LaGrange Township stuck without fiscal officer despite election

Despite voters picking a new township fiscal officer in the Nov. 2 election, an odd turn of events has left LaGrange Township without someone to fill that office for the time being. A quirk of the law means that now-former Fiscal Officer Roberta Moore's service was done as of 4 p.m. Monday and that new Fiscal Officer Kathy Poling's term has begun. However, Poling said Tuesday she can't start the job until she gets sworn in and obtains a bond, as required by Ohio law. And Moore can't act in an interim capacity ever since her term officially ended Monday when the Lorain County Board of Elections certified her opponent's victory. The quirk in the law "leaves the township in a horrible position," Moore said. "It leaves our employees, who are totally deserving of their pay, so they don't know when they're going to get paid," she said. Poling defeated Moore, who had served as LaGrange Township's fiscal officer since 1992, in the Nov. 2 election. Poling received 444 votes to Moore's 236 votes, according to official election results. Moore was appointed to her most recent and final term after errors on her election petitions got her kicked off the ballot in 2019. With no opponent, the seat went empty, but trustees re-appointed her to fill an unexpired term. That meant Moore had to run for the seat again this year. Moore said Tuesday that if she had won, it would have been her final elected term, as she planned to train her own replacement then retire. But Poling defeated her by more than 200 votes, and is now officially the township fiscal officer despite not being sworn or bonded. The whole matter has put township trustees in a bad spot, Moore said. They're not familiar with the banking software fiscal officers use to input payroll, which isn't "just putting in checks and printing them out," she said. Moore also didn't have a deputy fiscal officer who could help out or take over in the interim between her leaving office and Poling taking over, she said. LaGrange Township has a $4 million budget and 60 employees, Moore said. "It just concerns me, they're left hanging," she said. "You don't want your own employees not getting paid." Moore said when she was first elected nearly 30 years ago, she received multiple days of training on how to handle the job. It's not fair to the township, or to her successor, to throw Poling into the role two weeks after winning the election, she said. Moore said she has officially filed for retirement through the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Dan Petticord, who is legal counsel to the trustees, said Tuesday that he was aware of the matter and was attempting to contact Poling and determine what trustees can do without a fiscal officer in place. Poling said Tuesday she assumed her term would start in March. She said she was going to get in touch with the prosecutor's office to determine the next step, but believes she can't officially take over the job until she's officially sworn in and bonded. Ohio requires fiscal officers obtain a bond to protect the township against "dishonesty" such as theft in office or other violations of the law, according to the Ohio Revised Code. Poling said she got a certificate confirming her election victory from the Lorain County Board of Elections on Tuesday, but "my hands are kind of tied, too." She agreed that leaves a lot of things in limbo, but she was confident it would all be sorted out. "We're still trying to get it all straightened out," Poling said. "It's paperwork and red tape. ... You'd think the state would have some sort of protocol or steps in place for an unexpired term when someone gets beat and they have to vacate office." Trustee Rita Canfield referred questions about the situation to Doug Gardner, chairman of the LaGrange Township Board of Trustees, saying only that she was "very concerned about how the transition is not going smoothly." Gardner said Tuesday he didn't have any information to add, and that he is waiting on feedback and the results of legal research into the matter. He said he wasn't sure where the lines of communication fell apart, and confirmed there are certain requirements Poling has to meet to be qualified to do the job, such as being bonded and sworn in. "It's unfortunate things have transpired the way they have," Gardner said. "Until we have a good line of communication with everyone, we're just kind of on hold." He confirmed that payroll is one issue that has to be worked out. With the Thanksgiving holiday falling between now and then, "it's going to be a challenge," Gardner said. "Let's hope we can work our way through this." "It's a bad situation. I feel horrible but I can't help," Moore said. "It's a lot of work and I put a lot of time into it. … The law definitely needs to be looked at." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him @daveobrienCT on Twitter.