St. Bernard resident who wanted council seat sues village

Описание: ST. BERNARD, Ohio (WKRC) - Lawns and litigation. That's the unusual combination in one of the tri-state's small towns.

It’s a combination which also includes allegations of backroom deals and questionable political behavior.

Don Tobertge is a landscaper and a member of St. Bernard Village Council.

Each week, Don cuts Sarah Helton's lawn. It takes about 15 minutes.

In June, Don nominated Sarah to fill a council vacancy and voted for her, at first. But Sarah never got the position. Now, she's filed suit.

“I was completely blindsided by what happened. It's not the way I expected a vote to work,” said Sarah.

Sarah's lawsuit against the village is not an attempt to undo the council's decision, which gave the council seat to somebody else. However, Sarah says St. Bernard Mayor John Estep used a flimsy conflict of interest theory to steer council's vote away from her. She also says the minutes of that council meeting never revealed what really happened.

Council's vote to fill the vacancy was tied, so during the meeting the mayor passed Don a note which said “I have an opinion from the Ohio ethics [commission] that you should note vote for Sarah.”

The implication of that note is that a vote for Sarah would be a conflict of interest because of money thanks to the upkeep of Sarah’s lawn.

Don, who was surprised by the note, changed his vote.

“I don't know if it's law or not, but I didn't feel like I should vote for her, because I work for her,” said Don.

There was discussion during the meeting of Councilmember Patty Hausfeld blasting the mayor for his last-minute note.

“It just blows my mind, John. You always say it's not behind closed doors but that's BS! It is behind closed doors,” said Patty.

“I gave him the note and said you're on shaky ground. It's his choice,” said Mayor John Estep.

The mayor had indeed contacted the Ohio Ethics Commission earlier in the day and was given a 1994 opinion about a $50,000 contract in northern Ohio, which was deemed a potential conflict of interest.

But the mayor never outlined specifics. He just gave Don the note. Sarah insists there's no conflict in her situation.

“There had to be more to the relationship than what I had described,” said Sarah.

Council's minutes had nothing about the note or the verbal sparring, just who was nominated and who won.

Sarah says that lack of transparency is illegal.

The mayor said that he cannot comment on pending litigation.

What makes this story even more interesting is that Sarah Helton lives next door to the mayor. Their lawns basically merge together. Don cuts Sarah's grass. Somebody else cuts the mayor's grass.

Sarah asked a judge to order St. Bernard to keep more accurate minutes, and perhaps pay a fine for violating the open meetings law, and she pretty much got that. In a just-reached out of court settlement, the papers have not even been filed yet, the village admits no wrongdoing, but accepts an injunction to keep more accurate minutes and pays a $1,000 fine.

The litigation and lawn saga seems to be over, but it's not. Sarah is now running for village council in November against the very same person who got the vacant position she wanted.