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The Clark County Prosecutor’s Office won’t seek legal action against county commissioners on behalf of area taxpayers, saying no laws were broken when they entered into a lease-purchase agreement with Konecranes Region Americas for the former agricultural building.
“There is no statute explicitly requiring bidding for lease-purchase agreements like the one executed between Clark County and Konecranes. The statute addressing lease-purchase agreements is silent on the issue of bidding,” Prosecutor Andrew Wilson said. “When a statute explicitly gives the Board the power to enter into a lease-purchase agreement without explicitly requiring competitive bidding, it is the opinion of the Prosecutor’s Office that bidding is not required for this type of agreement.”
Wilson’s comments come more than a month after he received a letter from local attorney Doug Geyer requesting that the prosecutor review the agreement on behalf of 15 to 20 of his clients. The letter indicated that his clients were considering filing a taxpayer’s lawsuit.
A taxpayer’s lawsuit can be brought if there are allegations money belonging to the county has been misapplied, Wilson said. The letter to the prosecutor dated Oct. 10 was the first step in the process to filing such a claim.
Geyer said he will talk to his clients about whether to proceed with the lawsuit. He has declined to identify his clients.
He said in a letter Wednesday he was disappointed Wilson has chosen not to file a lawsuit. The Ohio Revised Coderequires that the sale of public property be done by competitive bidding or by auction, Geyer said.
“The lease with option changes nothing,” he said. “The obvious reason why there are no attorney general opinions or court decisions is that none of the other 87 counties have attempted to circumvent the law in this fashion. This wise requirement protects public property by securing its sale at a reasonable price. It eliminates the probability of graft, sweetheart deals and favoritism.”
Geyer said his clients also expressed concern the building was sold for $787,000, which is below the auditor’s appraised value of $1 million.
Clark County commissioners voted 2-1 in July to approve the $787,000 deal with Konecranes and terminate a 2012 lease agreement with the company.
Clark County Commissioner David Hartley was the sole vote on the commission against the deal. Hartley said then he believed the deal was illegal and that the county could be subject to a taxpayer’s lawsuit.
Hartley said on Tuesday that he disagreed with Wilson findings, saying his conclusion doesn’t make sense.
“As I look at the letter, I think about the fact that if I were transporting heroin and I put it in a candy-striped bag then it might not be against the law because it’s in a candy-striped bag and there’s nothing in the law about it being in a candy-striped bag and it being illegal,” Hartley said.
County Commissioners John Detrick and Rick Lohnes said Monday they were pleased with the prosecutor’s decision.
Detrick said he’s not concerned a taxpayers lawsuit will be filed.
“I am glad this is behind us. Konecranes is one of our best companies and we’ve been very fortunate that they’ve stayed with us through some challenges that shouldn’t have been … and now with this behind us we look forward to having a continued, great relationship with them,” Detrick said.
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