Scioto County Commissioner Scottie Powell wasted no time responding to the indictment of fellow Commissioner Bryan Davis and his wife Lori. On the heels of the grand jury charges, Powell issued a statement calling for Davis’s immediate resignation.
📢 Powell’s Statement
Powell said he isn’t declaring Davis guilty—that’s up to the courts. But he stressed that public trust is the foundation of leadership, and right now, that trust is broken.
“If it was right to terminate Robert Horton under these circumstances, then the same principle must apply to Commissioner Davis,” Powell said. “For the good of Scioto County, it is time to step aside.”
Powell argued that the legal process ahead will only burden county government and distract from serving residents. “If your goal is truly to serve the best interests of this community,” he said to Davis, “the right decision now is to resign and allow Scioto County to move forward.”
🕵️ Powell’s Early Role in the Scandal
This isn’t the first time Powell has taken a hard line. When Robert Horton, the county’s Economic Development Director and head of the Southern Ohio Port Authority (SOPA), was indicted back in 2023, Powell voted to fire him immediately.
The charges against Horton were staggering—theft in office, aggravated theft, money laundering, bribery, and tampering with public records. His wife Lioubov faced 12 charges of her own. Prosecutors say the Hortons set up a fake business to siphon money from SOPA and the Minford Emergency Ambulance Service.
Despite those charges, Bryan Davis and the late Commissioner Cathy Coleman voted to reinstate Horton after initially placing him on leave. Powell was the lone “no” vote—arguing that allowing Horton back was reckless.
“In my world, if there’s an allegation of fraud or abuse, you just tell somebody to go home and they don’t come back until it’s over,” Powell said at the time.
Powell also pushed back on turning county files over to SOPA without the prosecutor’s review, warning that transparency and safeguards had to come first. Davis, however, argued that SOPA needed access to continue its work and minimize disruption.
⚡ A Consistent Standard
Powell now says the same logic applies to Davis himself. With Davis under indictment for corruption, Powell insists the county cannot afford to have him remain in office while the courts sort things out.
“Public trust is the foundation of leadership,” Powell emphasized. “If we applied this standard to Horton, then we must apply it here as well.”
📉 What It Means for the County
The call for resignation raises the stakes for Scioto County, which is already reeling from multiple corruption indictments tied to Horton and his associates. With no clear leadership in economic development and now one commissioner under indictment, the future of county governance and growth hangs in the balance.
