Quarreling commissioners confirm state auditor probe (UPDATED)

County and state officials confirmed State Auditor Keith Faber's office is actively investigating the Lorain County Board of Commissioners over matters related to county contracts, and that his office has asked the commissioners to preserve documents and records as evidence while it does. According to copies reviewed by The Chronicle-Telegram, one subpoena was sent specifically to Commissioner Michelle Hung, a Republican, by a fraud investigator with Faber's Special Investigations Unit in Columbus. The other was sent more broadly to the entire board, including Republican Commissioner David Moore and Democratic Commissioner Matt Lundy. Both subpoenas were dated Jan. 11 and directed the commissioners to produce documents to investigators on or before Feb. 14. Hung, Lundy, Moore and their legal counsel, Chief Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Dan Petticord, confirmed Saturday that the board had been subpoenaed by state investigators. Marc Kovac, a spokesman for Faber's office, said May 23 that he could not comment on ongoing investigations. Hung has admitted recommending her brother Ed Dobias' resume be reviewed by the county IT department when it was hiring. He was not hired, but questions remain if any rules against nepotism were broken. The state auditor also reportedly is looking into potential contracts for county 911 services. Commissioners have been discussing 911 and radio upgrades for many months, with Moore criticizing the process and publicly speculating about corruption. According to the subpoenas sent to Hung specifically and her fellow commissioners generally, which were obtained by The Chronicle through a public records request, the state auditors demanded commissioners produce all original documents regarding the following matters: "The build out of the 911 center on Burns Road for which a contract was awarded to Cleveland Communications Inc.;" "The planning for the implementation of a countywide radio and 911 system for local and county safety forces, including and an all [sic] communications related to the Statewide MARCS radio system;" "The rental of use of the Lorain County 911 tower to Cleveland Communications Inc.;" and "All documents and communications involving the interviewing process for Ed Dobias for a position in the Lorain County IT Department." Hung and Moore took shots at each other in interviews with a Chronicle reporter Saturday. Asked if she could confirm an investigation by Faber's office and if she was asked to preserve documents, Hung provided the following statement: "The Lorain County Board of Commissioners was asked to maintain the integrity of the emails and associated documents and (Chief Assistant) County Prosector Dan Petticord has handled the matter on behalf of the board," she said. "Unlike Commissioner Moore, who collects shred garbage in his closet, we at the Board of Commissioners are fully aware of how electronic communications are maintained and available through our IT department." The "shred garbage" comment was in reference to a comment Moore made to a Cleveland TV station last week, saying he had retrieved and saved in his office a bag of shredded documents he found outside Hung's office in the County Administration Building in Elyria. Hung called Moore's comments about county employees "walking on eggshells" at work "highly offensive." "The employees who work for Lorain County are some of the hardest-working people I have ever met in my life. I am so appreciative of their dedication to our residents. The allegation that Moore made saying that they are walking on eggshells at work is highly offensive to them and the work they perform daily to keep our government running smoothly. I want them to know that this commissioner holds their work in high regard," Hung said. "The self-serving, headline-grabbing comments by Commissioner Moore about our employees is highly offensive." Hung added: "I continue to come to work and do the work the residents of Lorain County asked me to do." Moore, who has publicly called for Hung's resignation, said her accusations are "not worth responding to." "The public knows she's a liar. The public knows she's a cheater. And now the public knows she's under criminal investigation," he said. Moore said he has been hesitant to move forward on contracts involving Lorain County 911 radio system upgrades for the past nine months, and the bidding process has now been "tainted" by the ongoing investigation. "It's always been about the process, and the process, I believe, has been jeopardized. The legitimacy of any and all these radios they want to talk about," he said. "Basically, my position is now that it's public I'm not interested in moving forward on any radios until this issue has been resolved with the state because any decision made in regards to radios is going to be tainted. And the fact that there's an open criminal investigation involving contracts in regards to what's going on at (Lorain County) 911, and we've got a levy coming up which is important for the county I think you're gonna see me take a position of not supporting moving forward on Motorola, or (L3)Harris, or Kenwood, or Johnson, because right now the process has been tainted, the process cannot be trusted." Moore said until the investigation is completed, the county should focus its efforts on passing three renewal levies in the November election. Lundy took issue with the characterization of the auditor's investigation as a criminal one, pointing to a report by WKYC-3 TV in Cleveland on Friday. He said the county has only been asked to preserve documents, and that he has not been interviewed as part of a criminal investigation. "I just think that this is something that the auditor's office has been asked to take a look at. They're taking a look at it, but nobody has indicated to me or said that they want to interview me because there's a criminal investigation. The only thing that has been indicated to the Board of Commissioners has been that the auditor wanted records retained that related to, I guess, some issues of concern that were raised," Lundy said. He said a consultant, Mission Critical, is putting together a request for proposals on 911 radio contracts through state purchasing. The claim in the WKYC report that the contract was not properly bid is not factual, Lundy said, as the equipment was already available. "As far as Channel 3, I mean, I haven't been informed by anyone that there's a criminal investigation. There is no situation where we're talking about a no-bid contract. So let's just strike both of those off the list. So I'm a little confused by some of these assertions that are being made. I don't know if they're being made to grab headlines but I think when people start making such assertions they need to know what they're talking about, and they certainly need to be correct in their assertions. But at this point, those assertions aren't correct," Lundy said. Lundy also took aim at the claim about a bag of shredded documents being kept in Moore's closet that were allegedly found outside Hung's office. He said he did not appreciate Lorain County being portrayed in a negative light. "There's no way to confirm those shredded documents is what someone claims it is. So I don't see how you make the assertion that the shredded document represents some important documents that were shredded when you have no clue what those documents are," Lundy said. "I don't appreciate the county being put in a negative light by assertions that are misrepresentations," he added. "It doesn't help the county, when you're trying to attract jobs, when you want people to live here, if there are assertions being made that are without foundation." In a recent deposition as part of a federal civil lawsuit filed by former County Administrator Tom Williams in August, Hung admitted she voted to hire Harry Williamson as Lorain County 911 director in January 2021 — four months after starting a sexual relationship with him. Hung admitted under oath that it was Williams who introduced her to Williamson on Sept. 1, 2020. Hung first said on the record that "I just don't remember" when the affair began, then clarified her answer and said it started "a few days later" after she first met Williamson. She did not tell her fellow commissioners about the relationship until after it was revealed publicly by The Chronicle in summer 2021. Both Hung and Williamson were married to others at the time, and were still in a relationship as of April 29, according to testimony Hung gave at the deposition. She also admitted having sex in her county office, and she and Williamson were caught on camera kissing in a county building early last year. Hung filed for divorce from her husband, Jeff, in Lorain County Domestic Relations Court on May 11, according to court records. Williamson and his wife — also named Michelle — had their marriage dissolved in March, according to Lorain County court records. Williams said last week that he had reached a tentative settlement with the county that would pay him $450,000 — the approximate amount commissioners promised in his severance package in January 2021 (Lundy was against Williams' severance package, but was outvoted 2-1). The commissioners have yet to vote whether to accept the arrangement. Williamson, who was fired at the same time Williams was in August 2021, sued the county, Lundy, Moore, Williams, former County Administrator Jim Cordes and the county's outside legal counsel in Lorain County Common Pleas Court in January, alleging retaliation, wrongful termination and several other civil matters. Contact Kevin Martin at (440) 329-7121 or kmartin@chroniclet.com or on Twitter @KevinMartinCT. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129, dobrien@chroniclet.com or on Twitter @DaveOBrienCT.