Council presses for discipline, outside review after Parks & Recreation ad investigation; mayor accepts responsibility

Councilors at the Nov. 3 Baberton City Council committee-of-the-whole sharply debated an internal report on a Parks & Recreation advertisement and pressed for accountability and outside review. Mayor Judge said he had not approved or seen the ad until it was mailed to his home and said, "I'll take the blame. I'm the mayor."

The dispute centered on findings in a recently completed internal review that staff used city resources in ways some council members said violated the employee handbook and possibly state law. Several councilors pointed to the handbook's acceptable-use language and said the report includes admissions about work-hour use of city computers and staff time to handle matters related to the ad. "There's obviously violations with, you know, not only the criminal law, but also within the employee handbook," one councilor said, urging disciplinary measures.

Councilor Gerhardt and others criticized Parks & Recreation for not seeking legal review before proceeding and said the department should bear financial responsibility for the cost of the ad. "The parks department did this. The parks department wasted that money. And if anybody wants a pound of flesh, every commissioner should be removed from that committee," a councilor said, urging deductions from the department's professional services and travel budgets to recoup the expense.

Mayor Judge and others said mistakes were made but denied malicious intent. The mayor said there were inaccuracies in parts of the report and noted the city is implementing new public-communication oversight measures. "There's enough blame to go around. I'm the mayor. I'll take the blame. Nothing was done maliciously," he said.

Councilors requested additional action: several asked that the report be forwarded to the Ohio Attorney General's office for review; one asked that the matter also be referred to police. City legal staff said they would provide counsel on next steps and the mayor said he would meet with the human-resources director to consider personnel outcomes.

The public portion of the debate included repeated requests for greater transparency about who authorized the ad and what steps the city has taken to prevent similar incidents. Several councilors said that earlier executive-session discussions might have prevented public expense had information been shared sooner. The meeting record shows no formal vote to discipline or to require repayment; councilors instead instructed staff to pursue further review and to return with recommendations.

Background: Council members referenced an internal report and the employee handbook's acceptable-use policy; the transcript records discussions of the handbook (section 6.08) and statements that staff used city email and computers for non-city solicitations. The mayor said he did not approve the ad and that he learned of it when mailed to his house.

Next steps: Council requested that staff send the report to outside authorities for review, that the law director and HR director advise on discipline, and that staff return to council with findings or recommendations.