MAUMEE (WTOL) - An ethics investigation by a private law firm into actions by Maumee Mayor Richard Carr and other city officials has done little to settle questions that have split the community in recent years, despite a finding that officials have broken no laws.
In August, city council voted 4-3 to pay Cleveland-based law firm Squire Patton Boggs $50,000 to look into numerous complaints from an anonymous complainant. Mayor Carr said the investigation actually began in June and has cost the city more than $90,000.
The investigation focused on four allegations, including the rapid rise of Susan Noble, who began working for the city as a clerical employee with a high school diploma and is now the human resources commissioner on track to make more than $100,000 a year.
Other questions the law firm investigated included whether officials tried to unlawfully influence council in the sale of a piece of property to Monnette’s Market, whether the city should have continued paying to maintain the East Mews parking lot despite no city interest, and if a finance department employee was a victim of discrimination.
But another concern was the use of private emails by the mayor to conduct city business and holding some city meetings without the public notice that is required under the Open Meetings Law.
“I know that the mayor has conducted city business with his private email and the private email of other employees,” said Councilman David Kissinger. “What’s he trying to hide?”
He also questioned the rise of Noble, who was hired in 1997 but whose career skyrocketed once Carr became mayor in 2012.
“She graduated from high school and is making more than anyone in the city,” said Kissinger. “She’s responsible for some of the problems we’ve had. It’s not like she’s excelling in such an amazing way that she should be promoted.”
Carr pointed to Noble’s inroads in reducing worker’s compensation attorney fees and cracking down on illegal hiring practices that the mayor says were rampant before he took office.
“I take great offense to the argument she only has a high school education. I come from a family where no one before me had more than a high school education,” said Carr.
He also dismissed the complaints about using private email saying, "I’m a part-time mayor with a full-time job. Everything I sent by personal email became public record. Now I have a city iPad that I send email on. "
The law firm suggested city employees should undergo conflict-of-interest and Open Meetings Act training and update its employee handbook. It also recommended city employees who are lawyers, including Carr, should ensure they are always adhering to ethical standards.
Kissinger says he is hopeful that council will turn the complaints over to the county prosecutor or the Ohio Ethics Commission, a notion that is ridiculous to Council President Tim Pauken: “This whole thing has been a big waste of money,” he says.
