Ohio Attorney General: Abraham Must Resign?

Ohio Attorney General, Marc Dann, responded, in an opinion dated March 19, 2008, to a request from Licking County Prosecuting Attorney, Ken Oswalt. Oswalt had asked for a follow-up opinion concerning Granville Township Trustee, Fred Abraham, and the lease of his property to the Township as a highway garage.

In an attempt to avoid a conflict, Abraham, upon taking office, leased the property to Guy Manos who, in turn, leased it to the Township. The Attorney General states that Abraham “…is prohibited by R.C.511.13 from serving as township trustee and continuing to have an interest in that preexisting multi-year contract.”

Abraham must either resign his position as Township Trustee or have the contract with the Township cancelled. Keeping the contract until the Township is able to build another garage does not seem to be an option.

The Attorney General stated that “This conclusion is required because a contrary finding would permit a township trustee to do indirectly that which he cannot lawfully do directly.”

      Attorney  General
          Marc Dann

He went on to write, “The arrangement is thus structured to allow the use of a middleman to distance the trustee from the township’s contract while permitting the trustee to benefit from the arrangement. To find that the use of a middleman removes all prohibited interests in contracts would conflict with the manner in which R.C.511.13 has been interpreted and applied.”

“In addition, such a finding might well encourage the creation of various devious mechanisms intended to allow a township trustee, officer, or employee to benefit indirectly from township contracts in contravention of the prohibition imposed by R.C.511.13. Accordingly, we must reject this construction of R.C.511.13.”

Click here to read the complete text of the Attorney General’s Opinion.

The Granville Press asked Kitty Consolo, a candidate for Township Trustee defeated by Fred Abraham, for her view of the situation: “In July, before Fred even filed a petition for Trustee, I asked him to get an opinion. I told him I thought it was going to be a problem.”

When asked what should be done, Consolo replied, “Fred should resign and the Trustees should appoint someone else.”

“I’m not interested in being appointed in Fred’s place. There are many qualified, interested candidates for the job, such as Dan Van Ness and Tim Hughes.” Consolo stated.

Consolo went on to say, “The township needs a new garage, but it should be done in conjunction with the Village and not rushed to fix Fred’s problem.”

Click here for a related previous story published 01/29/08: New Documents Regarding Township - Abrahams Garage Lease.

Click here for a related previous story published 01/24/08: Township Leases Garage from Abraham’s Former Campaign Treasurer: See The Documents.

Click here for a related previous story published 01/18/08: Trustee Abraham In Prohibited Conflict Of Interest.