Residents demand investigation after public commenter ties supplemental $3,000 consultant payment to city contracts

Jerry Bayes, a city resident, used the council’s public-comment period to allege that city officials funneled municipal funds to private consultants and used purchase orders to avoid council oversight. Bayes said one supplemental contract — a $3,000 payment dated June 1 and paid June 2 — paid for 15 days (25 support hours) of administrative work for a consultant identified in documents variously as “Jeffrey J.,” “Fuji Lee” and “Jeffrey Jing.” He said the payment “was a felony” if the city cannot substantiate work performed and called the arrangement “corrupt.”

Mayor (Dietrich Petrovsky) responded during her report and denied the allegations, saying the ordinances, resolutions and minutes cited by critics are factual and that the narrative attached to those records is misleading. The mayor asserted that legal requirements — including references in the meeting to the Ohio Revised Code and Ohio EPA…