“Not everything that comes out of a grand jury is factual. In my personal opinion, it’s a witch hunt.” Scioto County Commissioner Bryan Davis says there are multiple reasons that Robert Horton still has his position with SOPA despite a state investigation.
Even though Robert Horton is currently suspended with pay from his job as Scioto County’s Economic Development Director while the State Auditor investigates criminal allegations, he’s still the Director of the Southern Ohio Port Authority. That has a lot of people asking why he’s not suspended from that very important position as well.
Scioto County Commissioners maintain there’s not much they can do because the Port Authority is a separate entity from the county. However, WNXT’s Bill Shope put the commissioners on the hot seat during Thursday’s meeting by pointing out that the two agencies have the same phone number and contact email address.
Commissioner Bryan Davis said, “Economic development utilizes multiple tools in order to accomplish a job.” Davis likened it to a toolbox where you have multiple types of screwdrivers in your toolbox. He said there was money available for development that you could only get from certain agencies like Jobs Ohio and JEDISO. He said the Southern Ohio Port Authority (SOPA) was another tool in that toolbox. “Port authorities have the ability to exercise functions other agencies cannot.” He said that port authorities can do things like buy building materials tax-free. “So if you have a private entity and the port authority is the construction manager, then they can provide the ability for a company to build tax-free. That’s what happened with PureCycle. It’s a tool.”
(See our reporting on Purecycle here: Scioto County Residents Concerned: Experts Have Doubts About PureCycle)
Davis said that when commissioners set up the board seven years ago, they changed the way things worked. “They are definitely symbiotic beings. They work in the same space. They complement each other. About 90% of what economic development is doing right now is SOPA-related. I can understand why there would be confusion.”
When asked if Horton’s suspension carried any real weight due to the fact he was continuing to head SOPA, Davis replied. “What everyone needs to understand, the Board of Scioto County Commissioners cannot interfere with the workings of the Southern Ohio Port Authority. They are a separate board governed by its members.”
Davis said that the commission is only involved in appointing members to SOPA. That is the end of our jurisdiction. We can remove members for malfeasance but that has not been considered. You have an employee who has been put on a leave of absence. To my knowledge, he has not been indicted. Not everything that comes out of a grand jury is factual. A lot of times there are things that have been leaked.”
He said that the amount of information that had been leaked about the investigation was egregious and that, in his opinion, “It’s a witch hunt. He’s been exposed to egregious acts by people who would love to destroy economic development in Scioto County. We’re talking about a man who has brought millions and millions of dollars to the county and throwing that way. I, for one, do not want to see the work of the county suspended in any way.”
Davis called the investigation a distraction from important economic development work. He said the commissioners hadn’t heard anything about the investigation in weeks. He said the Attorney General’s Officer appeared to have pulled out of the investigation. “It’s my understanding the State Auditor’s Office doesn’t know where they went. They apparently called no joy and walked away. There’s a lot of things I could say that I probably shouldn’t. say. My concern is our economic development efforts are being severely hampered.”
Get caught up on our previous reporting on this crucial issue.
County Commissioners “Fully Cooperating” with Investigators After Search Warrants Served
Commissioners Skip Meeting, Investigation Continues
Commissioners Don’t Know What Search Warrants Are About Either
Commissioners Grapple With “Clearly Criminal” Economic Development Investigations
“We’re Not Lawyers” – Commissioners Respond to Shocking Horton Revelations