The Ohio State Auditor calls for an Ethics Commission investigation into the financial dealings of two Clermont County Commissioners.
The Auditor's report released today raises questions about payments Scott Croswell and Mary Walker authorized to private companies. These payments involved firms that either the commissioners -- or their family members-- had an interest in.
Ohio State law says that no public official or employee shall knowingly use his office or authority to secure authorization of any public contract in which he, a member of his family or any business associate has an interest. The Auditor's report says that's exactly what commissioners Scott Croswell and Mary Walker did.
The auditor found that throughout last year, Mary Walker approved payments to companies where her husband Carl, and son Mark hold significant positions. Son Mark is a director of a not for profit corporation called Clermont County Capital Investors shown here as 3CI, which last year received $145,000 dollars in funding from the county.
Mary Walker also voted to pay Professional Engineering Group, of which her son is president, $135,857 for jobs involving water and sewer work. Walkers husband Carl Douglas Walker is the chairman of the board of the Economic Development Corporation of Clermont County. That agency gets $294,000 a year in funding, which was voted on by Mary Walker. Carl Walker is also president and sole shareholder of SWA Design Group which received $36,611 for sewer work last year. SWA also got $47,000 dollars for design work on road projects.
Commissioner Scott Croswell's an owner in Croswell Bus Lines which the auditor says got just over $2000 in payments from the county last year. He says while it's a tiny amount, he probably should have known better.
Scott Croswell says he didn't break any laws in approving that payment, however that remains to be seen. That's why the ethics commission is being asked to investigate all of these issues, and there could be other investigations as well. We've gotten no response yet from Mary Walker. Mary Walker has served on the Clermont County Commission since 2001. Scott Croswell took office in 2003.
Coming up on Local 12 at 5:30 we'll take a closer look at just where all those Clermont County tax dollars have been going.
