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Ethics commission reviewing potential conflict at Barberton-Norton agency. Expansion sought
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 02:26 p.m. EDT, Jul 08, 2009
The Ohio Ethics Commission is looking at the operation of the Barberton-Norton Mosquito Abatement District.
The key question: Was it proper for agency executive director/attorney Joseph Harrison to also serve as temporary treasurer?
The Ohio Ethics Commission cannot comment on active or ongoing investigations, said chief investigative attorney Paul Nick.
State Auditor Mary Taylor referred the matter to the ethics panel in late 2008 following an audit that questioned the potential conflict of having the same person in both positions.
Harrison told the Beacon Journal he is not aware of an active state investigation of his agency.
His agency's management problems are in the past and a new treasurer has been hired since Taylor's office raised its concerns, he said.
The accountant the district previously hired was not familiar with government accounting techniques, and that caused problems, Harrison said.
In related developments, the Barberton-Norton district has filed petitions in Summit County Common Pleas Court to annex a portion of Coventry Township and to change its name.
The expansion request and proposed property assessments are scheduled to be heard by Judge Tom Teodosio at 9 a.m. Oct. 13.
The mosquito district wants approval to change its boundaries to take in about 30 houses north of Fairview Avenue and south of the Tuscarawas River.
The area — with about 55 parcels — is an isolated section of Coventry surrounded by Barberton on the west and south and by the city of Akron on the north and east. It is treated by the Summit County Health Department.
The neighborhood benefits from the mosquito district's spraying and should be included in the district, and its residents should pay Barberton-Norton, the district said in court papers in March.
Coventry Township strongly opposes the expansion request.
Visiting Judge R. Patrick Kelly, from Cuyahoga County, ruled in May 2008 against the district's request to expand into Green, New Franklin, Clinton and Lakemore, and Coventry, Springfield and Copley townships.
Residents of those communities would have been assessed $10 per $100,000 of valuation. Those communities are served by the Summit County Health Department, which opposed the mosquito district's expansion.
Kelly's 2008 decision should block the proposed Coventry expansion, said attorney Irving Sugerman, who is representing the township.
''This most recent effort by the [mosquito district] to expand its territorial boundaries is simply a method to accomplish what has already failed,'' Sugerman said. If the district ''is permitted to succeed, nothing will stop [the district] from filing successive, repetitive petitions ad nauseam in the political subdivisions that already successfully defeated their previous misguided effort.''
Coventry should not have to pay the legal costs associated with the mosquito district's proposed expansion, Sugerman said.
Harrison said his district is looking at how residents on the north side of Hemphill Road in Copley Township and on the west side of Medina Line Road in Wadsworth Township might also be benefiting from its spraying.
No decisions have been made in those areas, he said.
Harrison's agency also again is seeking court approval to change its name.
''It's too long,'' Harrison said of the official name: the Barberton-Norton Mosquito Abatement District. The preferred name is the Mosquito Abatement District, he said.
His agency is the only district of its kind in Northeast Ohio and changing the name should not cause problems or confusion, Harrison said.
Kelly and Teodosio previously rejected attempts to change the district's name.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
The Ohio Ethics Commission is looking at the operation of the Barberton-Norton Mosquito Abatement District.
The key question: Was it proper for agency executive director/attorney Joseph Harrison to also serve as temporary treasurer?
The Ohio Ethics Commission cannot comment on active or ongoing investigations, said chief investigative attorney Paul Nick.
State Auditor Mary Taylor referred the matter to the ethics panel in late 2008 following an audit that questioned the potential conflict of having the same person in both positions.
Harrison told the Beacon Journal he is not aware of an active state investigation of his agency.
His agency's management problems are in the past and a new treasurer has been hired since Taylor's office raised its concerns, he said.
The accountant the district previously hired was not familiar with government accounting techniques, and that caused problems, Harrison said.
In related developments, the Barberton-Norton district has filed petitions in Summit County Common Pleas Court to annex a portion of Coventry Township and to change its name.
The expansion request and proposed property assessments are scheduled to be heard by Judge Tom Teodosio at 9 a.m. Oct. 13.
The mosquito district wants approval to change its boundaries to take in about 30 houses north of Fairview Avenue and south of the Tuscarawas River.
The area — with about 55 parcels — is an isolated section of Coventry surrounded by Barberton on the west and south and by the city of Akron on the north and east. It is treated by the Summit County Health Department.
The neighborhood benefits from the mosquito district's spraying and should be included in the district, and its residents should pay Barberton-Norton, the district said in court papers in March.
Coventry Township strongly opposes the expansion request.
Visiting Judge R. Patrick Kelly, from Cuyahoga County, ruled in May 2008 against the district's request to expand into Green, New Franklin, Clinton and Lakemore, and Coventry, Springfield and Copley townships.
Residents of those communities would have been assessed $10 per $100,000 of valuation. Those communities are served by the Summit County Health Department, which opposed the mosquito district's expansion.
Kelly's 2008 decision should block the proposed Coventry expansion, said attorney Irving Sugerman, who is representing the township.
''This most recent effort by the [mosquito district] to expand its territorial boundaries is simply a method to accomplish what has already failed,'' Sugerman said. If the district ''is permitted to succeed, nothing will stop [the district] from filing successive, repetitive petitions ad nauseam in the political subdivisions that already successfully defeated their previous misguided effort.''
Coventry should not have to pay the legal costs associated with the mosquito district's proposed expansion, Sugerman said.
Harrison said his district is looking at how residents on the north side of Hemphill Road in Copley Township and on the west side of Medina Line Road in Wadsworth Township might also be benefiting from its spraying.
No decisions have been made in those areas, he said.
Harrison's agency also again is seeking court approval to change its name.
''It's too long,'' Harrison said of the official name: the Barberton-Norton Mosquito Abatement District. The preferred name is the Mosquito Abatement District, he said.
His agency is the only district of its kind in Northeast Ohio and changing the name should not cause problems or confusion, Harrison said.
Kelly and Teodosio previously rejected attempts to change the district's name.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Akron, Oh
Posted 02:45 PM, 07/08/2009
Why hasn't this plan died already. We've already voted against it.
Norton, oh
Posted 04:52 PM, 07/08/2009
I'm just glad the mosquito spraying is working in my neighborhood. I hate those itchy bites!
Akron, OH
Posted 11:30 AM, 07/09/2009
The MAD district is a nice value-add to the city. Whoever doesn't want it must already be swarmed in fleas and ticks...
