Comments spur rebuttals at Council meeting

Officials respond to Fallis, Springowski

After recommendations in the state review of Lorain’s finances, changes are coming to city policies for keeping track of public spending, said City Auditor Karen Shawver.

Meanwhile, there is no “price” of doing business in Lorain and it hurts the city when people assert that there is, said Mayor Chase Ritenauer.

A proposal by Councilman-at-Large Mitch Fallis and comments from Councilwoman-at-Large Mary Springowski spurred rebuttals from some of Lorain’s other elected officials the night before voters were to cast ballots in the May 2 primary election.

Fallis, Springowski, Councilman-at-Large Koziura and challenger Matt Harkins, all Democratic candidates, were in a contested primary for three atlarge Council seats.

In a letter to City Council, Fallis proposed forming a new audit committee to review city finances to help remedy deficiencies cited in the state audit of Lorain’s 2015 financials.

“Basically, the gist of my letter was to communicate that an audit committee can actually enhance the independence of the current internal audit process here in the city,” Fallis said.

The state audit, published in April by the Ohio State Auditor’s Office, listed no findings for recovery by which the city or workers must repay money that was misspent.

The city auditor’s staff is working on policies to correct the conditions noted by the state examination, Shawver said. She noted she informed Council about her work in the April 17 Council meeting, when Shawver and Ritenauer commented on the state’s report.

The policies should be coming down to Council in the next couple months, Shawver said.

“So I think I’ve already started working on several of these policies,” she said. “Therefore, I will be sending something down and I would appreciate letting my staff do this.”

The proposal for a new committee could create the perception that Lorain needs the group because the auditor’s staff is not capable of doing its job, Shawver said. She noted the time of the meeting was the day before the May 2 primary election, but the words of Council members could be misconstrued.

Council President Joel Arredondo agreed the ideas are good, but the city officials need to remember each have different responsibilities under the city’s legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.

Fallis said he thinks there is merit in having the private-public committee, but he would wait for Shawver’s report and comment at that time.

Ritenauer on May 1 also asked Springowski to clarify her comments that appeared in a Morning Journal election preview story about the candidates in contested primary elections.

Speaking about business development, attraction and promotion, Springowski comments included: “There are people who would like to do business in Lorain but there seems to be a ‘price’ of doing business here.”

Ritenauer pounced on that notion, saying it was bad for Lorain’s image. The phrase gave the appearance that someone was “getting kickbacks” or was corrupt in Lorain, the mayor said.

That is the perception of the city from the days of old, Springowski said.

“That is certainly not what I think about this administration right now,” she said. “I think we’ve made tremendous strides so far with getting some new businesses in there and I apologize if it was misconstrued. I don’t think anybody’s getting kickbacks.”

The situation may have been different when she was a child, Springowski said. Koziura, a former mayor and city auditor, added in his administration in 40 years of public service, he never was accused of any allegations of kickbacks or corruption.