Roughly five years ago (2019), the fight of my career began. That fight was the direct result of political disagreements. Disagreements that extended beyond the borders of Newburgh Heights. 

That fight though has had many chapters since it began. Because it is over and completely resolved, I'm finally free to share what occurred. I get to explain what happened, why it happened, and how it happened. You deserve to know the facts instead of what was leaked to the public through the gossip circuit and often mistaken media reporting. I'm grateful to be able to finally share them with you.

First, I am sorry for making the campaign finance reporting violation that led to the conclusion of this chapter. I let my wife and children down. I let my mother down. I let my family down. I let my friends and supporters down. And I let you, the residents, down. 

I paid a high price for not ensuring I was following every reporting rule. The consequences were hard because of how much I care about serving our community. I was required to resign, serve a 30-day sentence, pay a $3,000 fine, perform 200 hours of community service, and was placed on probation. I was given one year to complete all these conditions. Because it was important to me to show everyone I understood the error, I worked earnestly to complete everything within six months. The judge recognized the commitment I made to fully meeting my obligations and as a result ended the probation six months early. 

Allow me to be clear and transparent, the error I made was to put campaign donations into my bank account and then use it for political activities and also put personal money into the same bank account and use that money for personal reasons. One bank account used for two purposes. That was the violation. That's it. It's that simple.

As you will see, and despite this being the story some have tried to tell about this ordeal, I was not stealing or trying to steal money. That never happened. 

The moment I was informed that this was not allowed, I accepted that. Then, I immediately proved I did not spend a dime of donor money for personal gain.

It had nothing to do with my role as mayor or with the Village of Newburgh Heights, nor did it have anything to do with anyone else’s money.

This page will outline that in detail. 

The prosecutors have never made an allegation about an issue with any of my public employers. They never even investigated it, that's how certain they were there are no issues. Not a single demand for documents was made to Newburgh Heights. The same is true of any of the other governmental agencies I've worked for. No subpoenas for records. No public record requests. Nothing, making the run up to the closure of this chapter even more excessive. 

For three years, while "investigating" me, they let me continue to serve as mayor. For three years, while "investigating" me, they let me continue to work in finance departments. For three years, while "investigating" me, I had access to millions of dollars. For three years after they said I was in violation, they let me continue to fundraise. Why would they do that if they believed money had been stolen or I was a risk to the public trust?

Would you let someone you have accused of "stealing" keep access to millions of dollars for years after you've accused them? The obvious, no-brainer answer is "NO!"  You just don't wait three years to take action on an accusation like this and that is the only fact that you need to understand to know that this was about a political food fight and not about a risk to the public.

Think about this. There wasn't a single contact or subpoena to the fiscal officer, police chief, or law director of Newburgh Heights. They didn't request a single record. How can that be if their concern was about the public? 

Law enforcement "investigating" the issue never even visited Newburgh Heights' offices. They didn't "raid" any buildings. They didn't "seize" any computers. They didn't "confiscate" any phones. They didn't "take" any hard drives. They didn't "lockdown" any offices. They didn't "search" any houses. They didn't conduct any activity that would go with an investigation of a public official that was suspected of a financial offense.

To top it off, there was no referral to the Ohio Auditor of State. This would be a routine practice in a circumstance like this if there was a legitimate concern of a risk to the Village of Newburgh Heights. For example, here is a link to a recently completed investigation and another link to a current investigation unfolding right now where they were called in.

Why do you think that is? My suspicion is, they knew there was never an issue that needed to go to the extreme they took it to. Involving the auditor would have officially exposed to the public that the campaign finance violation had nothing to do with the village. Instead, they preferred to leave the innuendo out there.

I believe this fight started with my outspoken opposition against the Quicken Loans Arena renovation. It took hundreds of millions of dollars from the hardworking people of this county. It didn't create permanent jobs. It only created a permanent expense for our residents. All it did was line the wallet of a Detroit businessman. But it also benefited those that led the fight against me and that is one of the reasons I found myself in the battle I was in.

Perhaps though, the overarching chapter in my battle was remaining in the race for Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairman. I lost by only about 3 dozen votes. This was too close for comfort for some that opposed me, and it earned me a lifetime of enmity, again another major reason for the fight. 

The renovation vote and the party chair battle, amongst others, have led to a long climax in this political conflict. It led to the closing of another chapter with the conclusion of the court ruling. 

Over four years ago, the Board of Elections (B.O.E.) said I made an error in the way I was reporting my campaign reports. Some of those reports were already five years old at that point and it's been four years since then. That's right, we are talking about reporting errors that happened nine years ago! Because of the political battles I had recently fought and with key individuals involved against me in those battles sitting in just the right positions, I don't believe this notice was a coincidence. I don't believe it was an accident or random that my reports were selected for re-review. 

It seemed odd though because  every single one of my reports had been audited and approved. Going back years, the B.O.E. approved my reports so how would I know or even think I was making an error?

Not only was every single report checked and approved, but after those reviews, some of the reports required corrections. Here's an example of one of the requests from  2015. Do you notice it was not the issue of using the same bank account for two purposes? The B.O.E. auditor states in plain language that once the additional information for the two points was provided, and it was, the report was in compliance. 

In fact, I received confirmation that all required documents were provided and that every single report was approved. 

So, as far as I knew, I complied all along. How would I know otherwise? They confirmed that my reports were correct. 

You might ask why I made this mistake to begin with. Well, simply put, campaign finance law is vast and Byzantine. This was just not an area of my expertise. I should have hired professional campaign finance counsel to aid me with preparing reports. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way.

Still, as I learned and as I am raising my children, when you make a mistake, it is important to acknowledge that mistake. This is true even after the fact, and even if you didn't know you were making it.

That is exactly what I did in a statement to the Ohio Elections Commission. After the Board retroactively informed me I made the mistake, I acknowledged it once I was aware. Had they told me right up-front years ago I was making this error, I would have fixed it immediately. They didn't, so I didn't even know it was occurring.

My position has not changed once and does not today. 

From a real-world practice I didn't and haven't spent donor’s money for personal gain. 

This was my money that I put into the bank account and then took out. It was not campaign donation money. This is true despite how it has been misreported.

In fact, I worked with the Board of Elections to prove this. I reopened my books and the board re-audited me, creating  Exhibit A that was used by the State of Ohio as evidence. It proves that not a dime of donor money was missing. It also proved that after the re-audit, the campaign account owed me money.

Exhibit A demonstrates money wasn’t put back after I got “caught” as some have stated. It proves exactly the opposite. It proves what I have stated all along.

There wasn’t a gotcha moment. This wasn't a "bank robber" returning the money after they got "caught" scenario. That didn't happen. In fact, it was the state's own Exhibit A that contradicts this very argument. 

In fact, the running totals show the campaign account always owed me money.

These are not my facts. These are the facts of the prosecutor, the State of Ohio, and the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. 

At the conclusion of the forensic re-audit I was owed over $10,800 and the state has admitted this on record. This is actually more than we originally thought I was owed!

At the moment I closed my campaign account, that figure was over $32,000. This is public record and a fact. That's right, the campaign owed me over $32,000! 

This is a far cry from the salacious reports, rumor, innuendo, and allegations. There was no misuse, theft, fraud, or embezzlement. The rumors and gossip are not true. I did not take a dime of donor money and the state's own audit proves this.

To put it in the simplest terms, this was a paper violation, nothing more. Had I not used the same bank account for two purposes, there would have been no violation at all. Or, had I reported my personal deposits as a loan to the campaign instead of using the same bank account for two purposes, there would also be no violation! Of course, I didn't learn this until after the fact. As I didn't know I was committing a violation anyway, this is not something I would have thought of without the board telling me. This is the mistake I made. The mistake was not that I tried to take someone else's money, I didn't. 

The prosecutor didn't identify a single "victim." No donor wrote letters or testified at court about being bamboozled. The prosecutor didn't ask for a dime of restitution. Not a single "victim" was named, because there are none. The opposite occurred. Donors and supporters testified to my integrity not against.

They even let me close out the campaign account by writing myself a check from that bank account! If they thought my account was fraudulent, why would they be ok with this?

The idea is absurd. It provides all the evidence anyone should need to understand what this fight was really about. I believe it to be a classic example of Cuyahoga County political payback.

Despite this, I recognize I will have to live with the consequences of the outcome. It was the only way to close that chapter and move forward.

However, a reasonable resolution to this mistake should not have included prosecution. Even the executive director of the Ohio Elections Commission agreed. 

He said this directly to me and the prosecutor in an email on September 14, 2020. 

Given the facts, all one needs to do to recognize what the appropriate outcome to my error should have been, is to examine the agreement drafted by the original supervising attorney in the very same prosecutor’s office. Because of politics, he left the office.

In the Summer of 2020, he called for a fine and training. He wanted guidelines to help prevent more errors from occurring. He didn't want the overreach of the outcome.

I did my best to prove this is not what it has been made out to be and over the past several years, as it was, I had spent many thousands of dollars in legal fees. I had the prospect of spending as much as $100,000 total if it went to a trial. I just couldn't spend that kind of money because, the outcome of a trial was highly uncertain given major factors.

First, elected officials and juries are a lot like oil and water. 

Second, as I stated before, I was honest from the beginning about making a campaign finance violation once I was informed and realized one had been made. The prosecutors intended to use this transparency and honesty in admitting the mistake in a manipulative manner, not in the manner it was provided. This would have further hurt my chances. 

Finally, given my role as mayor I have had to take very unpopular positions to defend Newburgh Heights’ traffic camera programs, further harming the opinion a jury would have of me given the negative spin some media has placed and continue to place on traffic cameras. These factors made the prospects of a success even more challenging.

I had to make the business decision I did because of these factors. The state has unlimited resources to continue long after I have run out of funds for a defense. This fact was also weighed against the continued cost to my family. It was time to close the chapter for my own peace of mind and my family’s well-being. This was the only way we could do it with some sense of what the outcome was going to be.

Should this violation have been turned into this?

No. There is plenty of evidence of far more egregious campaign finance and public official violations that didn't result in anything close to this type of penalty. And especially considering I proved not a dime of donor money was missing and this had nothing to do with Newburgh Heights or my official capacity. There's even a case from this year where a guy running for governor can't explain where he raised $180,000 from. It just showed up in his campaign account but, he negotiated his own penalty! He wasn't referred for prosecution by the Ohio Elections Commission. And the best part?  He was allowed to use the $180,000 that he can't explain how he received to pay his fines. To boot, he never had plans to run for office again anyway so what does he care! 

The disparity is alarming. In my situation a full accounting review was done covering over six years of reports. It was found I was personally owed money. I was transparent in the process. I took responsibility for the mistake of using the same account for two purposes. Yet, they felt in my case, compared to these others that were not, I should be prosecuted? 

The rule is in place to prevent fraud and abuse. I demonstrated and the state proved through  their re-audit that it did not occur. If I ever have the privilege of serving in office again, I will not make this mistake again and I will engage a campaign finance attorney to review my reports.

Still, just as a speeder saying they didn’t know the speed limit is not an excuse for breaking the rule, me not knowing is also not justification.

I made a campaign finance reporting error that was corrected immediately upon being informed one was needed. Unfortunately, to resolve that chapter, I had to accept a no-win business decision. I had to accept an agreement I believe to be disproportionate and unfair to close it out, ending the risk to myself and my family. We needed to move forward again instead of remaining in a constant state of uncertainty over the issue.

The judge rejected the agreement and issued her own penalty. She did not impose the agreement terms as a part of her ruling and thus nullified it. I paid a high price for not knowing the rule and making this mistake. Every single obligation imposed on me has been fulfilled and that is why I'm now able to openly make this statement.  There are no further restrictions that must be met. This chapter and battle are over.

There is a tremendous amount of misinformation circulating about this ordeal. I hope this clears up the issue of what happened. I'm grateful to finally be able to share what transpired.

Bottom line, please accept my apology for the error in reporting that has led to this result. Had I known the rule, we wouldn’t be here. It is my fault for not knowing.  

As I have done since moving to the neighborhood in the 1990’s, I plan to remain engaged. I will continue the work of moving the community forward. Together, we've made too much progress to let it slip away.

Thank you for your support throughout the years. It has always been appreciated and never taken for granted.

I love you Newburgh Heights.

Onward and upward!