“I spoke to an investigator on Monday. It is clear we are dealing with a criminal investigation,” Scioto County Commissioner Scottie Powell said at today’s meeting.
Scioto County Commissioners are trying to figure out what to do about the State Auditor’s investigation that’s resulted in the state serving search warrants on the commissioners and the Scioto County Economic Development Director and whether or not they should remove the person under investigation from the Southern Ohio Port Authority Board.
Commissioners Scottie Powell, Bryan Davis, and Cathy Coleman don’t disagree on much, but the trio was split on how the county should handle economic development business in the wake of the investigation.
Emerging from a nearly 90-minute executive session, Commissioner Bryan Davis said commissioners had sought the opinion of legal counsel and deliberated about what to do next about the economic development director’s leave of absence in the wake of the investigation. “This is a very difficult gray area that the county is dealing with. We’re dealing with Scioto County Economic Development, a government agency, and Southern Ohio Port Authority, a quasi-governmental organization.”
Davis said the commissioners’ jurisdiction regarding the Port Authority was limited to appointing board members and removing individuals from the board in case of impropriety. He said that had only happened once during his time as a commissioner.
“What we’re faced with now is a situation where a county employee has been put on leave of absence pending an investigation,” Davis said. He said the leave happened because the state issued search warrants and subpoenas regarding the individual. “With that in mind, one of the discussions we’ve had is that we have to be very careful not to overstep our boundaries on limiting the Port Authority’s power. They are a separate entity. They have a board. That board appoints people. They select their leadership, and they have done that.”
Davis said the Port Authority has important business to conduct for the county, including issuing bonds. “They literally act as a business. They take in lease payments. They pay bills. They operate much like a business.” The commissioner said that the Port Authority was busier than ever.
Davis said that Port Authority had given the board member in question certain responsibilities crucial for economic development in the county. “The concern is to get clarification on how to make sure that we separate ourselves from any perceived interference in their operations. I don’t want this to fall back on the county and for us to be liable for possible damages.”
The commissioner said the legal counsel for the Port Authority contacted the commissioners’ counsel to see what they planned to do next about the situation.
“I personally feel that there should be limitations placed on SOPA as far as their contact with county employees. The person on leave should not have any contact with county employees who have nothing to do with SOPA. I think it’s fair and prudent to not show any interference in that business.”
Commissioner Scottie Powell disagreed, “I don’t see why we would put ourselves and the county at risk by figuring out a way to make this work and frankly protecting the employee by putting them in a situation. I’ve also brought up a potential conflict of interest this board may have in this matter. I would call that out at this point.”
Powell said that while there had been no indictments, the investigation had been going on for over a year. He also argued that while SOPA and the Economic Development Office were two separate entities, “This board, through our own actions over the past couple of years, has conflated those two things. Essentially, in my opinion, those two things are one and the same.” Powell argued that the employee should stay on leave without interacting with county employees.
Commissioner Cathy Coleman said that HR had told commissioners they could wait to see if charges were filed against the employee under investigation or put that person on administrative leave with the condition they would not contact any county employees. “Because the employee who was put on leave is also the chair of the Southern Ohio Port Authority and the treasurer is a county employee, would SOPA be able to continue with their operation effectively?”
Commissioner Coleman said they were advised they could allow the employee to attend meetings, sign checks, and things of that nature if they put in firm guardrails involving contact with the employee on leave.
Davis and Coleman were in favor of establishing those guardrails and Commissioner Powell was opposed. The board voted two to one in favor of adjourning to work on what those contact rules.
Get caught up on our reporting on this evolving story.
