Lake County commissioners hear Geauga official's plea to vote down NOACA ratification change

Lake County commissioners on Nov. 20 heard Geauga County Commissioner Ralph Spinelli urge them to vote against a proposed NOACA bylaw amendment that he said could allow two commissioners to determine another commissioner’s delegation and effectively silence a minority commissioner.

Spinelli, a Geauga County commissioner since 2012, said the change would put individual commissioners at risk of losing their representation and asked Lake County to register a formal “no” to the ratification to preserve his ability to appoint alternates. "A no vote for that ratification would make this a moot point," he told the board.

A Lake County commissioner who sits on NOACA’s governance and executive committees said governance has approved a bylaw amendment and that the amendment is slated for further presentations and two readings at a Dec. 12 board meeting, with annual reorganization to follow in January. That commissioner summarized the proposed change as removing the requirement that other counties ratify a county’s internal delegation appointments while leaving the overall composition and seat formula subject to ratification. "We rewrote it ... to specifically only talk about sections b and c," the commissioner said.

Former Geauga Commissioner Skip Claypool, who also spoke, said he worked with the Ohio Department of Transportation and others on the mechanics and cost modeling for counties leaving an MPO, and he characterized the federal regulation cited ("23 CFR 4 53 10" as presented in the meeting) and state guidance as providing a workable path. "It's a very straightforward process," Claypool said, and offered to share ODOT responses, legislative opinions and a cost model showing how a county could leave while retaining or improving transportation funding.

Speakers on both sides criticized NOACA’s expanded scope: Spinelli and Claypool said the organization has moved beyond transportation into economic development and housing funding that they view as outside the member counties’ priorities. The Lake County official on the governance committee acknowledged those tensions and said some members have voted differently on NOACA initiatives—he cited his own earlier dissenting vote on officer slates and said the governance committee debated membership and officer structure at length.

The board did not take a formal vote on the bylaw change during the workshop. The presiding Lake County commissioner said they were inclined to vote down the proposal and asked the county prosecutor’s office to prepare a written opinion on what it would take for Lake County to leave NOACA and form a separate MPO or join with another county. Claypool said he would forward legislative and ODOT materials to Lake County staff to inform that legal review.

The board adjourned the workshop at 11:08 a.m. The NOACA bylaw amendment is expected to return for additional readings in December; the county prosecutor’s written opinion will determine whether Lake County pursues any formal action on withdrawing or other structural change.