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Michael D. Pitman reports about Butler County, Ohio, politics, county government, countywide issues and Butler County people just like you for Cox Ohio Publishing (including the Hamilton JournalNews, Middletown Journal and several weekly papers in Butler County). He wants your suggestions and questions for more news stories. Leave a comment for him here or e-mail Michael at Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > July
July 2009
Orlando Carter trial day five, week wrap-up
The fifth day of the trial of former Dynus Corp. owner Orlando Carter continues today in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.
I’ll post updates here throughout the day, as well as provide a weekly wrap-up so the past five day’s coverage is all in one place.
So far today, Carter’s defense team is continuing its cross examination of Julia Light, the former controller of Dynus Corp.
There also may be a few additional angles to pursue today.
Thoughts on the trial thus far?
Read on for the weekly wrap-up.
Jury selection and opening statements
The trial’s first two days were consumed with jury selection and opening statements on behalf of Carter’s defense team and the U.S. government.
Race was the biggest issue that came out of the jury selection. Carter’s attorneys argued their client, who is black, couldn’t get a fair trial because just two of the 16 total jurors (including four alternates) were also black.
Responded U.S. Judge Sandra Beckwith: “Obviously your client is not entitled to a jury that is packed with his ethnic peers.” Opening statements by U.S. attorneys tried to paint Carter as a shady businessman living above his means, obsessed with success to the point that it eventually cost him (and his company of nearly 60 employees) everything. Whether it will cost him his freedom remains to be seen.
Attorneys for Carter kicked off the trial by trying to portray their client as a capable businessman who was misled by Dynus President James Smith and others.
In response to a commenter below, Carter’s defense team has been consistent with this message, often deflecting their client’s responsibility onto people like Smith. They have offered little other explanation in their cross examination off U.S. witnesses thus far. Their time will come, however, when the government rests its case, perhaps not until late next week or early the week after.
Prosecution: Auditor’s letter, lies helps Carter obtain loan
On Wednesday, July 29, U.S. attorneys delved deeper into explaining the methods Carter allegedly used to obtain a loan from a west coast mortgage company for his $1.2 million mansion in Maineville.
The rest of the day focused on Carter’s Maineville home and the loan.
Other methods Carter allegedly used to obtain the loan was the topic of discussion on Thursday, July 30, as the government called to the stand a former Dynus mortgage broker and the company’s chief controller, both of whom testified (as mentioned above) they forged pay stubs and tax forms to inflate Carter’s income.
Friday’s testimony included John Rieser, who was the trustee in Carter’s bankruptcy filing in January 2006, about 90 days after Dynus folded.
Rieser said Friday Carter ultimately lied to him during the voluntary information gathering process of filing his bankruptcy petition. He said Carter transferred thousands of dollars to friends, family members and others in the weeks leading up to the filing, and never claimed the acts on bankruptcy forms.
Rieser is suing Carter in U.S. District Court.
Here’s the filing.
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TweetOrlando Carter trial day four: ‘This never happened.’
I’ll be subbing for reporter Josh Sweigart today and tomorrow as it pertains to the ongoing trial of former Dynus Corp. owner Orlando Carter.
Today’s testimony continued regarding allegations that Carter falsified documents to secure a loan for a $1.2 million house in Maineville — a loan that, as it turns out, was for much more than he could afford.
One note of local interest before getting into that, however:
Two local folks were named in connection with a deal to bring fiber optics to Greensboro, Ala. in 2005. Testimony by former Dynus consultant John Catalano, who helped to secure financing for certain projects, included comments on exhibits of e-mail strings among several Dynus officials.
Among those officials involved in discussions to secure loans for the Greensboro deal were West Chester Twp. Trustee George Lang and Scott Owens, according to the exhibits.
Yesterday’s testimony covered former Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers’ involvement in the loan. Witnesses said a letter from Rogers, acting independent from the county as a Certified Public Accountant, helped to secure the loan from Long Beach Mortgage.
That letter verified Carter was the 100-percent owner of Dynus, and that the now-defunct company was worth $13 million.
Now, onto the rest of today’s testimony thus far.
Carter is fighting an 11-count indictment, including charges of bank fraud and forgery. He’s alleged to have misrepresented his income to secure a $1.2 million home, misled banks about business deals with Butler Count. He’s also accused of lying on a bankruptcy petition.
The mortgage broker on the deal to secure the loan for Carter’s dream home was Damian Ortiz, leader of the Dynus Corp. mortgage arm, Dynus Financial, who testified today that he was pressured by his boss into submitting fudged documents.
Ortiz said he told Carter (who he considered at mentor at first) the home’s price was more than he could likely afford.
But, “He had his heart set on the house,” Ortiz said. “He said ‘we can make that happen. We have to make that happen. I want that house.”
He said Carter instructed him to meet with Julia Light, another Dynus officer, who would “make it happen.”
When Ortiz obtained the documents needed to secure the loan (a copy of Carter’s W-2 and two recent pay stubs), he immediately noticed something was wrong.
“The taxes were way off,” Ortiz said.
“When I got them from her, she basically told me that this never happened,” Ortiz told the court. “I knew what we were doing was wrong. …And she was very, very nervous, as was I.”
Although he knew what was happening, Ortiz said he sent the documents to Long Beach Mortgage to obtain the loan for the home because he felt pressured.
“I made a bad decision,” Ortiz said. “I was under a lot of pressure to get this deal done. It was my boss that was asking me to get it done.
“I needed to make sure my income was secure. I had two kids to support.”
Ortiz also testified he had done the same for former Dynus Corp. President James Smith and himself.
Ortiz said the U.S government offered him immunity from any charges so long as he is truthful during testimony.
After lunch, U.S. attorneys will continue their questioning of Julia Light.
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TweetKay Rogers helped Dynus owner buy home
While Dynus Corp. was quietly headed toward ruin, former Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers wrote a letter certifying the business was worth $13 million.
This letter was used in a home loan application for former Dynus owner Orlando Carter, who was buying a $1.2 million mansion in Maineville.
The March 2005 letter was written by Rogers as a private certified public accountant. At the time, she was also county auditor, but later resigned that post after pleading guilty to bank fraud in relation with a deal with Dynus.
With Rogers, the former Dynus president and a former Dynus employee having pleaded guilty to bank fraud in the deal, Carter has been the only one to stand trial for the company taking out multi-million dollar loan in Butler County’s name without county approval.
Carter’s defense team has argued that he wasn’t involved in the illicit deal; it was all Rogers and company president Jim Smith.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Dynus
TweetMaineville mansion takes center stage in Dynus trial
In 2005, with his company seemingly on the verge of unbridled success, Dynus Corp. owner Orlando Carter applied to purchase a $1.2 million mansion in Maineville.
It was his dream home, with 6,383 square feet of living space and wooded acreage in a golf course community. See a description of the property here.
The question is whether Carter knew the company was also on the precipice of disaster. The deal that its future hinged on was built on misrepresentations to banks about a pending deal with Butler County — though the county had never approved it.
Testimony in Carter’s federal court trial in Cincinnati Wednesday, July 29, focused on what Carter knew about his income and his company’s health when he bought the house.
The 11-count indictment Carter is fighting include charges he lied on his loan application. Other charges revolve around his role in the Butler County deal that led to the downfall of the county auditor.
He used $360,000 in company money for a down payment on the house. To assure the lender, Long Beach Mortgage Company, he could afford the $6,000 monthly mortgage, Carter reported that his income was $35,000 a month and that he earned $475,680 in 2004.
It turns out he made nowhere near that amount. And his tax filing in 2004 said he made only $100,850.
Carter’s defense team said he didn’t know that company president Jim Smith and former Butler County auditor Kay Rogers had conspired on the deal between the company and county, and that the deal was doomed to fail.
Without that knowledge, they said, Carter had every reason to believe he could afford the house. “Everything is founded upon what happened in Butler county,” said Wende Cross, Carter’s defense attorney.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Dynus
TweetDefense: Dynus owner was misled
Former Dynus owner Orlando Carter’s attorney painted his client this afternoon, July 28, as a capable businessman who was misled by company president Jim Smith to think that his company was doing better than it was.
Carter didn’t know his company had taken out a multi-million dollar loan in Butler County’s name without the county’s approval, his attorney said, and that led him to make some uninformed decisions — but they don’t approach fraud.
“You’ll hear evidence he (Smith) was a rogue employee of Dynus who lied to everybody, including the government, and especially Orlando,” said attorney Wende Cross.
Cross argued that the Butler County deal that led to the company’s demise and the downfall of Butler County auditor Kay Rogers was arranged by Smith and Rogers without Carter’s knowledge. Carter was under the impression that the deal was above board, she said.
Once he found out about the deal, Cross said, he made every effort to find out what happened and fix it.
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TweetProsecution: Carter ‘lied and cheated’ as Dynus owner
Prosecutors in the trial of Orlando Carter tried to portray him this morning, July 28, as another example of a unscrupulous businessman trying to live above his means at the expense of his company.
U.S. Attorney outlined the charges against Carter in U.S. district court this morning, telling a story of shady business deals that eventually led his company Dynus Corp in ruins and caused the downfall of a county auditor.
The company’s eventual collapse in 2005 left roughly 60 people out of work.
Carter is fighting an 11-count indictment, including charges of bank fraud. He is accused of misrepresenting his income to secure a $1.2 million home, misleading banks about business deals with Butler County and lying on a bankruptcy petition.
“It all sounds very complicated, but in reality it is quite simple,” U.S. Attorney Richard Chema said. “The evidence is going to show that this defendant lied and cheated in his personal and business lives to get what he wanted.”
Carter’s defense team will outline his defense this afternoon.
Part of the charges against Carter include working with other Dynus officials to secure a $4 million loan from National City Bank in Butler County’s name without county approval and using that loan to substantiate another multi-million dollar loan from Fifth Third Bank.
At the same time, prosecutors say he reported his income at $475,680 in 2004 to get a home loan for his Maineville “mansion,” while his actual tax filing for that year was $100,850.
Bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud are the most serious charges against him, carrying up to 30 years imprisonment.
The trial before U.S. Judge Sandra Beckwith is expected to last three weeks.
Former auditor Kay Rogers, who resigned after pleading guilty to bank fraud in relation to the deal, has been alerted she may be called as a witness, according to her attorney
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Dynus
TweetJury seated, opening arguments to begin in Dynus trial
Update: Read the full story about yesterday’s jury selection and the role race played here.
I am back in court today, July 28, looking forward to hearing opening arguments from both sides. The judge is right now reading the list of charges against Orlando Carter.
Original post from yesterday (the number of jurors changed as jury selection continued):
Jury selection is about to begin in the trial of Orlando Carter, whose company Dynus is accused of taking out a multimillion dollar loan in Butler County’s name without county approval. See more on the trial below.
Carter’s attorney, Martin Pinelas, asked the jury list to be thrown out because only 2 of the 64 potential jurors who showed up for duty are black, like his client.
“Two out of 64 African Americans does not seem a representative sample,” he said.
U.S. Judge Sandra Beckwith denied the motion, saying the process the court uses to select jurors is fair and does not exclude any group. She cited case law that said the process, not the turnout, is what’s legally important.
“Obviously your client is not entitled to a jury that is packed with his ethnic peers,” Beckwith said.
The jury pool is now seated and preparing for questioning.
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TweetCounty may kill contracts with Community Behavioral Health
While I was in court yesterday covering the Dynus trial, fellow reporter Dave Greber picked up my slack in covering the Butler County commission.
He came away with this story (read the full story here, including questions about how these programs have grown, and comments from readers):
Butler County commissioners may cancel two social-service contracts next month that might save taxpayers more than $635,000, but could put more than a dozen clients who used the services on the street.
A vote is expected Thursday, July 30, to terminate two Community Behavioral Health contracts for services the agency provides through Transformation Station and Porch Light for $205,664 and $431,664, respectively. County officials said Monday, July 27, at a commission meeting that the cost of running the two locations outweighs their success. The contracts would likely end Sept. 15.
The Middletown-based Transformation Station, created in November 2006, provides supervised housing for women and their children who are at or below the poverty level. Hamilton-based Porch Light, established in December 2008, provides the same for young adults graduating from foster care to independent living.
Because the contracts are for family services, state law does not require a public bid. Still, the agreements must be approved by county commissioners in order for funds — from state and county coffers — to be administered.
Note: Community Behavioral Health is a sister agency of Resolutions, Community Solutions. Read more about the controversy surrounding these agencies here.
What do you think?
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TweetThe latest on the Dynus trial right here
The federal trial set to start in Cincinnati today, July 27, may provide details surrounding one of the biggest scandals in Butler County’s recent history.
And I will be following it all in this blog.
On trial is Orlando Carter, 42, of Mason, whose fiber optic firm Dynus Corp. took out a multi-million dollar loan in Butler County’s name without county approval.
A prominent elected official resigned in the aftermath of the deal, and questions mounted — some of which may be answered in the trial — about forged signatures, possible payoff of county officials and what company and county agents knew about the deal.
Carter pleaded not guilty last year to an 11-count indictment including charges of bank fraud for allegedly making false statements to secure more than $10 million in loans and lines of credit for personal real estate and the operation of his business.
Bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud are the most serious charges against him, carrying up to 30 years imprisonment.
The trial before U.S. Judge Sandra Beckwith is expected to last three weeks, starting today with jury selection and opening arguments.
Former auditor Kay Rogers, who resigned after pleading guilty to bank fraud in relation to the deal, has been alerted she may be called as a witness, according to her attorney.
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TweetBudget cuts force court layoffs
Press release from Butler County Domestic Relations Court (see details on the county’s budget cuts here):
(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)
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TweetSheriff blasts commissioners, pink slips go out to deputies
UPDATE: In this story in today’s paper, Sheriff Richard K. Jones has some choice words for the commissioners who cut his budget, forcing the layoffs.
And here is a copy of the pink slip that went out to deputies:
(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)
Original post:
Butler County sheriff’s deputies complained to county commissioners this morning, July 23, about what they see as over-spending while some of them are slated for layoffs.
The sheriff’s office plans to lay off 17 part-time and 13 full-time employees on Aug. 16, according to Brett Casteel, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police.
Casteel was one of a dozen sheriff’s office employees at this morning’s county commission meeting, where commissioners approved nearly $5,000 in travel and training for other offices and five pay raises for union members in other county offices.
“It’s kind of hard to swallow seeing somebody get a raise while we are being laid off,” said Deputy William Bowling, who has worked for the county since 2001.
“There’s people that have worked for the county a lot of years that are being laid off,” Bowling said.
Commissioners tried to explain the spending they approved this morning, saying much of it didn’t come from the county’s general fund, which is hemorrhaging money in the ongoing recession, forcing the layoffs.
“This isn’t easy for me, believe me,” Commissioner Gregory Jolivette told the deputies.
Casteel said the police union is still in negotiations with the county and is considering concessions to save jobs.
“We are working on a solution to save as many as we can through union negotiations, so it’s not a done deal,” he said.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: Butler County Sheriff's Department
TweetDynus owner to get day in court
The federal trial of the man whose company allegedly took out a multi-million dollar loan in Butler County’s name without the county’s approval is scheduled to start Monday, July 27.
Orlando Carter, 42, of Mason pleaded not guilty in June 2008 to an 11-count indictment that included charges of bank fraud. He is accused of making false statements to secure more than $10 million in loans, and to obtainn credit for personal real estate and the operation of his business.
Carter’s firm was Dynus Corp. The county was poised to hire it in 2005 to market its fiber-optics network before county officials say they learned the company had already taken out a $6.5 million lease in the county’s name.
Jury selection and opening arguments are scheduled for Monday in federal court in Cincinnati.
The trial is expected to last three weeks and will likely include testimony from Kay Rogers, a former Butler County auditor who resigned her post after pleading guilty to bank fraud in relation to the Dynus deal.
In a pretrial conference with U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith Wednesday, July 22, the prosecution and defense touched on what may become contentious points in the trial.
U.S. Attorney’s Office lawyers questioned the defense team’s plan to call an expert witness to testify that Carter had every reason to believe his finances were what he said them to be. One of the charges against him is that he misrepresented his income to get a $850,500 home loan.
The defense team said it plans to dispute bank records that the prosecution has copies of, but says the bank lost the originals.
Carter’s defense team would not go into details on its plans.
“Mr. Carter is looking forward to his day in court,” said Wende Cross, one of Carter’s attorneys.
The Dynus deal launched an FBI investigation that is still ongoing. In addition to Rogers, guilty pleas to bank fraud charges have come from Jim Smith, former company president, and former company employee Karin Verbruggen.
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TweetCounty commission agenda
Below is the agenda for Thursday’s Butler County commission meeting.
Anything look interesting to you?
(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)
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TweetHow Butler County plans to save $3.6 M
After taking the day off Thursday, I’m still playing catch-up on Butler County commissioners’ plan to fill their $6 million budget hole. In case you missed it, fellow reporter Rich Wilson filed this story in my absence. Excerpt:
Butler County commissioners on Thursday morning, July 16, approved 2-1 rolling back general fund expenses to 2007 levels, a reduction of about $2.6 million.
Commissioner Donald Dixon, who voted against the measure, challenged what he said appeared to be an arbitrary date, asking, “why not 1962?”
Dixon called for a more detailed analysis from Pete Landrum, the new finance director, to identify what could be cut “based on the numbers.”
“If we do not change the way we do business, the end result will be the same,” Dixon said.
The approved measure will force department heads, some who already have submitted more than $900,000 worth of budget reductions, to cut costs further, said county Administrator Tim Williams.
Here is a detailed analysis of the cuts:
(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)
Analysis:
This is admittedly confusing. What it does is take $833,427 in cuts proposed by officeholders and add it to a mandate to certain offices to roll back spending to 2007 levels. This comes out to a total cut of roughly $2.6 million, according to county officials.
Plus, the sheriff is projecting prisoner boarding revenues to increase $1 million, bringing the total benefit to the budget to $3.6 million.
The remaining deficit of roughly $2.4 million will be made up from the county’s cash reserves, I’m told. This and another deficit addressed earlier this year will impact the county’s reserves to a total tune of roughly $5.5 million. This brings the reserves down to roughly $8.5 million from $13.5 million a year ago.
How specifically the offices will make these cuts is up to the individual officeholders. This plan is only an outline.
What do you think?
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TweetResolutions part 15 - The rest of the story
Those of you who have been faithfully following our inquiry into the renovation of Butler County’s court street jail — where work appears to have been done before it was bid out, and other work was done without bidding or a contract — and the county’s relationship with the non-profit Resolutions, Community Solutions, will have noticed that there were some details left out of the first big story we had in the paper.
That information was put into a follow-up story that ran in the paper on Saturday. Links to them below:
In this story, we talk to county leaders about a land lease that may have been decided before it was bid out, and concerns at least one commissioner has with that deal.
In this story, we explore the relationship between Resolutions and county leaders, including campaign contributions agency executives have made.
What do you think? Does this cover all the bases, or is there more to this story?
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TweetCounty commission agenda
Below is the agenda for Thursday’s Butler County commission meeting.
Anything look interesting to you?
(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: County Commission
TweetGOP chairman’s brother accuses him of defrauding his mom
Butler County Republican Party Chairman Tom Ellis is being sued by his own brother for allegedly defrauding him and his mother for more than $500,000, court records show.
The civil suit alleges that Ellis sold a 20-unit apartment complex in Seven Mile to his mother for an inflated price, then mismanaged the property and pocketed some of the rent. He then bought the property back from her for a fraction of the original price and left her on the hook for the difference, the suit claims.
It also claims Ellis borrowed money from his mother and never paid it back.
The suit alleges fraud and breach of contract, seeking the full amount of allegedly misappropriated funds and clear title to the apartment complex.
Go here for the full story, including Tom Ellis’ reaction.
Here is the filing from the Butler County Court of Common Pleas:
(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Crime and courts, Republican Party
TweetButler County’s new EMA director - His resume
The Butler County Emergency Management Agency has hired a new director.
Jeff Galloway, emergency management director in Fentress County, Tennessee, will start the job Aug. 3, according to an EMA release.
Prior to heading emergency management in Fentress County, Galloway’s resume says he was a lieutenant in the Palm Beach County fire department in Florida, where he worked since 1984. He has extensive training in firefighting and emergency response.
Galloway replaces William Turner, who resigned in February after harsh criticism of his performance by two county commissioners and local police chiefs.
Here is Galloway’s resume (with contact information blocked out):
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TweetLocal lawmaker on state budget
Press release from state Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton:
State Representative Courtney Combs (R- Hamilton) today announced that House Bill 1, the $50.5 billion two-year state operating budget, passed the Ohio House by a vote of 54-44 with Combs voting in opposition.
The House voted to accept the changes made by a six-member legislative conference committee, nearly two weeks past the July 1st deadline. The committee was tasked with closing a $3.2 billion deficit after Governor Strickland’s administration announced a steep decline in state revenues in June.
“Governor Strickland and the House Democrats have failed to make the tough decisions during these budget proceedings,” Combs said. “This budget’s overreliance on one-time federal stimulus money paves the way for financial disaster two years down the road during the next biennium budget. In a time when Ohio’s families and small business owners are tightening their budgets why shouldn’t Ohio do the same?”
The measure still contains items for which House Republicans have repeatedly raised objections. The plan is the Governor Strickland’s framework which includes $4.3 billion in one-time revenue sources, with approximately $2.2 billion in temporary federal funding; institutes more than $1 billion in fee increases which the governor has previously equated to a tax increase; and paves the way for the governor to expand gambling in Ohio with slot machines.
House Republicans have continually called for measures to be added to the budget that would streamline government operations and the Medicaid system to save the state nearly $3 billion over the next two years. Two proposals, House Bill 25 and House Bill 240, were dismissed as amendments to the budget by House Democrats, who currently hold the majority of seats in the Ohio House. Republicans have stressed the need for these long-term solutions as important to the stability of future budgets, and as a means to protect vital services for all Ohioans.
“Our children’s future should not be mortgaged on slot machines,” Combs said. “We were promised the lottery was going to save education funding during the 1970s. This is the same type of charade.”
The bill will now be sent to Governor Strickland for his signature.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Statewide issues
TweetRogers not planning school board bid
Update: Former Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers is not running for another public office, her attorney said Monday, July 13.
Rogers — who resigned as auditor after pleading guilty to federal bank-fraud charges last year — took out petitions Friday, July 10, for the Lakota Local School District Board of Education.
“Kay did not pull those petitions for herself as a candidate,” said her attorney, Konrad Kircher of Mason. “She is not running for anything.
Rogers did sign her name to the petition application. And Melissa Harrison, the Board of Elections employee who took the application, said Rogers said she was picking up the petitions “for myself.” She also took petitions for her son, Sean Rogers, to run for West Chester Twp. trustee and put his name on that paperwork.
But Kircher said it was all a misunderstanding. “She pulled those as a favor for someone else who is a candidate,” he said. He said he didn’t know who that person was.
Rogers did not return calls for comment. Had she run, she would have faced questions about why someone would seek an office they could not hold, because of a felony plea.
In fact, her hesitation to resign last year after the guilty plea was a big part of why state law was changed in September to bar people who have pleaded guilty but have not yet been sentenced from holding public office, according to Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, who co-sponsored the law change.
But if she wanted to, she could run for the office, according to Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Dan Ferguson, who researched the issue Monday.
“There is apparently nothing in Ohio law that keeps her from running for this office,” he said. “She cannot hold it…but she can run for it.”
Original post:
Turns out, state law was changed last year to prevent people like former Butler County auditor Kay Rogers from holding public office, according to the county prosecutor’s office.
Here is the law, as revised in September. An excerpt:
(B) Any person who pleads guilty to a disqualifying offense and whose plea is accepted by the court or any person against whom a verdict or finding of guilt for committing a disqualifying offense is returned is incompetent to hold a public office or position of public employment or to serve as a volunteer, if holding the public office or position of public employment or serving as the volunteer involves substantial management or control over the property of a state agency, political subdivision, or private entity.
Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Dan Ferguson:
“She pled guilty to bank fraud and tax evasion, both of which would involve fraud and deceit. At first blush…it looks pretty straightforward.”
As I mentioned here, the law formerly said Rogers could hold office until she was sentenced, even though she has already pleaded guilty to felony charges.
State Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, was one of the ones pushing for this change last year after Rogers was reluctant to step down when her guilty plea was released.
Here is the original story about Rogers pulling petitions to run for the Lakota school board.
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TweetCounty suspends programs because of state budget crisis
Press release from Butler County:
BUTLER COUNTY JFS SUSPENDS PROGRAMS DUE TO STATE BUDGETARY ISSUES
Effective today, the Butler County Department of Job and Family Services (JFS) is suspending several of its programs until budgetary and cash flow issues with the state are resolved. Depending on the outcome of the state budget, some program suspensions could become permanent.
Until the state of Ohio passes a final budget and regular payments to county agencies resume, Butler County JFS will suspend the following programs:
- Emergency Assistance Program — Part of the agency’s prevention, retention and contingency plan, this program provides emergency assistance to individuals with work related expenses. These expenses include gas, transportation, rent, utilities and car repairs.
- Individual Training Accounts Program — Part of the Workforce Investment Act, this program provides individuals with training and schooling so they can re-enter the workforce.
- Transportation Program — Part of the Ohio Works First and Food Stamp Programs, JFS provides individuals with transportation to training and educational classes. (JFS will continue paying the transportation costs for medical-related and employment trips).
“These program suspensions could not come at a worse time for county residents who are in need due to the downturn in the economy. However, until the state passes a final budget and restores funding streams, we are unable to continue offering the number of services that we have proudly offered in the past,” said Butler County JFS Director Bruce Jewett.
Butler County JFS was optimistic that the state would resolve its budgetary issues by the end of the fiscal year, June 30, but that did not happen. As a result, the agency has not been able to pay childcare providers and other vendors who offer services to county recipients.
“We have notified our childcare providers and other vendors that payments will be late. However, they will receive payments as soon as access to state funds is restored,” said Jewett.
Program benefits paid for directly by the state of Ohio, such as Ohio Works First, food stamps and Medicaid will continue without any interruption in service. The suspended programs are dependent on money sent from the state to the county, which JFS then forwards to the client.
Butler County JFS works with the citizens of Butler County and its partner organizations to create opportunities for self-sufficiency and to provide a safety net to families in need. By providing transitional benefits, skill-building opportunities, and help in getting and keeping jobs, the agency strives to assist families in poverty.
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TweetResolutions part 14 - Putting the facts in print
The idea was simple: Use inmate labor to renovate Butler County’s mothballed jail to create prison space that could be rented to other jurisdictions at a profit.
The payoff was promising. Jail space was at a premium throughout the country, and Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones and other advocates said customers were lining up from as far away as California.
But in the process, the county cut corners, a Cox Ohio Publishing investigation has found. And county officials spent nearly twice what was originally estimated with little oversight of the private agency managing the work.
And in the end, the paid prisoners fell short. Far fewer paid prisoners showed up than were promised.
The Court Street jail went mostly unused until Jones closed the Resolutions minimum security jail in June and relocated more than 200 prisoners there, saying the move would save the county money. But Resolutions Community Solutions Inc. manages all the county jails, and helped renovate the Court Street facility with no contract.
Resolutions is one of several subsidiaries of Fort Hamilton Healthcare Corp., a nonprofit with no official ties to the Hamilton hospital.
It has secured no-bid construction management work, a lucrative land lease with the county, an annual contract worth $5.7 million last year and a number of other services worth hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
All this for a program that started in 1989 as a minimum security jail facility to provide treatment to people arrested for drunken driving — 85 inmates per the original contract, totaling just more than $1 million a year.
But behind closed doors, county leaders are reportedly turning the screws on the company, which has enjoyed unusual access to the county’s coffers for years.
The sheriff’s office defends the use of Resolutions for the jail work, saying it was up to commissioners to ensure there were contracts and bids. Commissioners say it was the sheriff’s project with help from former county administrator Derek Conklin. Neither Conklin nor Resolutions would comment on the deal.
The county auditor has his concerns, saying any project that costs more than $25,000 must be bid out under state law.
All of the above is from this story, which is now followed by a few comments from readers on our Web site. This is the culmination of a weeks-long investigation into the renovation of the Court Street jail, and the role played by Resolutions.
There is much more below. After you read it, I want to know what you think of this experiment. As I mentioned in the first Resolutions post, it is unusual for a paper to detail an ongoing investigation. What do you think of how it played out?
Now back to the story:
And here is a fuller account of what happened:
Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones says all aspects of the county’s $1.2 million renovation of the Court Street jail in Hamilton were done “on the up and up.”
But other county officials, including the commission president and auditor, say they’re worried about sloppy financial oversight on the huge project. In fact, Auditor Roger Reynolds wonders whether any laws were broken.
Resolutions Community Solutions Inc., a nonprofit specializing in drug and alcohol treatment, oversaw the work with no bid or contract — and no county official can fully explain how that arrangement came to be.
Further, the architect who drew up the plans appears to have done the work nearly a year before that job was even advertised for public bid. In addition, Resolutions contracted with numerous companies during the project, spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars with no questions asked.
Although the renovation was expected to cost between $600,000 and $800,000, the county already has spent roughly $1.2 million. That doesn’t include $181,887 for which Resolutions is trying to bill the county.
Architectural work done before bid
In April 2007, Butler County commissioners accepted three bids for architectural work for the jail renovation. They selected Kimball Associates, at a cost of $45,000.
But Kimball had done the work the year before, and already sent the county a bill.
“In response to your request for our firm to assess the feasibility of renovations to the Court Street jail, members of our staff made site visits on May 3, June 15 and June 20, 2006,” a letter states from the firm to Steve Best, vice president of Resolutions.
It would cost roughly $800,000 to renovate the building, Kimball estimated.
All three county commissioners from the time claimed no knowledge that the work was done before the bid.
“I don’t have an answer for that,” said Commissioner Gregory Jolivette.
County Administrator Tim Williams said the same, though his initials appear on the invoices with the words “OK to pay” and “OK per Derek Conklin.”
Williams was assistant county administrator at the time and said he was following the direction of then-administrator Derek Conklin.
Conklin resigned last year amid questions of what role he played in securing pay raises for his wife, a county employee. When asked about the jail recently, Conklin had no comment.
“It looks like (county officials) tried to come back through and cover their bases,” said Reynolds.
Resolutions oversees renovation without contract
On Aug. 31, 2006, county commissioners approved a resolution authorizing the administrator to expend funds to make the old jail operational.
Jolivette voted against it, arguing that Butler County should have contracts with other jurisdictions in hand before launching a costly rehab. He accused other county leaders of spending “like a drunken sailor.”
But Jones was confident the new jail would make money from other counties, and said using inmate labor would hold the cost to $600,000. The other two commissioners agreed.
In October, Resolutions went shopping at Home Depot in Hamilton. It bought sheet sanders, paint and other supplies for $5,343, according to invoices. The agency spent $40,284 at Home Depot over the next few months, billing the county for all of it. The county, however, had no contract with Resolutions, had not bid out the construction management job and had no schedule for the work. There’s not even a written accounting of what exactly the agency did.
But most of the work was not done by Resolutions. The agency hired local roofers, electricians, locksmiths and other contractors, paid them and then billed the county.
The county paid a $9,998 invoice from Kelly and Carpenter for HVAC work done Oct. 31, 2006, passed along from Resolutions. On Oct. 17, the same company billed the county directly for $15,334 in other work it had done.
State law requires the county to bid out any work over $25,000, according to Reynolds.
Resolutions hired a steel company to fabricate window frames for $26,825, and hired Kelley and Carpenter to install urinals for $31,500. Plus, at least three jobs were done for more than $24,000 but under the $25,000 threshold.
There are no bids on file or contracts with the county for any of the more than $600,000 spent by Resolutions on the project.
Reynolds: ‘It’s loose, it’s sloppy’
The county auditor has major concerns with the amount of work done without a contract, and architectural work that apparently was finished months before it was bid out.
“It’s loose, it’s sloppy, it goes against the Ohio Revised Code,” he said.
“Butler County can’t just come to you and say, I’d like you to be the go-between and I’d like you to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in rehabilitating this facility,” Reynolds said. “What I’m going to continue to look into is why isn’t there a contract between Resolutions and the county to perform the rehabilitation work.”
It’s unclear why Resolutions did the work. None of its invoices to the county bills charge administrative fees.
The agency stood to gain if the county took in more prisoners because the county expanded its contract to include management of the rehabbed Court Street jail. But that was the case regardless of who oversaw the renovation. It’s unclear whether the agency kept the tools it bought.
“Those are items that are defined in a contract. That’s why you have a contract. You define the terms of the construction ahead of time,” Reynolds said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that if Resolutions was doing the oversight on the jail, somewhere they were being compensated for it.”
Jolivette suggested Resolutions did the work to keep the sheriff happy, since he is its biggest client.
“When the sheriff went to Steve (Best) and said, ‘Hey, can you do this? Can you be the general contractor on the jail?’ I don’t think there was much hesitation for Steve saying, ‘Yeah, I’ll do that for you,’ ” Jolivette said.
Reynolds said he is compiling records to send to the prosecutor’s office to determine whether any laws were broken. Williams said the same. Roger Gates, assistant county prosecutor, wouldn’t comment on the issue, citing closed-door negotiations with Resolutions.
Sheriff’s office response
Jones said he suggested Best contact the county about overseeing the work, and left the details up to the county administrator and commissioners.
He said the county saved up to $200,000 on labor costs by having inmates do much of the work. That made it hard to bid out the work, he said. “They worked for free … It’s kind of hard to bid out something for free,” he said. He said the cost increase was inevitable because the building was built in 1969. “I would assume when they got into it, there was additional stuff that had to be repaired.”
But he doesn’t know why there was no contract. That was the county commissioners’ and county administrator’s purview, he said.
“I don’t pay the bills, that’s not the sheriff’s responsibility,” he said.
Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said it made sense for Resolutions to oversee the renovation because its responsibilities include food service, laundry and maintenance at all county jails. Dwyer said deputies were on hand to oversee the inmates, who did manual labor under the watch of Resolutions.
Who was in charge?
Resolutions VP Best oversaw the renovation. But who oversaw Best?
Commissioners say it was the sheriff’s job.
“The project was from first to finish a sheriff’s project,” said Jolivette.
Williams, who was then deputy administrator, said the project was initiated and managed by the sheriff’s office with the blessing of Conklin.
“My recommendation would have been to bid it out,” he said.
But Jones said those were decisions for the county administrator and commissioners. They were providing oversight, he said, by reviewing and paying the bills.
“There was oversight. There was plenty of oversight,” he said. “Everything was done on the up and up. I have complete confidence that everyone knew what was going on. I’ll be completely shocked if anything was done illegally.”
Best said Resolutions didn’t charge administrative fees nor overhead because the county asked the agency not to.
“We were asked if we could do (the project) and we said yes,” he said.
The company declined to discuss the matter further.
“Our organization has a long-standing history of providing services to Butler County and due to negotiations, we are unable to respond to questions or comment at this time,” according to a prepared statement.
Final cost unknown
The final cost of the jail renovation isn’t known.
Butler County has spent nearly $1.2 million to date. But there is still $181,887 in unpaid invoices from May 2008 for which Resolutions is trying to get reimbursed. This includes $39,424 for work done by Benjamin Steel Co.; $13,140 for new computers from Dell; $6,762 in Home Depot charges; $3,214 from Kelley and Carpenter; and $23,464 in furniture from Staples.
County Administrator Williams said he put a stop to the payments when he took the county’s helm. The county is disputing the charges, and attorneys from Resolutions and the county prosecutor’s office are hammering out the details.
Commission President Donald Dixon, who joined the commission after this project, said he put a stop to the last payment until he could get a full accounting of the project. That was in mid-2008, and he has yet to get the details, he said.
“These are public dollars, and the public needs to understand where every penny of this went,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, it’s called transparency of public dollars.”
Jolivette can claim opposition to the project from its inception — “My position is pretty clear that we shouldn’t have done it at all,” he said — and he said the details were overseen by the sheriff.
But Dixon also worries this is a symptom of a larger problem at the county: sloppy oversight by a county administration that didn’t value transparency, and too much trust placed in the former administrator by the county commission.
“I think somebody has got to come in here and audit everything we’ve done,” Dixon said. “Everything we know Derek (Conklin) has done and everything we don’t know he has done.”
“Any reasonable person would say if this is the issue here, are there any more?”
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: Resolutions
TweetLocal impacts of state’s stalled budget
Here is the latest on Ohio’s stalled budget, which lawmakers hope to pass any day now. Excerpt:
An Ohio legislative committee planned to vote Monday on a state budget that asserts the governor’s authority to install slot machines at race tracks, allows public colleges to raise tuition by 3.5 percent each year, and restores a chunk of funding for public libraries that Gov. Ted Strickland recommended be cut.
Leaders were scrambling to get the massive two-year budget plan through the committee, the House and Senate, and signed by Strickland in time to avoid another temporary spendingplan.
Ohio was forced to resort to two separate weeklong spending plans, which threatened services and created administrative headaches, after leaders failed to reach a compromise by the end of the fiscal year June 30.
A third temporary budget spanning a couple of days may be needed if the full two-year plan cannot be signed into law by Wednesday. Leaders hoped the full House and Senate could vote on the plan on Monday or Tuesday.
Here is a story on the impact the delay is having on government subsidized childcare in Butler County. Excerpt:
A stalled state budget has clogged the flow of funds to local child-care providers for low-income families. And when the funding returns, it’ll likely be at a reduced rate.
Butler County Job and Family Services held onto checks due out Friday, July 10, totaling roughly $680,000 for 215 child care providers in the county.
This money subsidizes home- and center-based child care for 1,702 low-income residents so they can hold down a job or attend school.
Anne Fender, who is paid to watch five of her grandchildren in her Hamilton home so her daughter can work, said she was counting on her $500 check to buy groceries.
“My husband’s on disability, so without my paycheck, we’re going to be in a world of hurt,” she said. “If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be able to pay for food, for gas for me and my husband.”
Job and Family Services Director Bruce Jewett said the state simply hasn’t given them enough money to pay this bill. Lawmakers have passed only interim budgets as they struggle with cuts during the recession.
“We have an increased need, a decreasing base of resources to meet that need, and it’s creating a perfect storm for us,” Jewett said.
Here is a story on the potential impact of the state cuts on adoption programs. Excerpt:
Local programs that put or keep children in loving homes could be casualties of cuts as state lawmakers work down to the deadline to create a new budget amid crippling recession.
Butler County Children Services Director Jeff Centers said he is aware of six programs on the block to be reduced or eliminated.
A program that pays $300 a month to foster parents who adopt children could be reduced to $215. It was just increased from $250 in January, where it was for 20 years.
“It may make it more difficult for us to find permanent homes for children in the future,” Centers said.
Subsidies to help adoptive parents with short-term respite or other care may end. A $125,000 annual grant to recruit adoptive families could dry up. And a $50 stipend for foster and adoptive parents to cover babysitting and gas when they attend training is likely no more.
“If those are eliminated or cut back, that only affects the children directly,” said Deanna Henderson, who has adopted six children. “The majority of the kids are special needs, and it’s not about the money, but the money really helps supply the things that they really need.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Statewide issues
TweetKay Rogers running for office?
I would not have believed it had fellow reporter Dave Greber not reported it (Read the full story, with lots of comments, here):
Kay Rogers has taken out a petition to run for one of three open seats on the Lakota Local School District Board of Education, according to records from the Butler County Board of Elections.
“She pulled the petition on Friday” for herself, Board of Elections Director Betty McGary said Sunday night, July 12.
The deadline to file a petition with the board of elections for the November election is Aug. 20.
A message left at Rogers’ West Chester Twp. home Sunday night was not immediately returned.
Rogers pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati in January 2008 to bank fraud in connection with a now-defunct company that was accused of fraudulently borrowing millions of dollars in the county’s name without the county’s approval.
An important detail from Greber’s story:
Ohio law prohibits convicted felons from voting or holding any public office. However, McGary said there are no rules that stipulate against pulling a petition to run for office.
And, it’s worth noting, Rogers wasn’t forced to resign but instead did so on her own accord because the law that prevents convicted felons from serving would not have kicked in until she was sentenced, which still hasn’t happened.
Check out my former post, “Why Kay Rogers isn’t in jail,” here.
What do you think? Why would Rogers pull such a move? Is this a clue that Rogers plans on withdrawing her guilty plea and fighting the charges?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: County Auditor, Dynus
TweetRep. Combs: Boycott Krispy Kreme?
State Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, today went on the Bill Cunningham show on 700 WLW and, among other things, may have suggested a boycott of Krispy Kreme donuts.
“None of us need to eat Krispy Kreme again in our life,” he said.
Combs was referring to a fine this week issued against the company for hiring illegal immigrants.
“Those are jobs that legal Americans should have and will take,” Combs said. “We cannot let foreign lawbreakers some in here at this time and take jobs from legal Americans.”
Combs took the opportunity to stump for his proposed immigration legislation.
At the end of the interview, Cunningham calls Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones “too liberal,” and Combs seems to agree, saying he has “a hard time agreeing with him (Jones),” then quickly calling the sheriff a “great American.”
The interview starts about halfway through this recording.
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TweetResolutions part 13 - Story comes together, but final costs still unclear
In case you were wondering, I haven’t given up on the ongoing investigation into the renovation of Butler County’s court street jail, and the role played by the non-profit Resolutions, Community Solutions.
Look for a final synopsis in the paper this weekend.
In the meantime, the county is already changing its stance toward the non-profit, recently soliciting for bids for several contracts held by the agency.
And in addition to comments from the sheriff’s second in command, I finally was able to talk to Sheriff Richard K. Jones about how the whole thing came together.
Jones said he suggested Resolutions Vice President Steve Best contact the county about overseeing the work, and left the details up to the county administrator and commissioners.
He said the county saved up to $200,000 on labor costs by having inmates do much of the work. That made it hard to bid out the work, he said. “They worked for free…. It’s kind of hard to bid out something for free,” he said. He said the cost increase was inevitable because the building was built in 1969. “I would assume when they got into it, there was additional stuff that had to be repaired.”
But he doesn’t know why there was no contract . That was the county commissioners’ and county administrator’s purview, he said. “I don’t pay the bills, that’s not the sheriff’s responsibility,” he said.
The final cost of the renovation is still unknown
Butler County has spent nearly $1.2 million to date. But there is still $181,887 in unpaid invoices from May 2008 for which Resolutions is trying to get reimbursed. This includes $39,424 for work done by Benjamin Steel Co., $13,140 for new computers from Dell, $6,762 in Home Depot charges, $3,214 from Kelley and Carpenter and $23,464 in furniture from Staples.
County administrator Tim Williams said he put a stop to the payments when he took the county’s helm. The county is disputing the charges, and attorneys from Resolutions and the county prosecutor’s office are hammering out the details.
Commission President Donald Dixon, who joined the commission after this project, said he put a stop to the last payment until he could get a full accounting of the project. That was in mid-2008, and he has yet to get the details, he said.
“These are public dollars, and the public needs to understand where every penny of this went,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, it’s called transparency of public dollars.”
Commissioner Gregory Jolivette can claim opposition to the project from its inception — “My position is pretty clear that we shouldn’t have done it at all,” he said — and says the details were overseen by the sheriff.
But Dixon also worries that this is a symptom of a larger problem at the county: sloppy oversight by a county administration that didn’t value transparency, and too much trust placed in the former administrator by the county commission.
“I think somebody has got to come in here and audit everything we’ve done,” Dixon said. “Everything we know Derek (Conklin, former county administrator) has done and everything we don’t know he has done.”
“Any reasonable person would say if this is the issue here, are there any more?”
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Resolutions
TweetProposed state cuts a blow to local social services
Press release from Hamilton County Job and Family Services (with info about all of southwest Ohio):
Abused children, laid-off parents and vulnerable senior citizens are just a few of the Southwest Ohio residents who will suffer under proposed state budget cuts to human services.
With Ohio facing one of the worst recessions in history, Ohio lawmakers are considering more than $1 billion in cuts to the safety net that protects its most vulnerable residents. Proposals include slashing $70 million in money used to protect abused children, $80 million that helps the needy access employment and economic assistance and more than $7 million to fund child support collection.
Money to protect the elderly, provide emergency assistance to the needy, help with adoptions and provide working moms with child care is also at risk. Many of the proposed cuts follow a two-year period of dramatic reductions to human services funding. And, they would result in a loss of matching funds from the federal government, doubling or tripling the impact.
“These cuts come at a time when the economy is sending record numbers through our doors - a third of the people we see have never been here before,” said Moira Weir, director of Hamilton County’s Department of Job and Family Services. “We are doing our best to help everyone who needs us, but we have reduced services and we have cut people to provide those services. With more than 55,000 people coming in our door every month, we need every penny we can to help our citizens out of troubled times and into a better place in life.”
With the unemployment rate above 10 percent, many have turned to their local Job and Family Services Department for assistance. In Hamilton, Butler and Clermont counties alone, 155,000 residents now receive food stamps to help with monthly eating expenses, while more than 200,000 rely on Medicaid to help with health insurance.
Those in need are likely to find long lines and reduced services at their local JFS office.
In Hamilton County alone, allocations for JFS operating expenses dropped $30 million over the past two years, resulting in the loss of more than 350 workers. Proposed cuts would reduce allocations another $30 million by 2011. JFS organizations throughout the state have grappled with similar situations - more than 2,500 jobs have been lost statewide.
It will get worse if the cuts under consideration are adopted. The Public Children’s Services Association of Ohio projects that, if current proposals are adopted and 70 percent of the money used for child protection is cut, 1,500 of the state’s 8,000 child protection workers could be laid off from their jobs. Each job loss - whether a children’s services worker, a child support collector or a public assistance technician — impacts the public’s ability to receive help in a timely manner.
“It is difficult to tell someone who has waited until they’ve reached the very end of their rope to turn to the government for help with putting food on their table that they will have to wait another 30 days because we have a stack of applications a mile high and fewer workers to process them,” said Bruce Jewett, director of Butler County’s Job and Family Services Department. “Many of them will go to bed hungry that night and for many nights to come.”
It is not just the poor who suffer. Child support is a program that touches more children than any program outside of public education. In Hamilton, Butler and Clermont counties, there are approximately 135,000 active child support cases. That’s hundreds of thousands of children who might not get the money they need for food, rent, school clothes and other necessities.
“Food, shelter, basic needs - these should be government’s priorities at a time like this,” said Tim McCartney, director of Clermont County’s Department of Job and Family Services. “We would ask that, as we fight through the worst economic crisis we have endured in our lifetime, we focus on providing the funding to help people meet their most basic needs and ensure, to the extent possible, the protection of those who cannot protect themselves.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Statewide issues
TweetAt the Apollo with the Butler County Department of Development
While looking for updated floodplain maps on Butler County’s planning Web site for this story, I saw a link that said, “On the lighter side.” I couldn’t resist.
What I found is a modern day parable about Noah and the Ark, and a pretty funny educational slideshow on worker safety. Enjoy:
Noah Today:
(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)
Safety awards photos:
(Click on the top right corner to enlarge)
Let no one say county employees don’t have a sense of humor.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Butler County
TweetFlood risk open house Thursday
Press release from Butler County:
BUTLER COUNTY TO HOLD FLOOD RISK INFORMATION OPEN HOUSE
The United States Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) are hosting a Flood Risk Information Open House on Thursday, July 9, 2009 from 4-7:00 p.m. at the Butler County Government Services Center, first floor conference room, 315 High Street, Hamilton, OH 45011.
The open house will provide Butler County residents with an opportunity to review a recently completed preliminary Flood Insurance Study (FIS) and its accompanying preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) to learn about risk in their community. Those interested may drop-in at any time during the event to talk one-on-one with FEMA and ODNR representatives.
The FIS and FIRMs provide base flood information, delineate areas subject to significant flood hazards within the county and offer information public officials may use when permitting development in the floodplain.
Representatives from several local, state and federal agencies will provide the most current information about flood risk, flood insurance, floodplain development regulations, and the process for floodplain mapping within Butler County. The newly prepared preliminary floodplain maps will also be on display. Once the maps become effective, they will be used by floodplain permit officials, builders and developers, lenders, realtors, insurance agents and the general public to determine flood risk, develop mitigation measures, and encourage wise and responsible risk management decision-making.
FEMA and ODNR urge property owners, realtors, lenders and insurance agents to attend and take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about flood risk and hazard mitigation within their community. For more information, please contact John Devine, Program Specialist, at (312) 408-5567 or Marge Dworak, Outreach Specialist, at (312) 408-5527.
FEMA leads the nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation to reduce the loss of life and property and support a culture of readiness for all hazards, including natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other major incidents.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Butler County
TweetLaw and Order: Butler County
Lauren Pack, our cops and courts reporter, just unveiled a new blog that is already a must-read.
Check it out here. The first post is entitled “Too stinky for jail,” and the second is about public intoxication.
In Butler County’s criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Crime and courts
TweetThe good people of Jacksonburg
If you’re going to lock your keys in your car on accident, I would not advise doing so in the smallest village in the state of Ohio. There is no police department in Jacksonburg, no locksmith, no one for miles in any direction.
Luckily, I had just interviewed two guys from the volunteer fire department. I asked if they had a “slim jim,” The answer was no, but they offered to use the jaws of life and not only get into my car, but also make it a convertible.
Ultimately, the two firefighters and one township utility worker spent half an hour with coathangers and a noose of twine trying to help me unlock the door. It didn’t work, and my wife had to drive out with a spare key, but I am grateful that they put so much effort into trying. Thanks, guys.
Here is the resulting story (read the much longer story here):
JACKSONBURG — Driving through Jacksonburg takes only a few seconds. And it would be easy to do so without realizing you had been there.
The center of town is the village’s only intersection. There’s a stop sign. No light. One corner is where a gas station used to be before it was torn down a few years back, according to the locals. On another sits the empty storefront of Marcum’s Carry Out, which closed more than three years ago.
But the village has a proud heritage, a peculiar distinction and a bucolic character that makes its residents — all five dozen of them — proud to call Jacksonburg home.
Signs welcoming visitors to Jacksonburg — you can see all of the signs from the center of town — tell its place in the record books.
“Welcome to Jacksonburg,” they say. “Ohio’s smallest incorporated village.”
Despite a population of only 67 people, the village has a village council. The six council members and the treasurer come from only four families.
“Our meetings don’t last long,” said Mayor Michael Sword.
The village has grown over the years. Before the 2,000 U.S. Census, the welcome sign listed the population as 52.
But at one time, Jacksonburg was a boomtown rivaling Middletown.
These days, most residents are happy to keep it small, including John Smith, who lives with his sister, her son and her grandson on the edge of town, which is only four houses from the center of town.
The four make up just over one-sixteenth the village’s entire population.
“We don’t have a lot of trouble like you do in big cities,” he said.
His sister Pam Gabbard agreed.
“I love it because it’s quiet,” she said.
But Ethan Gabbard, 4, disagreed.
“Not over there,” he said, pointing next door. “Because their dog is barking.”
And if that’s the worst of their concerns, Ethan’s father said, he’s happy with that.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Butler County
TweetDixon cries foul over softball payments
It appears that not even the great American pastime is safe as Butler County leaders leave no rock unturned in trying to fill a $6 million budget hole.
Commission President Donald Dixon took issue Thursday evening, July 2, with a request that county employees be reimbursed for umpire fees and registration for the county’s recreational softball team. Price tag: $229.
“We’re taking money out of the general fund? We’re laying people off, we’re freezing salaries, and we’re joining a softball league?” an incredulous Dixon asked.
The reimbursement was for a game scheduled for Thursday night. “Tell them before they play because they might not want to go,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s appropriate.”
Commissoiner Gregory Jolivette said he was inclined to agree with Dixon’s foul call, but wanted more information about the reimbursement before voting the team out.
Without a second to Dixon’s request to deny the payment, the issue took a rain check until another meeting.
Permalink | Comments (23) | Post your comment | Categories: County Commission
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