Rob Baumgartner used his public comment time at the Dec. 1 North Ridgeville City Council meeting to demand an independent forensic audit of city operations and to allege a pattern of secrecy and favoritism in contracting. "I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true," Baumgartner said, opening his remarks and later adding, "The city needs a full forensic audit."

In a roughly six-minute statement spread across an initial three-minute allotment and a council-approved three-minute extension, Baumgartner alleged that an earlier internal workplace investigation had exposed a "hostile and dysfunctional" police department culture but that leadership has not fixed the problems, which he tied to "chief Freeman." He said the city refused his public-records request on Nov. 20 and cited the Ohio Revised Code on public records, asserting the administration did not assist in narrowing the request.

Baumgartner also criticized what he characterized as rapid, emergency-clause contract approvals and said engineering firms and developers have donated to the mayor, naming "Willis Connor of American StructurePoint" as an example. He questioned a finance director salary increase he described as a roughly $60,000 rise (from about $80,000 in 2019 to approximately $140,000 today) and called that pattern "financial arrogance," saying taxpayers deserve transparency.

Council allowed Baumgartner an additional three minutes after a motion by Winkel and a second by De Vries. Council did not take immediate action in response to his allegations during the meeting. No administration response was recorded on the transcript that night.

The next procedural steps were not announced during the meeting; Baumgartner requested that the administration "open the books" and prove the administration is clean. The council later proceeded with its agenda items including budget and project discussions.