Commissioner Sharon Sweda used county email for campaign, opponents say

This story has been updated. ELYRIA — A series of emails to and from Commissioner Sharon Sweda's official Lorain County email address show she used her county email account to discuss her election campaign for a full term on the board of commissioners several times during August and September. The state auditor's office is now investigating, a spokesperson for that office confirmed Friday. Twenty-six pages of emails from Sweda's official county email account — ssweda@loraincounty.us — that were received or sent between mid-August and mid-September were provided to The Chronicle-Telegram by a third party who received them as part of a public records request. Sweda was appointed by commissioners to fill the unexpired term of Democrat Ted Kalo, who took the job of Lorain Municipal Clerk of Courts, in February 2019. On Nov. 3, she is seeking her first full term in the office. Her opponent in November's election is Republican David Moore, a former one-term Lorain County commissioner who announced his candidacy in December 2019. Sweda said Wednesday that she wasn't surprised the emails were brought up during a race some local election observers have said is the best of two chances for Republicans to land a seat on the three-member county board this November: The person who made the public records request for her emails was Tom Williams, a Republican former Lorain County commissioner and Moore's campaign manager, Sweda said. In her endorsement interview with The Chronicle on Monday, Sweda said she didn't originate any of the emails provided to the newspaper. Since the issue came up, she has taken steps to change how she handles email to keep a line of separation, she said. "Since I've been working remotely, I have seven emails that go into my phone," she said. "I'm astute about returning emails quickly and promptly." She also said that based on the dates of the public records request her office fulfilled, she believed the request was a fishing expedition by Republicans, possibly to gain insight into other Democrats or their campaign strategies. Since obtaining her emails, Williams has since made "four or six" more public records requests, Sweda said Wednesday. Moore on Wednesday confirmed that Williams made the request, but not at his request. He also confirmed that Williams is, for all practical purposes, his campaign manager. "The way my campaign is, we don't really have titles," Moore said Wednesday. "Do I rely on Tom quite a bit? Yeah. But Tom's his own man, out there doing a lot of work for Michelle (Hung) and I that is very valuable." Hung is a North Ridgeville City Councilwoman and Republican candidate for county commissioner, running against incumbent Democrat Lori Kokoski. She and Moore were co-chairs of the 2016 Trump campaign in Lorain County and their names appear on campaign signs together. Moore said he didn't know about Sweda's emails until Williams showed him the results of the public records request. He said he felt Sweda's emails were nothing criminal and more of an ethical lapse. "Is there any harm to a county taxpayer? I don't know. It's an ethical matter," he said. "It's not like these guys are stealing money, it'll probably just be a hand-slap." It's not clear whether there could be any particular penalty or punishment for how Sweda used her county email. Guidance on the matter could not immediately be found via the Ohio Ethics Commission. Williams, a one-term county commissioner who was defeated for re-election in 2014 by Democrat and current Commissioner Matt Lundy, confirmed Wednesday he made the public records request and showed it to Moore, without being asked or directed to. "I'm a former commissioner so I know how they do things there," he said, in reference to the board of commissioners. Sweda "can point at me and Dave (Moore), we're friends because we're former commissioners. I did this, I didn't ask Dave if he wanted it to be done, and once I got the proof I showed it to him." He also said he forwarded his findings onto the Auditor of State Keith Faber's office. Allie Dumski, press secretary for Faber's office, confirmed Friday that "we have received the tip and it is under review," she wrote in an email. The emails in question include the following: In an Aug. 10 email, Sweda replied to Rocco Rubino, who identifies himself as a registered Democrat from Amherst, after he emailed her to thank her for providing him one of her campaign yard signs."There was also a pleasant surprise: a Biden sign as well! That made my day," he wrote. "Thank you for all your hard work. I greatly appreciate what you and the other commissioners do to keep Lorain (C)ounty a decent place to live.""Dear Rocco, Thank you for your kind words. I truly love serving the county and will work hard to retain my seat," Sweda replied. "Your support is most appreciated. Let me know if any of your friends or relatives would also like a sign for their yard. If you would like to help on any of the campaign activities, just let me know! Take care! Sharon." An Aug. 13 email thread discusses the Lorain County Coordinated GOTV, or "Get Out The Vote," Plan. All those involved in the discussion use personal email addresses save for Sweda, who did not originate the email.Her county email is instead copied in the replies to the thread. Later, in an Aug. 18 email originating from her county account, she replied to the group thread: "We can do this! Let's get all hands on deck and make this happen!" Another email to Sweda's county account was from Barb McCann, an account executive at AM930 WEOL radio -- the Elyria radio station owned by the Lorain County Printing and Publishing Co., which also owns The Chronicle-Telegram -- on Aug. 19 that discussed video advertising options for Sweda's campaign.Sweda replied: "What is the cost for my 15-second video? I am interested in doing the 10-week schedule. Thanks, Sharon."McCann replied with the cost, and Sweda replied Aug. 20: "Last time I just wrote my own but would welcome ideas. Is it the same as last time, where people are sort-of trapped and have to view the segment in order to sign on? I got a lot of funny feedback last time- which proves it worked!" - On Sept. 1, Sweda wrote a reply on a thread about a phone banking volunteer being "an incredible volunteer" who is one of many "pulling together to turn Lorain County dark blue in November!!!" she wrote.The message was in response to an email from Michele Esper, who had sent out an email to multiple people including Sweda that discussed volunteers making calls for Democrats Joe Biden, Dara Adkison and Shannon Freshour, all of whom are running for election this November, as well as issues around yard signs and a brief mention of a Sweda campaign golf outing. - In another exchange on Sept. 4, Sweda used her county email to reply to Lorain County AFL-CIO President Harry Williamson's invitation to attend an endorsement interview with his organization in Amherst on Sept. 10."Thank you for the invitation, Harry. I look forward to the opportunity and will be present for the interview," she wrote.Williamson has since been hired as the director of Lorain County 911. That same day, Sweda had a brief two-line email exchange with her assistant, Maureen Simen, about the endorsement meeting."You have that time open," Simen wrote Sweda, likely referencing the availability on her calendar."Great, please add it to the schedule," Sweda replied. - Sweda's county email address was again copied on a Sept. 12 email by Esper to Maureen Schoenherr, in which Esper discusses campaign logos and T-shirts to include in a North Ridgeville sign event and race. Sweda is only copied on the email and does not engage in any discussion of the matter, according to the email records provided to The Chronicle. The proper or allegedly improper use of personal or government emails has been a focal point of recent U.S. elections, with Republicans and Democrats hitting back and forth at each other. Most famously, then-candidate Donald Trump used an alleged email scandal against his Democratic presidential opponent Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Democrats later pointed out after Trump took office that both his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Trump aide Jared Kushner, used unsecured email addresses and apps such as WhatsApp to discuss government business, sometimes with foreign contacts. Williams said Wednesday he asked for five weeks worth of Sweda's emails and "knows" the use of county resources to run a campaign "goes back further." "I know how they do business there, I knew the games they were playing," he said. "So my thing is: Yes, I caught them. Shame on them, and it's pathetic that they're trying to shift the blame for getting caught." "I put it in my name, I told them what I was doing. I was very clear, I was upfront, I said 'I know what you're doing now give (the emails) to me," Williams said. Sweda said that while working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, most of her seven email accounts stream through her iPhone. Many iPhones have a feature where all incoming emails are aggregated under a single icon if multiple email accounts are added to the phone. "I have seven (email accounts), and I have a new iPhone," Sweda said Wednesday. "I did not originate these emails, and for the most part those emails concern my scheduling, and that's done through my (county) assistant, and so people would contact me through the only place they knew, and that's county email," she said. "Contrary to the comments that this is a part-time job, I'm scheduled day and evening," she said, referencing a criticism Moore and other Republicans have leveled at the three Democratic commissioners. "My error was, in my haste to respond quickly, I did not go to the screen where it pops out" each individual email account, Sweda said. "It's a handful of emails ... There were no county secrets divulged to anybody and given a COVID environment, I'd be surprise if it wasn't even more of a problem (for others working remotely)." After the issue was realized, Sweda said she has taken additional precautions to not use her county email for campaign or personal purposes. She "circulated immediately" a message to all the contacts who reach out to her through her county email, explaining that her county email is not to be used to contact her for any private issues, Sweda said. "I respond a little slower now and I take double precautions so I'm sure I'm not responding through an improper one," she said. Sweda also has created a new Gmail-based personal email address and a new icon on her phone for campaign-based emails "so that wouldn't happen again." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him @daveobrienCT on Twitter.