a national search firm to “find the best of the best somewhere,” according to Commission President Donald Dixon.

“This is very critical and it’s a real important time for the county,” Dixon said. “We can set a new direction and we can reach for the best talent there is…to help us change directions to get where we need to go.”

Dixon said he would prefer someone from outside the county who can “step in and not have any ties to the past.”

Commissioner Gregory Jolivette, on the other hand, said he would be more likely to “give extra points” to “someone in Butler County that would know the terrain.”

“I think we have a number of good candidates within the organization to fill in on an interim basis,” Jolivette said. “I don’t believe we’re going to miss a beat in the short term, and hopefully in the long term we can find a diamond that can fit in and help lead the county and lead the commissioners.”

Whether the person comes from inside or outside Butler County isn’t as important to Commissioner Charles Furmon, “just as long as they have integrity, and they have experience, and the attributes we’re looking for.”

Furmon pointed out that they may take their time on finding a full-time replacement to help save the county money. Williams’ current salary is $107,393.

Williams announced his resignation earlier this month, saying he’s leaving to take a management job with a retail company north of Dayton. His last day is Dec. 11.

“The next month is going to be very interesting with the budget, trying to solve the budget crisis, and we’re going to miss Tim through that process,” Jolivette said.

Permalink | Comments (17) | Post your comment | Categories: County Commission

Emergency radio system update

By Josh Sweigart | Friday, November 27, 2009, 03:53 PM

From today’s paper:

Two days after the Butler County seat switched over to the new, countywide emergency radio system, it was put to the test.

It was a house on Williams Avenue in Hamilton, where smoke was pouring out of the second floor Saturday evening, Nov. 21. Firefighters rushed in.

“The crews inside, and they’re the ones of course under the strains and stress of the fire, could hear command orders clearly, much better than they could hear (with the old system),” said Hamilton fire Chief Joe Schutte.

Emergency officials say that type of communication is sometimes the difference between life and death.

“It prevents tragedies and it’s going to save lives,” said Hamilton police Chief Neil Ferdelman of the new system. “We’re pleased beyond words.”

The Middletown Police Department should be on the system “within the next week or so,” said Butler County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Norman Lewis. They’re still wrangling with some problems securing a frequency for West Chester Twp., and many of the smaller police and fire departments are soon to follow.

Despite some early delays and cost overruns, officials say the $35 million project is on track to meet its revised budget.

Middletown fire Chief Steve Botts said his firefighters are being trained on the system now and they look forward to getting new radios any day.

“We’re very excited about the system, it has much more depth in terms of parts of the system can go down and the system will stay up,” Botts said. “The ability to communicate goes hand-in-hand with safety.”

Some say the system could have prevented the critical injury of a Lockland police officer in May — who was hit by a West Chester Twp. officer in pursuit of a suspected armed robber — by improving communication among different departments.

Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Butler County Sheriff's Department

Auditor’s high-dollar hire draws fire

By Josh Sweigart | Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 10:15 AM

From today’s paper:

Nine days before the application deadline for an office executive director, Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds hired the former president of a company he used to work for.

Jim Oswald, former president of Summit Solutions Inc., was hired Sept. 30 for a salary of $99,499, according to county records.

Reynolds worked for the Dayton-based company as a finance director from 2006 until shortly after he took over the auditor’s office last year. He lists the company as a source of income on his financial disclosure statement filed with the Ohio Ethics Commission in March.

Reynolds said he didn’t report to Oswald — “He was not the guy that was paying me,” he said — and hired him because he was the most qualified for a much needed position.

“I found the guy that I wanted and once I identified the person that fit the need, we made the decision to move forward with him,” he said. “There was no need to wait.”

The job listing — posted in county buildings and on the county Web site — solicited applications from Sept. 21 to Oct. 9.

Reynolds said he followed through on his pledge to advertise all open positions, though he didn’t interview the other two people who applied for the job, and stopped taking applications early.

Reynolds made that pledge shortly after taking over the office from Kay Rogers, who resigned last year after pleading guilty to federal bank fraud charges.

At that point, Reynolds said, the office was “clearly in a mess.” He said he knows Oswald’s salary “seems high, but to get a high-end executive to help get this office back on track was the right decision.”

Hiring draws criticism amid county budget woes

Reynolds’ high-dollar hire of an office director has drawn criticism from some fellow officeholders as the county looks at ways to trim its budget in the face of a $6.6 million budget deficit next year.

“I think that a few of the officeholders are concerned with the new hire coming in at that level of salary while our budget work group is looking at ways to bring those top salaries down,” said Clerk of Courts Cindy Carpenter, who is a candidate for county commission next year.

Reynolds said the newly created position “is definitely necessary to take on the challenges we have in here, which is an overhaul of the office, of the entire office.”

Jim Oswald — former president of a company Reynolds used to work for — was hired Sept. 30 as an executive director, nine days before the window to submit resumes closed.

His starting salary is $99,499, according to county records. Reynolds said that is less than that of a deputy auditor he never replaced.

The job description includes overseeing much of the roughly 50-person office, which has shrunk in size through layoffs and attrition to save money since Reynolds took over.

“The guy is top notch. He’s a military academy graduate with honors, held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, has been a high-end consultant professionally. He is exactly what this county needs,” Reynolds said.

“We need some more Jim Oswalds.”

Reynolds took the post last year amid heightened concerns of nepotism and patronage in county government. The Ohio Ethics Commission had confirmed ongoing investigations into what role, if any, a county administrator and commissioner had played in securing raises for family members.

“I’m going to advertise positions and hire the most qualified,” Reynolds said shortly after being appointed to replace former auditor Kay Rogers, who resigned after pleading guilty to bank fraud charges. “That’s the least I can do to ensure we hire quality people working in the Butler County auditor’s office.”

Reynolds has been elected by voters since his appointment, and says he has stuck to that pledge. “My point is, I’m going to hire the most qualified people to do the work,” he said. “I’m not going to hire the uncles, the soccer coaches, the daughter’s boyfriends, the neighbors. I’m not going to do that.”

He said his office still has no formal hiring policy, which is one of the things he wants Oswald to help create.

Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: County Auditor

Sheriff, Board of Elections defend budgets

By Josh Sweigart | Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 10:10 AM

From today’s paper:

The cost of holding a major election has increased more than a third since 2006. And the sheriff’s office is stretched as thin as it can go.

Those comments made in budget hearings with Butler County commissioners Monday, Nov. 23, left the county no closer to filling a gaping hole in its projected 2010 budget.

With little more than a month remaining in the year, commissioners are tasked with pulling together a budget that addresses a recession-wrought revenue shortfall projected at $6.6 million.

Some offices — including domestic relations court and the treasurer’s office — gave presentations Monday that included cuts to their offices hovering around 10 percent.

But board of elections Director Betty McGary defended a requested $847,976 increase in her budget next year, bringing the total to nearly $3.7 million.

Unlike this year’s one, off-year election, she said next year’s primary and general elections will likely bring out the voters with a hotly contested race for governor.

And law changes requiring early voting and electronic voting have piled on unfunded mandates that have made county-wide elections considerably more expensive, she and elections board members said.

Specifically, it has required the county to hold smaller, longer training sessions for poll workers and practically run a “dual system” with paper ballots they are still required to make available.

“Quite frankly, it (electronic voting) has broken the backs of counties, not only in Ohio, but also across the nation,” McGary said.

The agency spent roughly $2.7 million holding elections in 2006.

Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones told commissioners why he basically refused to cut more than $2.2 million they requested from his roughly $23.5 million budget.

Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer argued that the county’s jail makes the county money, so cutting there would be a step in the wrong direction. And he said further cuts after roughly $900,000 was slashed from the department this year would “dramatically impact” public safety.

Combined, the cuts and increases leave the county roughly $5.3 million from its goal.

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Fox trial likely delayed until June

By Josh Sweigart | Monday, November 23, 2009, 11:36 AM

Long-time Butler County politician Michael Fox’s trial on charges federal authorities are calling “public corruption” may be pushed back to June 14.

Fox’s defense team filed a request for the extension Thursday, Nov. 19, arguing “the case is factually complex and involves novel and unusual questions of law.”

“Among other things (a federal statute) under which the defendants are charged currently is the subject of three separate challenges before the United States Supreme Court,” the filing says. “The trial of these cases could be affected by the outcome of those cases.”

The decision to reschedule the trial from Dec. 22 is now before U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith. The request is unopposed by prosecutors.

Fox — former state lawmaker, county commissioner and Children Services director — and Columbus-area attorney Robert C. Schuler have pleaded not guilty to an eight-count indictment leveled last month.

They are charged with conspiring to improperly benefit from a $2.75 million fiber optics contract with the county.

Federal authorities say they found that Schuler, a Columbus-area attorney and owner of the fiber optics firm NORMAP, wired Fox $460,000 while his company profited off a contract with the county.

The indictment alleges they profited from the deal and failed to properly report the income. It also accuses Fox of not properly reporting income he was receiving from other companies doing business with the county, and accuses Schuler of lying to a grand jury.

Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: NORMAP

Budget news coming today

By Josh Sweigart | Monday, November 23, 2009, 09:33 AM

Butler County commissioners are holding a series of budget meetings today, including with some of the departments that are key to bringing county costs down to the level of revenues: the sheriff and board of elections, chief among them.

Here is the agenda for today’s meetings:

(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)

County 112309

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: County budget

County has big plans for EOC

By Josh Sweigart | Monday, November 23, 2009, 09:28 AM

Butler County Emergency Management Director Jeff Galloway’s dream is a sprawling, 9,000-square-foot emergency command center. Sleeping bunks. Showers. A media room, and cutting edge technology.

It’s a far cry from the 580-square-foot conference room that currently serves as the county’s Emergency Operations Center. And it’s likely to remain a dream for some time.

In the interim, county officials have broken the project into three phases, the first of which may be done in roughly 6 months.

That first phase will move the EOC from the sixth floor of the Government Services Center in downtown Hamilton to the building that formerly housed the agricultural extension office on Princeton Road.

The building is also the home of the county’s new emergency radio system, and has nearly 2,000 square feet of open space for an EOC.

With minimal county money and a federal grant, county Administrator Tim Williams said the building can be ready to go in months. And the EMA has state grants ready to buy equipment for the new facility.

The EMA would still have offices downtown, but they and police, fire, hospital and other emergency workers would all report to the new EOC to coordinate response in an emergency. There will be a small conference room and 16 desks, each seating two people.

“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” Galloway said.

The plan also calls for the Butler County Sheriff’s Office to move its emergency dispatchers to the other side of the building, which houses the new radio system. There will be space for six dispatchers, which Sheriff Richard K. Jones said will be cheaper than keeping them in different locations.

The second phase is where things get bogged down. That phase calls for an addition to the building with all the amenities listed above, including 18 EOC stations each seating three people and space for 24 dispatchers.

The county is struggling to balance its books and has no money for this. Williams said he’s looking for state and federal grants to help.

“It’s something that we’ll go forward with. It’s just a matter of timing,” Williams said. “We would look toward 2011 to come up with any funding.”

Then comes phase three, where the county takes the original building space and turns it into offices once the expanded EOC is done. That’s when the EMA will move its offices, and county officials hope at that point to be set up as a regional EOC — a backup if something happens to the center in Hamilton County.

“You never want to build to today’s standard,” Galloway said. “You always want to build for the future.”

Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: Emergency Management Agency

Dems name new leader

By Josh Sweigart | Friday, November 20, 2009, 08:57 AM

Fellow reporter Tiffany Latta covered the meeting and updated this story for me last night:

A new leader has taken the reins of the Butler County Democratic Party.

Frank Cloud, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 648, was named the party chairman Thursday, Nov. 19, by the party’s executive committee.

The roughly 140-member party leadership met at the IBEW union hall in Liberty Twp. and elected the new chairman in a landslide vote of 68-14 with one abstention.

“I’m very humbled,’’ Cloud said after defeating Monroe attorney Brian Harrison. “I look forward to getting the different committees set up, getting more people involved …and getting everyone pulling in the same direction.”

Cloud, 51, of Fairfield will replace Matt Von Stein who resigned earlier this month.

Von Stein could not immediately be reached for comment, but party officials say he resigned to focus on his studies after receiving a scholarship from Xavier University. He took over party leadership last year after former chairman Ron Wardrup was arrested on drunk driving charges.

In addition to leading the party, the chairman traditionally takes a paid post on the county Board of Elections.

Far from mounting a united challenge against a county commission seat seen as vulnerable, the Butler County Democratic Party has broken out into a struggle for control of the party.

After the election, Harrison, 40, vowed to remain active within the party as he has been since 1996.

“I’ve always have been involved and always will be,’’ Harrison said. “I’m just glad so many people came out and participated.’’

Central Committee Chairman John Holcomb said the party has been divided.

“It’s the greatest degree of factionalism that I have ever seen in the Butler County Democratic Party,” he said. “I have to remain optimistic the new party chair is going to be able to bridge these divides.”

Party leaders fear factionalism is particularly detrimental this year. Races coming up next year include a county commission race where the incumbent is under an Ohio Ethics Commission investigation and the GOP appears primed for a costly primary.

Republicans control all countywide offices except for one juvenile judge, Kathleen Dobrozsi Romans of Middletown, who was re-elected in a nonpartisan race after being appointed last year by the governor.

Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Democratic Party

Democrats to name new leader of divided party tonight

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 19, 2009, 03:43 PM

Far from mounting a united challenge against a county commission seat seen as vulnerable, the Butler County Democratic Party has broken out into a struggle for control of the party.

The party’s executive committee will meet tonight, Nov. 19, to elect a new chairman after Matt Von Stein quietly resigned earlier this month.

Von Stein could not immediately be reached for comment, but party officials say he resigned to focus on his studies after receiving a scholarship from Xavier University.

Von Stein took the party reins last year after former chairman Ron Wardrup was arrested on drunk driving charges.

Tonight, the roughly 140-member party leadership will meet at the IBEW Local 648 post in Hamilton and choose a new party leader. In addition to leading the party, the chairman traditionally takes a paid post on the county Board of Elections.

The leading contenders are Frank Cloud, business manager of the IBEW; and Monroe attorney Brian Harrison.

Cloud is popular within the party, but Harrison boasts support from several local non-party-affiliated political action committees.

Those committees sprung up across the county from the remnants of President Barack Obama’s local campaign. They have since grown to pose a major challenge to the existing party structure.

“It’s the greatest degree of factionalism that I have ever seen in the Butler County Democratic Party,” said Central Committee Chairman John Holcomb. “I have to remain optimistic the new party chair is going to be able to bridge these divides.”

Party leaders fear factionalism is particularly detrimental to them this year. Races coming up next year include a county commission race where the incumbent is under an Ohio Ethics Commission investigation and the GOP appears primed for a costly primary.

Republicans control all county-wide offices in Butler County except for one juvenile judge who was re-elected in a non-partisan race after being appointed by the governor last year.

Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Democratic Party

Furmon questions county payments to company owned by Lang

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 19, 2009, 02:30 PM

Butler County Commissioner Charles Furmon is concerned that the county has been paying a company for employee benefits for almost a year without proper approval.

That company is Performance Benefits Solutions, owned by West Chester Twp. Trustee George Lang.

Furmon said in a commission meeting this morning, Nov. 19, that the company was supposed to be providing services at no charge to the county, but was instead charging through another company called Hauser Corporate Solutions.

“I have asked the prosecutor’s office to look into this and see if we can’t get some clarification on the matter,” Furmon said.

Citing poor customer service, a county advisory committee opted last October against keeping the company as the county’s sole manager of flexible spending accounts.

A November 2008 commission resolution allows another company called Chard Snyder to operate that service at a profit, and allows Performance Benefits Solutions to continue doing so “at no charge to Butler County.”

But county records suggest that Hauser, a sister company to Performance Benefits Solutions, charges the county roughly $979.15 monthly for the service.

The issue was the subject of scrutiny last year, when county leaders expressed concern that there was no system in place to determine what companies can offer employees insurance products.

At that time, former Lang business partner Mike Yoakum said Lang used his political contacts and “political pad money” to help secure the contract then stole the deal from Yoakum back in the 1990s. This was the subject of a lawsuit that the two parties settled.

Lang denied he received any preferential treatment from the county. He said he bid for the contract and was chosen by a 20-plus member committee.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: County Commission

County administrator to resign

By Josh Sweigart | Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 04:38 PM

Butler County Administrator Tim Williams is leaving his job next month, as the county struggles to stave off fiscal emergency.

Williams said he’s leaving to take an executive position with an undisclosed private sector retail business north of Dayton.

“If this opportunity hadn’t come up, I wouldn’t be leaving,” Williams said. “I’d be at least around for another year.”

Instead, Williams’ last day will be Dec. 11.

Williams took the county’s reins from former administrator Derek Conklin last year after Conklin resigned when questions arose about whether he played a role in raises for his wife, a county employee.

Before that, Williams was assistant county director, though he spent most of his roughly 15 years with the county as finance director. Before working for the county, he worked for AK Steel for 22 years, he said.

Williams’ salary is $107,393 after a recent 10 percent pay cut as part of the county’s efforts to struggle with revenue shortfalls.

Williams leaves as county leaders struggle with an projected $6.6 million deficit brought be declining sales tax and investment revenues during recession. The first round of budget cuts — and increases — submitted by all elected county officials left them $5.3 million from that goal with little more than a month left in the year.

Williams said he’s confident that the county can handle the challenge in his absence, especially with the recent hiring of finance director Pete Landrum.

Williams said he has dealt with numerous challenges in his 15 years — projects he didn’t agree with, political turmoil — but he refuses to take credit for any major successes.

“I’m not a decision maker, I just work for three commissioners” he said. “I’m just a staffer and I try to do my job. I’m not a decision maker, and change is for the politicians to take credit for.”

Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: County Commission

County commission agenda

By Josh Sweigart | Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 04:07 PM

Below is the agenda for Thursday’s Butler County commission meeting.

Anything look interesting to you?

(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)

County 111909

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Carpenter accuses Nix of ‘false statements’ in commission campaign

By Josh Sweigart | Friday, November 13, 2009, 06:05 PM

Butler County Clerk of Courts Cindy Carpenter says county Treasurer Nancy Nix crossed the line in her campaign for county commission.

Carpenter filed an Ohio Elections Commission complaint against Nix Friday, Nov. 13, claiming Nix violated campaign law by making speeches and distributing campaign literature with “false statements” about Carpenter.

Here is a copy of Carpenter’s complaint:

(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)

Carpenter Complaint

Analysis:

Specifically, Nix claimed that she had $101,000 in campaign funds — far more than the other candidates — and that unlike Carpenter she effectively reduced the county’s budget and possesses a “Business woman’s point of view.”

Carpenter’s sworn affidavit counters that Nix compared funds she currently has with campaign filing declarations by other candidates in July. Those reports listed Nix as having $12,714 on hand and Carpenter having $8,513.

As for Nix’s other claims, Carpenter said she reduced her office’s budget $152,285 from 2007 to the draft 2010 budget; and that she has worked in business all her life.

“I grew up over a family business. I live in a family business now,” Carpenter said, referring to Barker Ornaments, which her husband runs from their home. “I think Nancy knows that.”

Carpenter called Nix’s claims “intolerable.”

“This is not okay to do, to operate this way in Butler County,” Carpenter said. “Any time you lie to the public, you print a lie in a campaign, that is a violation of Ohio law.”

“My intent was to accurately portray my qualifications against my opponent,” Nix said. “I haven’t seen the complaint, and I guess I’ll have to take a look at it and go from there.”

Nix made the comments in campaign literature and a speech to Butler County Republican Party members leading up to a vote for the party’s endorsement for county commission on Nov. 5. Nix got the most votes, but not enough for an endorsement.

Nix and Carpenter are only two candidates in the Republican primary. Others include incumbent Commissioner Gregory Jolivette — seen as vulnerable within his party because of an ongoing Ethics Commission investigation — and former West Chester Twp. Trustee Jose Alvarez.

Carpenter said she hopes for a cleaner race leading up to the May primary, absent of “playing dirty and dishonest and start trying to discredit people and ruin their reputations.”

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DeWine campaign responds to local GOP’s lack of support

By Josh Sweigart | Friday, November 13, 2009, 03:11 PM

Following the Butler County Republican Party’s vote last night endorsing Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost for Ohio Attorney General, former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine issued this statement:

“We are confident that Republican voters in Ohio will nominate Mike DeWine to be their Attorney General candidate. In poll after poll, Mike DeWine is the only candidate who can beat Richard Cordray. DeWine is known across the state by an overwhelming 93% of voters. As a former county prosecutor, he has the vision and experience to clean up corruption, fix the state crime lab, and make sure our state does everything possible to promote economic growth and job creation.”

Source: John Hall, Mike DeWine for Ohio, Campaign Manager

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Local party endorses Yost over Dewine for state AG race

By Josh Sweigart | Friday, November 13, 2009, 09:55 AM

Press release from Dave Yost for Attorney General:

First County Republican Party Endorsement for Attorney General Goes to Yost

Defeats Mike DeWine for Butler County Endorsement, calls victory a “game-changer”

Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost last night secured the endorsement for Ohio Attorney General from the Butler County Republican Central and Executive Committee, defeating former U.S. Senator Mike DeWine. Butler County is the seventh largest county in Ohio boasts one of the state’s strongest GOP bases.

“This is an enormous win for our campaign - but it’s even more important as a signal of a fresh start for Ohio,” Yost said. “I’m humbled and encouraged by this vote of confidence as a signal of the desire among voters for a new generation of leadership.”

Butler County, a Republican stronghold among Ohio’s 88 counties, is crucial for any candidate seeking statewide office. The Party endorsement requires a supermajority of 60%. Yost won with 68%.

“I thank my supporters here for their support and trust. This is truly a game-changer in my campaign to unseat Rich Cordray and signals that momentum is clearly with us,” Yost said.

Yost said the results of a recent poll taken by his campaign gave strong indication that DeWine’s support within the Republican Party is waning. DeWine previously had touted a poll his campaign conducted early in the summer showing him with an 82 percent to 10 percent lead over Yost, a lead attributed mostly to DeWine’s high name ID.

However, Yost said that a poll of likely Republican Primary voters conducted last week by Wilson Research Strategies of Washington, D.C. showed that DeWine’s support, on an initial ballot, had already dropped to 58 percent, a slide consistent with DeWine’s recent election history. Further, when respondents were reminded of DeWine’s voting record in the U.S. Senate, Yost wins among likely Republican Primary voters 52 percent to 22 percent, an indication that Republicans are opting for a fresh face to fill out their slate of 2010 statewide candidates.

“I’ve believed for some time that the tide was turning in our favor based on conversations and meetings I’ve had with fellow Republicans all across Ohio since the first of the year. Our poll and the Butler County Republican Party endorsement offer convincing proof that the tide has, indeed, turned. We’re moving forward with renewed energy and a strong commitment to win the Attorney General’s office back for our party in 2010,” Yost said.

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Trial date set in Fox, Schuler ‘public corruption’ case after not guilty pleas

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 12, 2009, 03:47 PM

A long-time Butler County politician and a Columbus-area attorney both pleaded not guilty in federal court Thursday, Nov. 12, to charges U.S. authorities are calling “public corruption.”

Michael Fox — former state lawmaker, Butler County commissioner and Children Services director — did not appear in court for the arraignment after filing a waiver.

“(He’s) as well as can be expected,” defense attorney Ralph Kohnen said when asked about Fox’s health. Fox has medical problems and showed up to his initial appearance on Oct. 29 in a wheelchair.

Kohnen declined any further comment after entering Fox’s plea of not guilty before Magistrate Judge Timothy Hogan in federal court in Cincinnati.

Robert C. Schuler also entered a plea of not guilty.

“He’s presumed innocent, so we’ll just have to work through the case,” said Kevin Conners, Schuler’s attorney.

The case now goes to U.S. Judge Sandra Beckwith with a trial date set for Dec. 22, though the defendants may ask for a time extension to prepare their case.

Beckwith also presided over the trial of Orlando Carter, former owner of the Dynus Corp. fiber optics firm who was found guilty of bank fraud earlier this year for taking out an illicit multi-million dollar loan in the county’s name with help from a county official. Carter is still awaiting sentencing.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the same public corruption investigation that led to the Fox indictment netted Carter, along with former Butler County auditor Kay Rogers and two Dynus employees — all three of whom pleaded guilty to bank fraud charges last year.

The U.S. Attorneys Office leveled an eight-count indictment last month against Fox and Schuler, charging them with conspiring to improperly benefit from a $2.75 million fiber optics contract with the county.

Federal authorities say they found that Schuler, a Columbus-area attorney and owner of the fiber optics firm NORMAP, wired Fox $460,000 while his company profited off a contract with the county.

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Fox to plead not guilty through (high powered) lawyer

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 12, 2009, 09:10 AM

Longtime Butler County politician Michael A. Fox appears poised to fight federal corruption charges, according to court records.

And he’s doing so with an attorney who is a heavy hitter in both legal and political circles.

Fox — former state lawmaker, county commissioner and Children Services director — filed a waiver Tuesday, Nov. 10, stating he won’t appear at an arraignment in federal court today.

The waiver says he will enter a plea of not guilty through his attorney, Ralph Kohnen.

Kohnen has called the charges against Fox “over-reaching” and political.

Before joining the massive Cincinnati-based Taft, Stettinius and Hollister law firm, Kohnen was deputy chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cincinnati, running the office’s criminal side. This followed 11 years as an assistant U.S. attorney, according to the firm’s Web site.

Kohnen is also son of former Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Ralph Kohnen, and told the Cincinnati Business Courier in 2007 that his long-term plans may include politics.

Co-defendant Robert C. Schuler is still scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge Timothy Hogan in federal court in Cincinnati today, according to court records.

Federal authorities say they found that Schuler, a Columbus-area attorney and owner of the fiber optics firm NORMAP, wired Fox $460,000 while his company profited off a contract with the county.

Schuler’s attorney, Kevin Conners of Columbus, has not commented on the charges against his client.

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More than 1 in 10 Butler County residents on food stamps

By Josh Sweigart | Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 01:27 PM

From today’s paper:

More than one of every 10 people in Butler County have turned to food stamps to weather the recession this year, according to the county’s Department of Job and Family Services.

On average, 38,309 people have been on food stamps at any given point this year. That comes out to 10.8 percent of the county’s population of roughly 353,000.

In September, 41,710 people received food stamps, costing the federal program roughly $5.5 million. September 2008’s average was 29,958.

This puts the county on track to far surpass the $40 million in food stamps given out last year, possibly approaching $60 million, according agency Deputy Director Jerome Kearns. The county administers the federal program.

And it’s not just the number of people seeking public assistance Kearns finds “incredible.”

“We’re seeing clients today that we haven’t seen before,” he said. “Clientele that just have not had to access public-assistance services in the past because they were gainfully employed.

“They’re finding themselves in situations where they haven’t been before.”

Butler County isn’t alone. Hamilton County has 115,392 people on food stamps, or more than 13 percent of its population. Warren County saw its needy grow from 3,871 a month on average in 2007 to 7,790 in August.

And all these agencies are struggling with crippling state budget cuts. Butler County has cut its office hours and employees wages, and reduced its staff 20 percent since 2008 — eliminating 36 positions through attrition and layoffs.

“We just don’t have time to walk people through things like we used to,” said Doris Biship, Warren County Director of Job and Family Services. “We don’t hold their hands, you either give us what we need or we don’t approve cases.”

Kearns said the reason for the increased usage of food stamps — mirrored in nearly all social services — is clear: layoffs and recession.

“I’m hoping as the economy improves and we get more people jobs, and more people start to go to work — that these numbers decline,” he said.

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Carpenter confirms commission bid, Cates says no

By Josh Sweigart | Monday, November 9, 2009, 04:50 PM

Butler County Clerk of Courts Cindy Carpenter is going for it. She is done with ambiguity, I’m told, and preparing to make a run for county commission.

Carpenter said she would have to think about it after the Butler County GOP failed to endorse any candidate for the seat Thursday, Nov. 5. But I’m told she visited the county Board of Elections today with a fistful of petitions and started the filing process.

Carpenter was the third to be eliminated in voting Thursday, after no-name Wes Retherford and incumbent Commissioner Gregory Jolivette.

The deadline to file for the May primary isn’t until February, and others are expected to step forward.

One who says he does not plan to step forward is state Sen. Gary Cates, R-West Chester Twp., despite a rumor to the contrary.

“There’s no truth to that,” he said when asked if he was planning to run.

Pledged Republican candidates now include Commissioner Gregory Jolivette (the incumbent), former West Chester Twp. trustee Jose Alvarez, Hamilton resident Wes Retherford and Miami University journalism professor Bob Weber. Treasurer Nancy Nix hasn’t announced a decision since Thursday’s endorsement meeting.

Nix received the most party support Thursday, though only by a few more votes than Alvarez after several rounds of voting.

On the Democratic side, Lester “Butch” Hubble has pulled petitions. He ran against Commissioner Charles Furmon last year and lost.

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County commission race - The speeches

By Josh Sweigart | Friday, November 6, 2009, 11:40 AM

Below is the full text of the speeches given last night by Butler County Commissioner Gregory Jolivette and former West Chester Twp. trustee Jose Alvarez, as prepared for delivery. They were seeking the county GOP’s endorsement for commission next year, which no candidate secured.

Both have said they plan to run in the Republican primary in May.

Here is Jolivette’s speech:

(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)

JolEndSpeech

Here is Alvarez’s speech:

(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)

AlvEndSpeech
What do you think?

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Tori’s Station update 8 - No endorsed candidate

By Josh Sweigart | Friday, November 6, 2009, 12:02 AM

There was no endorsement after the final round of voting by the Butler County GOP for endorsement for county commission next year.

I’m told there were 279 cast ballots in the final round, with 60 percent needed to win the endorsement:

The breakdown, I’m told, was:

No endorsement - 69 votes
Nancy Nix - 113 votes
Jose Alvarez - 97 votes

What this means:

A contested Republican primary for Butler County commission lays ahead after the party failed to endorse any candidate for the race Thursday night, Nov. 5.

Embattled incumbent Commissioner Gregory Jolivette was eliminated in the second round of voting.

“We’ve allowed cliques and vendettas and power grabs to control the process, which is unfortunate,” he said, pledging to run in the May primary.

The other candidates were county Treasurer Nancy Nix, Clerk of Courts Cindy Carpenter, former West Chester Twp. Trustee Jose Alvarez and Hamilton resident Wes Retherford.

Carpenter and Nix said they’ll have to consider whether to stay in it, but the others plan to run.

Voting by more than 300 of the party’s Executive Committee took place behind closed doors at Tori’s Station in Fairfield.

There were five rounds of voting, with the lowest vote-getter eliminated after each round until Nix and Alvarez were left. Neither could get the 60 percent needed for party backing.

This means no candidate will get access to party coffers or resources during the primary, though party members will aid their chosen candidates. Whoever wins the primary, will automatically get the party support.

In his speech to the party, Jolivette touted his record, and defended himself against the nepotism allegations that brought a rush of big-name challengers from his own party.

Jolivette is under investigation by the Ohio Ethics Commission for voting on the hiring of his son and daughter in 2004 and 2005 as county employees.

“My counsel has cleared me to inform you that I confidently state that I expect to continue in my capacity as commissioner and will stay in my office as long as I am elected by the fine people of Butler County,” said a draft of his speech.

He went on to call for a return on the Butler County GOP of the past that was “the envy of the state.”

“We were united in purpose,” he said. “We did not have such split agendas, and such naked personal ambition.”

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Tori’s Station update 7 - Fourth round counted

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 11:26 PM

There was no endorsement after the fourth round of voting by the Butler County GOP for endorsement for county commission next year. One more runoff vote to go.

I’m told there were 290 cast ballots in the fourth round, with 174 percent needed to win the endorsement:

The breakdown was:

No endorsement - 68 votes
Nancy Nix - 113 votes
Jose Alvarez - 109 votes

They are casting ballots for a fifth and final round, with no change in candidates.

More on this race below.

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Tori’s Station update 6 - Third round counted

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 11:06 PM

Clerk of Courts Cindy Carpenter was eliminated in the third round of voting by the Butler County GOP for endorsement for county commission next year.

I’m told there were roughly 300 cast ballots in the third round, with 60 percent needed to win the endorsement:

The breakdown, I’m told, was:

No endorsement - 25 votes
Nancy Nix - 109 votes
Cindy Carpenter - 56 votes
Jose Alvarez - 111 votes

They are casting ballots for a fourth round without Carpenter.

More on this race below.

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Tori’s Station update 5 - Second round counted

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 10:40 PM

Commissioner Gregory Jolivette was eliminated in the second round of voting by the Butler County GOP for endorsement for Jolivette’s seat next year.

There were 313 cast ballots in the second round, with 187 needed for endorsement.

The breakdown was:

No endorsement - 7 votes
Nancy Nix - 94 votes
Gregory Jolivette - 50 votes
Cindy Carpenter - 57 votes
Jose Alvarez - 105 votes

They are casting ballots for a third round without Jolivette.

More on this race below.

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Tori’s Station update 4 - First round counted

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 09:55 PM

No endorsed candidate for Butler County commission emerged from the county GOP’s first round of voting here at Tori’s Station.

There were 318 cast ballots, with 190 needed for endorsement.

The breakdown was:

No endorsement - 10 votes
Wes Retherford - 13 votes
Nancy Nix - 84 votes
Gregory Jolivette - 54 votes
Cindy Carpenter - 66 votes
Jose Alvarez - 91 votes

This means Retherford is eliminated and they go to another round.

More on this race below.

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Tori’s Station Update 3

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 08:38 PM

The speeches have been delivered. Questions have been asked and answered. I’m told the Butler County Republican Party has finished its first round of voting and are tallying the votes now.

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Update from Tori’s Station 2

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 08:30 PM

Those inside the Butler County GOP endorsement meeting next door (see post below) say 330 people turned out to vote. That’s more than half the committee.

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Update from Tori’s Station

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 08:02 PM

I’m at Tori’s Station in Fairfield, where the roughly 525-member executive committee of the Butler County Republican Party is voting to endorse candidates for several races.

They endorsed several unopposed candidates, including John Kasich for governor, Steve Chabot for U.S. Congress.

This also includes Barbara Schneider Carter, a Hamilton attorney who is running for Domestic Relations judge after incumbent Judge Eva Kesslar has said she’s not seeking re-election.

The big show of the night, though, is about to start. That’s the competition for Butler County commissioner. See more on that race below.

I’m not actually in the room where the voting takes place. The public, and media, are not allowed. I’m in an adjacent room, waiting for people to emerge and relay to me the results.

Incumbent Commissioner Gregory Jolivette passed along a copy of his speech.

It starts with a recap of his tenure, including improving the county’s bond rating, keeping sales taxes low, lowering sewer rates and overseeing a period of economic growth locally. Then this:

“With that said, why do I have opposition for this endorsement? In my mind there are two reasons — let’s get to the heart of the matter right now.”

“First, the ethics complaint. My counsel has cleared me to inform you that I confidently state that I expect to continue in my capacity as commissioner and will stay in my office as long as I am elected by the fine people of Butler County.”

More to come…

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County approves caregiver union contract

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 01:19 PM

Butler County Commissioners unanimously approved a contract with the union representing caregivers working for Developmental Disabilities this morning, Nov. 5.

This breaks an impasse between county and the Professionals Guild of Ohio — which represents 75 agency employees, most of whom are direct care staff — after commissioners voted down the first proposed contract 2-1.

The revised contract includes a 2 percent pay raise this year, but does away with raises in 2010 and 2011 included in the first contract.

And it gives union members an additional day off starting in 2010 — which agency officials say other employees there already get — and allows them to accrue vacation days faster, starting in 2011.

“If raises weren’t going to be provided during certain periods, then employees needed to receive something else,” said union negotiator John Campbell-Orde.

Commission President Donald Dixon, who opposed the original contract along with Charles Furmon, called the revision “a good compromise.”

“I’d say we didn’t get everything we wanted, but we got a lot,” Dixon said, estimating the county’s savings at $80,000 per year. “They had come a long way from where they wanted to be.”

Commissioner Gregory Jolivette had sided with the union on the original contract, arguing Developmental Disabilities is levy funded and operating in the black, unlike the county general fund. But Dixon and Furmon said it was unfair to cut other offices and give out raises at that agency.

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Vote will shape county commission race: ‘It’s gonna be a nail-biter’

By Josh Sweigart | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 09:17 AM

From today’s paper:

Three sitting, elected Butler County officials, a former township trustee and an unknown Hamilton resident will go before the county GOP’s executive committee tonight, Nov. 5, all seeking the party’s backing for county commission next year.

It’s the seat that currently belongs to Commissioner Gregory Jolivette. But challenges from fellow Republicans mounted after revelations that Jolivette voted years ago on hiring his son and daughter as county employees.

Although it may be the political machine that controls nearly all countywide seats, the party is far from monolithic.

Big hitters within the party — especially from eastern Butler County — have thrown support behind Jose Alvarez, a former West Chester Twp. trustee.

But party insiders say Jolivette, Treasurer Nancy Nix and Clerk of Courts Cindy Carpenter each have entrenched supporters.

Then there’s Wes Retherford, whose status as a true outsider has drawn him support from the Cincinnati Tea Party.

As an Ohio Ethics Commission investigation of Jolivette drags on, heated campaigns have wound up in recent weeks as candidates court support from the party’s roughly 525-member executive committee.

That committee will meet behind closed doors at Tori’s Station in Fairfield tonight. There will be five rounds of voting, with the lowest vote-getter eliminated after each round until someone gets 60 percent.

Canididates who lose the endorsement rarely run in the primary.

Jolivette believes the intra-party challenge has a much to do with “vendettas and personal agendas” — stemming from his vote to slash the budgets of other officeholders — as with accusations of nepotism.

He is seeking the endorsement. But based on the support showed for him tonight, he may run even without the party’s nod. “My gut tells me yes, I’m running, but it will take due diligence after tomorrow night,” Jolivette said Wednesday, Nov. 4.

If it gets down to two people, and neither can get 60 percent of the vote, the party goes into the primary with no endorsement. If that happens, the other candidates will also be looking to tonight’s vote to determine if they have enough support to stay in it.

“A lot depends on tomorrow night,” Nix said Wednesday.

The candidates spent Wednesday night brushing up on their speeches and making last-minute calls for support to party members.

It’s the culmination of a full-scale political campaign in miniature, leading up to the Butler County Republican Party executive committee’s vote tonight, Nov. 5, on endorsement for a contested county commission race next year.

The candidates include incumbent county Commissioner Gregory Jolivette, Treasurer Nancy Nix, Clerk of Courts Cindy Carpenter, former West Chester Twp. trustee Jose Alvarez and Hamilton resident Wes Retherford.

Jolivette said he’s running on his record of keeping local taxes low while attracting jobs to Butler County since he joined the dais in 2004.

“I’m going against some very powerful people who have, I think, made it their agenda to have their revenge on me for making tough budgetary decisions,” he said. “But I have faith in the party and the committee, and I will be there to present my case and my suggestions for the future, and we will take it from there.”

Jolivette has come under fire for voting on the hiring of his son and daughter years ago. The revelation came to light shortly after he voted for heavy-handed cuts to the county’s budget earlier this year.

But he’s not the only one running on his record.

“My sense is I’m the leader in this race, right now,” Carpenter said. “I am the experienced candidate whose experience distinguishes me from the other candidates.”

Specifically, she said her background working with the criminal justice system and human services gives her insight on programs that account for 70 percent of the county’s ailing budget.

Nix’s record includes a term as vice mayor of Middletown and reducing staff in her office — which the party appointed her to clean up after the former treasurer was found guilty of nepotism charges — by 30 percent.

“It’s about qualifications, it’s about the future, it’s about my record and bringing that to the commissioners office,” Nix said.

Alvarez, who served as a trustee from 1995 to 2005, is running on a return to conservative roots campaign.

“We need to convince the voters that we can lead, that the GOP in Butler County can still lead, that the folks are willing to endorse somebody who they have faith in to be above board and have personal integrity,” he said.

And Retherford said he’s running as an outsider, as he put the finishing touches on his speech Wednesday.

“I’m going to hit on the fact that I am a new face, and new blood, something people are asking for,” he said. “The fact that I’m a regular, hard-working citizen that knows what it’s like to struggle with bills, that can relate to people.”

“I think it’s going to be pretty tough tomorrow night, all around. There’s a lot of pulling and pushing for the different candidates and all the candidates have their positive and negative qualities, and there’s a lot of support for each one of them,” Retherford said.

“It’s gonna be a nail-biter all the way down to the end.”

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County commission agenda

By Josh Sweigart | Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 07:02 PM

Below is the agenda for Thursday’s Butler County commission meeting.

Anything look interesting to you?

(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)

County 110509

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Auditor nearing completion on off year property re-appraisal

By Josh Sweigart | Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 02:36 PM

Press release from Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds:

Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds committed in 2008 to adjust property values on his own this year and the process is nearing completion. After taking office in April of 2008, when a state-mandated revaluation based on higher market values (2005, 2006, 2007) had been virtually completed, Reynolds promised to analyze values this year and adjust them accordingly.

“Butler County did not escape the free fall of home values in 2008 and 2009,” Reynolds stated. “While there has been some recent stabilization of the market, homes are clearly selling for less than they were in 2006 and 2007.”

The revaluation will take into account residential sales data collected in 2008 and 2009.

By utilizing the office’s real estate software, the majority of the work has been accomplished in house.

Reynolds sees different levels of decline across the county. “Based on real data, certain areas of the county have faired better than others. As expected, homes in suburban areas such as West Chester and Liberty Township have declined, but not near the level of decline that we have seen in the more urban areas of Hamilton, Middletown and parts of Trenton.”

“The bottom line is the state regulated 2008 revaluation was based on 2006 and 2007 data, which did not come close to reflecting the economic realities of the last two years. I am committed to analyzing and reducing values wherever necessary,” Reynolds said.

After this year’s revaluation, the next scheduled county-wide review will take place in 2011.

“Like all property owners, I’m hopeful values recover and the economy strengthens. However, until such time I’m committed to appraising real estate at a conservative, fair value.”

Reynolds plans to have the reductions in place before the end of the year.

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County charrette to plan development around rail stop

By Josh Sweigart | Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 02:34 PM

Press release from Butler County:

The Butler County Department of Development will host a “World Town Planning Day” charrette on Nov. 6, 2009 from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. at Middletown City Hall.

The Department of Development is hosting this event to brainstorm development ideas for a Middletown area that would surround a depot stop for a proposed 3C passenger rail line. The proposed passenger rail line would travel between Cincinnati and Cleveland with stops in Sharonville, Dayton, Columbus and Berea, with future stops in Middletown, Springfield and Galion.

The Department of Development is inviting Middletown residents, business owners, area planners, builders, realtors, economic development specialists and architects to participate in the event. No registration is required and the event is free.

The Department of Development is hosting this event with its partners the American Planning Association, Miami University and the city of Middletown. The event will be held at Middletown City Hall, which is located at 1 Donham Plaza, Middletown, OH 45042 in conference room 4-C.

If you have any questions regarding this event or need directions, please contact the Butler County Department of Development at (513) 887-3405.

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Progressive PAC to hold final 2009 meeting

By Josh Sweigart | Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 09:13 PM

Press release from Butler County Progressive PAC:

The Butler County Progressive Political Action Committee meets for its fourth and final 2009 General Meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 11 for a work session that looks ahead to the 2010 elections.

The meeting, which is open to all PAC members and their guests, takes place at the LCNB Bank Building, Community Room, second floor, 30 Park Place West, in uptown Oxford.

Marilyn Elzey, Chair of the PAC Membership Development Committee, and Brian Harrison, who chairs the PAC’s Political Information and Outreach Committee, are in charge of the meeting.

Elzey and Harrison will lead an analysis of the November 3 local elections. They will focus on the results of the races involving the three PAC-endorsed candidates, each of whom will be invited to provide feedback on their campaigns.

The PAC will set election goals for 2010, an especially important year because it will determine the composition of the Ohio State Apportionment Board, which determines congressional and state legislative districts for the next decade.

Petitions and walking lists will be provided for members and guests who wish to seek election to the Butler County Democratic Party Central Committee in 2010. PAC membership applications will also be available.

For further information, please email (daikerda@muohio.edu) or call (513-233-1329) PAC President Don Daiker.

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Fox fights for his legacy

By Josh Sweigart | Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 07:30 AM

Longtime Butler County politician Michael Fox is set to appear in federal court Nov. 12 for arraignment on charges the U.S. Attorney’s Office is calling public corruption.

Fox and Columbus-area attorney Robert C. Schuler are set to appear before Magistrate Judge Timothy Hogan and enter a plea on an eight-county indictment unsealed Thursday, Oct. 29.

Here’s more on the charges against Fox and Schuler:

In this story, we introduce the charges, and how a horse named “Fabiano” is involved.
A more detailed explanation of the charges can be found here.
Who is Robert C. Schuler and why did county officials view him as a “White knight”? Find out here.
The owners of other local companies mentioned in the indictment were interviewed for this story.
Here is a bulleted timeline of Fox’s career.
Here are photos from Fox’s initial appearance in Cincinnati.
Here is an overview of the mysterious NORMAP deal.
In this story, county officials stand by UTS’s existing $9 million contract with the county that Fox voted on, though the company was mentioned in the indictment.
Finally, here is the story that ran Sunday in which Fox talks about the charges against him, and how he was asked to wear a wire.

This last piece is based on an interview that actually took place in the first week of October:

Soft-spoken and ambling with a cane, Michael A. Fox is a less imposing figure these days.

He spends his hours tinkering with a children’s book he’s authoring, sitting in the Fairfield Twp. home he is in the process of losing to foreclosure and where his personal belongings are packed in boxes.

Not long ago, “Megaphone Mike Fox” was considered one of the most powerful men in Butler County.

Today, he fights for this legacy, which is about all he says he has left after medical ailments and legal bills have ruined his health and finances.

In an eight-count indictment unsealed Thursday, Oct. 29, Fox is charged in federal court with mail fraud and tax charges that amount to “public corruption,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

If convicted, the 60-year-old could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Fox — former county commissioner, state lawmaker and Children Services director — is alleged to have solicited and received money from several companies doing business with the county when he sat on the commission.

This includes more than $460,000 allegedly funneled to Fox by Robert C. Schuler, who Fox brought in to take over a fiber optics project worth roughly $1.8 million. Schuler faces similar charges.

Fox has said in statements that he won’t comment on the government’s allegations. But he defended himself and his long service in Butler County in a recent interview with the JournalNews and the Middletown Journal.

‘I won’t repudiate who I am’

For years now, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has combed through multiple aspects of Michael A. Fox’s life. His mortgage paperwork. His bank statements. His voting record.

Before the investigation culminated in an eight-count indictment unsealed Thursday, Oct. 29, — including charges he solicited money from companies doing business with Butler County when he was commissioner — Fox talked about the stress the investigation put him underhe had experienced.

“They’ve already broken me financially. They have put untold pain and hurt on my family and my wife; the techniques they’ve used, they are just unbelievable,” said the former commissioner, state lawmaker and children services director.

Fox said the FBI tricked his daughter into meeting with agents at Miami University, and he said they showed up at his wife’s work, threatening to indict her. In the process, authorities have dangled over his head a way to make it end, he said : Plead guilty.

“It’s an investigation where the conclusion was made at the beginning,” he said. “There’s a principle here, and that is, for me, I won’t repudiate who I am, what I’ve been and what I’ve done in order to help them keep their dockets clean.

“I had hoped to have a retirement where I could write, where I could continue to do things in a different way, and I have the entire resources of the federal government devoted to making sure they destroy me and my legacy,” he said.

“There is nobody that would withstand the level of scrutiny and hundreds of thousands of dollars in resources they spent reviewing every aspect of my life into the ’90s, in an attempt to ‘find the dirt.’”

Fox: Investigation was political

Why would they do all this?

“I had a failed liberal Democratic congressional candidate applying for a promotion, having an opportunity to drive a stake in the Republican party of Butler County; and I had an FBI agent that bought hook, line and sinker a story that Butler County was corrupt, and the story came to him from people who were trying to save themselves,” Fox said.

That congressional candidate is Richard Chema, a candidate in 2006 for Ohio’s 3rd U.S. Congressional District, is the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted cases against former Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers, former county GOP finance chairman Joe Ruscigno and the executives from the fiber optics firm Dynus Corp.

Chema was also a candidate in 2006 for Ohio’s 3rd U.S. Congressional District. A Democrat, Chema tried to unseat Republican Mike Turner and failed, getting just over 44 percent of the vote.

The Dynus investigation is what brought the FBI’s attention in the first placescrutiny to the county. The company took out millions of dollars in loans in the county’s name without county approval. It ended with Eventually, Rogers and two Dynus executives pleaded guilty — and the former company owner was found guilty — of bank fraud. Their cases revealed that the fiber optics company took out millions of dollars in loans in the county’s name without county approval.

FBI agent Kevin Gormley led the Dynus investigations.

“When that FBI agent asked me to become a Kay and wear the wires and do all the (things) to say or induce people to say they did something illegal, I refused,” Fox said.

U.S. Attorney’s Office Spokesman Fred Alverson said the investigation — which began under a Republican administration — was apolitical.

“Prosecutorial decisions are based on facts and evidence gathered by federal, state and local law enforcement agents, and that’s the only thing on which they’re based,” Alverson said.

Chema is no longer prosecutor in the case, having taken a position in Washington, D.C., after successfully convicting former Dynus owner Orlando Carter on 11 charges.

Fox altered county landscape

The longest serving state lawmaker in county history — 23 years — Fox was the driving force behind some of the area’s largest local transportation projects.

He created the Transportation Improvement District and secured more than $160 million to connect Hamilton to Interstate 75 via the 11.5 mile Ohio 129 extension — briefly named the Michael A. Fox Highway — and providing for the construction of the Union Center Boulevard Interchange.

“That set the infrastructure up that grew our economy that made Butler County the number one job producer in the state for several years,” he said, calling it “a vision I had to claw my way and fight my way through.”

Fox steered more than $100 million to Miami University, and allocated money to help build the Government Services Center in Hamilton. He found $11 million for the Jack Kirsch underpass in Hamilton as a lawmaker, and $3 million for the removal of the Middletown mall as a county commissioner.

Fox toughened laws on crimes committed with firearms, put a victim’s advocate on parole boards, created the Ohio School Facilities Commission, moved a developmental disabilities center to Fairfield, established a missing children’s registry, created the Butler County Juvenile Court and enacted numerous bills dealing with children services.

“It’s very difficult to go through a day in Butler County, and not be touched directly or indirectly by something that I did as a legislator or commissioner in my career,” he said.

A vocal advocate for children

He also was known for frequent and colorful press conferences and tireless advocacy of whatever his cause was at the time.

One program provided computers to classrooms across the state. The half-billion-dollar-plus annual program supplied computers and Internet to every elementary school in Ohio until Gov. Bob Taft ended it.

“That’s impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of children,” he said.

Fox stepped down from the county commission in 2007 to take over Butler County Children Services. The agency was in a tailspin — its board had been disbanded and the director fired — since 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel was killed by his foster parents.

Some criticized the move, since he was taking a commission-appointed job making $118,000 a year. But he ultimately won praise from commissioners and the public for extensive reforms at the agency, including increased background checks for foster parents. He resigned in March of this year.

Scandal followed Fox

Fox ended his long state legislative career in 1997 with a teary goodbye after the public learned that he had accepted airline tickets and lodging from a lobbyist.

A veteran lawmaker described the private meeting where Republicans voted to penalize Fox as “the most emotional caucus meeting I’ve ever attended.”

“Mike cried. I cried. There were a lot of tears,” state Rep. Bob Corbin, R-Washington Twp., told reporters at the time.

Fox was also the subject of scrutiny as the champion of a fiber optics project by Dynus Corp., which went bankrupt after the county auditor and several company employees took out an illicit multimillion dollar loan in the county’s name.

Fox repeatedly denied any knowledge of the loan, though a company president said he helped lobby for it — an accusation also listed in the federal indictment.

‘I went into it wanting to be governor’

Fox said he has two regrets: “I guess my biggest regret is I didn’t finish law school.

“My second biggest regret is I got into politics to begin with. I regret the price my family paid for my decision to go into public service. I regret the things they endured in order for me to work so hard through the years to improve the lives of others. My wife and children made enormous sacrifices because of my work to serve others. …

“The price they paid was just too high. Unfortunately, it took me until late in my career to fully understand that. When I finally figured it out, it was too late,” he said.

“I went into it wanting to be governor, and believed I could be,” he said. “If I had it to do over, I wouldn’t have done that.”

Fox believes he simply accumulated too many enemies in his long career. He said then Gov. James Rhodes warned warned him in 1974 that if you put forward an idea with 98 percent of the people behind you, 2 percent are against you.

“Do that 50 times and you have 100 percent of the people against you for 50 different reasons,” Fox said.

“Behind each and every one of (my) accomplishments, was a trail of enemies that never forget and never lose an opportunity to destroy you,” Fox said.

“It’s been extraordinarily painful to see a handful of people with the power and the resources far beyond mine to attempt to take all the good that I’ve done in my career and try to define me as someone I’m not,” he said.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Fox indictment

Jolivette: ‘We’re in for a hell of a confrontation’

By Josh Sweigart | Monday, November 2, 2009, 03:24 PM

“We’re in for a hell of a confrontation,” Butler County Commissioner Gregory Jolivette said at the end of a budget meeting today, Nov. 2.

This was in response to budgets still trickling into the county commissioners office after the deadline Friday Oct. 30. The budgets from other elected offices around the county were supposed to include cuts to address a recession-wrought deficit estimated at $6.6 million.

Many of them did. But some officeholders with the largest budgets refused to make the cuts. Others increased their budgets.

County Finance Director Pete Landrum said today the Board of Elections appears to be asking for a $1 million budget increase, instead of the $305,193 decrease requested from the agency.

“I don’t know if it’s something with special elections, or several of them next year,” he said. “Even compared to other years of that kind (including a gubernatorial election) it’s above (average).”

This followed an announcement Friday that Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones — whose budget accounts for more than a third of the ailing general fund — is refusing to make the more than $2.5 million budget cut requested from his office.

County Prosecutor Robin Piper — one of the other large budgets in the county — is one of many departments still crunching numbers, slowed by a new computer system the county enacted this year.

But he said the closer he gets to the $428,774 cut requested by commissioners — worth up to 10 jobs, he said — the more he worries about the impacts to services.

“Any time I’m not there to help law enforcement, any time I’m not there to aggressively prosecute cases, that’s not a good thing for the community,” Piper said. “The ultimate result of that is jeopardizing the safety and well being of the citizens in the community.”

“I’ve heard rumblings that not everyone is complying (with proposed cuts),” Jolivette said today. “What are we going to do about it?”

The answer from his fellow commissioners was unclear. The ad-hoc county budget commission — formed this year by elected officeholders to advise commissioners on addressing the budget crisis — has suggested sending back budgets that don’t comply.

But Commission President Donald Dixon only expressed frustration that the county hadn’t already come up with a plan in the past few months — and years.

“Six out of the last nine years, you spent more money than you took in,” said Dixon, who joined the commission in 2007.

“No matter how much money we gave them (other offices), Don, that wasn’t enough,” responded county Administrator Tim Williams.

Permalink | Comments (14) | Post your comment | Categories: County budget

‘Impersonator’ rankles GOP with negative e-mail blast in commission endorsement bid

By Josh Sweigart | Monday, November 2, 2009, 11:15 AM

Political civil war has broken out within the Butler County Republican party over who should get the party’s endorsement for county commissioner this week.

In addition to candidates themselves sending out fliers and videos, anonymous surrogates are waging negative campaigns using blogs, e-mail and web videos.

Over the weekend, someone masquerading as party leadership used the party’s e-mail list. Using the name “Real ButlerCty GOP,” he or she spread information critical of two candidates: former West Chester Twp. trustee Jose Alvarez and Clerk of Courts Cindy Carpenter.

In e-mails, that person sent copies of a local blog that accuses prominent elected county officials of forming a back-room “cabal” to steer the party toward endorsing Alvarez.

The e-mail came with this disclaimer:

Please see attached. The Commission endorsement vote is YOUR vote, and YOUR vote only. We don’t need any back room deals, no matter who is involved.

And he or she passed along on old news video questioning whether Carpenter’s employees engaged on political activities on county time. Here is a copy of the video you can download:

FoxRally.wmv

CAPTION

It came with this message:

The attached video is something EVERY Butler county GOP member should see. Questions remain as to whether her county property was used and when vacations were actually requested. This video plus the events in the newspaper this past week, are stark reminders that our party MUST move forward with a fresh approach, and leave behind the negatives of the past…

County GOP Chairman Tom Ellis denounced the e-mails — apparently sent to the thousands of people on the party’s confidential e-mail list — Sunday, Nov. 1.

Here is Ellis’ statement:

The Butler County Republican Party is denouncing e-mails that were sent to a large number of its membership and County residents this past Friday (10/30/09 approx. 3pm ET) and on Sunday (11/01/09 approx. 4pm ET). Neither of the e-mails were authorized or sent by the Party.

Someone claiming to be the ‘Butler County GOP’ and ‘Real ButlerCty GOP’ sent mass e-mails from two Gmail accounts and used the subject lines ‘Butler County GOP News’ and ‘Butler GOP short video’. The sender attempted to mask their identity and provided no name. The content of the first message consisted mostly of an attached copy of a recent blog post from a local political opinion blog. The second message contained an old video attachment from Channel 12 WKRC.

The Butler County Republican Party does offer a voluntary subscription to occasional e-mail updates. However, the e-mail addresses are kept confidential to avoid abuse and to respect the privacy of its members and others in the community that want official communication from the Party. Those addresses have never been sold, distributed or made public for any reason.

Executive Chairman Tom Ellis explains, “Someone is deceiving our membership by sending these unsolicited e-mails. That isn’t acceptable in business and will not be tolerated by our Party. We will protect our members, our community, and the GOP brand. We are investigating these incidents and pursuing every avenue, including legal remedies. This attempted deceit will stop.”

Vote is Thursday night

In addition to Alvarez and Carpenter candidates include Gregory Jolivette, Treasurer Nancy Nix and Hamilton resident Wes Retherford.

All five will appear before the party’s massive central committee Thursday, Nov. 5, seeking a majority of the party’s support through several rounds of run-off voting.

Historically, candidates who do not get the party’s endorsement don’t run in the primary. But Jolivette — who came under fire from his party when the Ohio Ethics Commission confirmed it was investigating him voting on jobs for his children — has said he’ll run even without the party’s nod.

Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment |

Sheriff refusing staff cuts

By Josh Sweigart | Monday, November 2, 2009, 10:24 AM

This story almost got lost in the hubbub of the indictment of Michael Fox:

Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones sent a letter to commissioners Thursday, Oct. 29, refusing to cut personnel 11 percent as they suggested.

“This office has reduced costs and has generated a significant amount of revenue,” Jones said in the letter. “At this time I feel that it would be inappropriate and irresponsible to submit a budget that would require such additional drastic reductions and potentially put the public at further risk.

“Hopefully there are alternate solutions, but ultimately the decision is yours.”

Jones could not be reached for comment Thursday night.

Chief Deputy Anthony said personnel is the biggest expense for the office and the sheriff has declined to make further cuts that would amount to 2.5 million.

In a letter sent Tuesday, Oct. 13, commissioners asked their departments and other elected officeholders for 11 percent cuts in non-mandated services to patch a projected $6.6 million hole next year.

They are asking for proposed budgets from these offices by today, Oct. 30, along with a list of which services they provide that are mandated by law. Everything else is on the table as commissioners work to craft a budget by Jan. 1.

Under initial projections, the hardest hit would be the sheriff’s office. It accounts for more than a quarter of the county’s total $89 million budget and is proposed to lose $2.5 million next year.

Cutting that much would “dramatically and severely impact public safety for the citizens,” said Dwyer earlier this year.

County Finance Director Pete Landrum said the sheriff’s office budget accounts for more than a third of the county’s general fund and more than 40 percent once mandated services are subtracted, he said.

Commissioner Gregory Jolivette said he finds it “very distressing” Jones would take such a stance.

Jolivette said Jones is “playing a power game and using public safety as the weapon.”

He added balancing the budget is not an option, noting if it is not done the county will go into default, the state will take over its finances and make the cuts.

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