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Resident tells North Ridgeville council dozens of records requests unresolved, alleges police workplace problems
Summary
At the Feb. 17 North Ridgeville City Council meeting, resident Rob Baumgartner said more than a dozen public-records requests remain unfilled and alleged a hostile work environment in the police department, citing a command-climate survey he says was withheld; officials did not provide a substantive response during the meeting.
Rob Baumgartner told North Ridgeville City Council on Feb. 17 that the city has not fulfilled “over 12 outstanding records requests” pertaining to the police department and alleged a sustained hostile work environment for veteran officers.
Baumgartner said a command-climate survey had been delivered to the mayor, the law director and city council and that the mayor “admitted the results were disturbing,” but the law director later denied a public-records request for the survey. “They absurdly claimed that it was never used in any way by the city,” Baumgartner said, and he urged council to take steps to address the situation and support officers.
He also told council the survey and other submitted complaints documented verbal berating by Police Chief Freeman and behavior that, in his words, had driven officers toward unhealthy coping mechanisms and high turnover. Baumgartner said the city responded with what he described as a “watered down third party review” rather than acting on the six pages of complaints he said officers submitted.
Council acknowledged Baumgartner’s remarks but did not record a substantive public response or direct staff action during the meeting minutes. No law director or police department representative offered a rebuttal at the meeting itself, and the mayor did not announce any immediate follow-up action on the record.
Background: Baumgartner said he filed a public-records request for the climate survey on Nov. 20, 2025 and that it was denied on Dec. 9, 2025. He asked council to “break the leadership failures of the mayor and take actions to help our police officers where the city has failed them.”
Next steps: The public comment was entered into the record but the meeting transcript shows no formal referral or motion to staff to investigate the allegations during that session. Community members seeking copies of underlying documents should follow formal public-records procedures with the city clerk or consult the law director’s office.
