Three on Toledo council suspend activities in bribery case

Three city councilmen accused of accepting bribes for their votes have voluntarily suspended their positions on the board, and local officials are starting the process to appoint their temporary replacements.

The Ohio Attorney General’s office announced Wednesday that city council members Tyrone Riley, Larry Sykes, and Yvonne Harper have each voluntarily suspended their activities on city council after Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a complaint with the Ohio Supreme Court. Councilman Gary Johnson has not yet agreed to voluntarily suspend his position, according to the attorney general’s office.

“Until allegations of public corruption are resolved in court, a suspension is the proper remedy to balance the accused’s right of a presumption of innocence with the public’s interest to have a functioning city council,” Mr. Yost said.

Under state law, the appointment of temporary replacements for suspended officials falls to Probate Judge Jack Puffenberger. Anyone interested in one of the council positions can email a resume and letter of interest to the judge at judgepuff@lucas-co-probate-ct.org.

Applicants have until Aug. 21 to apply.

Council President Matt Cherry said he wanted potential applicants to have as much time as possible to think about the position, talk to their families, and talk to their employers.

“To consider a job as a city councilperson, it’s quite the decision to make,” he said.

“Hopefully we can get people on board here soon and move Toledo forward.”

He confirmed that the three suspended councilmen would continue getting paid during their suspensions and that their replacements would also get paid, on a pro-rated basis, the same yearly salary — $27,500 — that the councilmen receive, plus benefits.

If the councilmen plead guilty or are convicted of the charges, the city under state law could recover any funds paid to them during their suspensions.

Also charged in the conspiracy is attorney Keith Mitchell, and all five were federally indicted Tuesday.

City officials previously requested the attorney general’s office suspend the council members, who previously refused to leave their posts following a criminal complaint being filed on June 30.

Per the suspension process outlined under 3.16 of the Ohio Revised Code, public officials can choose to accept a provisional suspension until a commission of three retired judges, convened by the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, makes its final determination.

A suspension means council members will be unable to participate or vote in meetings until a resolution is rendered in their criminal case.

Judge Puffenberger said the only requirement for the appointees would be that they’re from the same districts as the councilmen they’re replacing, so appointees for Mr. Riley’s and Ms. Harper’s seats would need to be from District 1 and District 4, respectively. Because Mr. Sykes is an at-large member, the appointee can be from anywhere in the city.

Though all three are Democrats, the judge said their replacements can be from any political party. He hopes to make the decisions shortly after the Aug. 21 application deadline so council can continue getting business done.

“I would fast-track this,” he said.

He emphasized that the seats aren’t vacant — the three suspended councilmen are still on council — but the temporary appointees would serve until the criminal cases are resolved, or their specific seat’s current term is up, or until the councilman they’re replacing resigned.

If one or more resigned, the judge said it would then be up to the remaining members of council to fill the seat until the next election.

While serving, the appointees would have all the powers of a member of council, Judge Puffenberger said, including the ability to vote and introduce legislation.

“We’ll move forward,” the judge said.

Rick Kerger, Mr. Johnson’s attorney, said state law gives Mr. Johnson two weeks to make a decision about whether he would agree to a provisional suspension or not.

“It’s not something we’re going into lightly,” Mr. Kerger said.

Mr. Johnson has concerns about depriving his constituents of the representative they voted for, Mr. Kerger said, though he also understands the concerns of the various city officials who have all called for him and the others to step down.

“I would expect him to make a decision next week, one way or the other,” he said. “We don’t intend to drag it out for 14 days.”

In a statement to The Blade on Wednesday, Ms. Harper’s attorney, Jon Richardson, said she would not be resigning at this time.