Judge warns Trumbull commissioners against future violations of the law

The Trumbull county commissioners have been officially warned not to continue to break public meetings laws as part of the settlement agreement they've entered into with former commissioner Niki Frenchko.

Under the settlement, Trumbull county taxpayers are on the hook for more than $50,000 they will have to pay out to settle the suit, which was filed over violations of Ohio's Sunshine laws. 

Frenchko sued in 2023 over incidents from 2021 through 2023, citing a pattern of illegal meetings being held by former commissioners Mauro Cantalamessa and Frank Fuda, as well as current commissioner Denny Malloy and other department heads. Malloy reached out to the 21 Newsroom Wednesday afternoon claiming he'd been dismissed from the suit, but the judgment entry from visiting Judge Wyatt McKay does not show that. In fact, not only is Malloy still included, but the order clarifies that although current commissioners Rick Hernandez and Tony Bernard were not parties to the suit, the injunction also applies to them.

In the order, McKay wrote:

1. Respondents shall establish a reasonable rule to ensure compliance with R.C. 121.22 (F) to provide notice whereby any person may determine the time and place of all regularly scheduled meetings and time, place and purpose of all special meetings, establish a process for individuals to receive advance notice of special meetings where a specific type of business is to be discussed, respondents shall properly notice their regular and special meetings in compliance with these policies and Ohio law and respondents shall not deliberate or take officials actions in private.

2. Respondents Trumbull County Records Commssion and Trumbull County Budget Commission shall ensure their statutory officials attend meetings rather than attending through designees, unless otherwise permitted by law to use a designee.

3. Respondent Trumbull County Board of Commmissioners shall ensure that the meeting minutes and record of the proceedings of all workshops, special meetings and regular meetings complies with Ohio law. If Respondent Trumbull County Board of Commissioners elects to use electronic record as permitted by R.C. 305.10 and authorized by the Trumbull County Board of Commissioners by Resolution at its April 12, 2023 meeting, Respondent Trumbull county Board of Commissioners shall do so in compliance with Ohio law, including R.C. 305.09, which requires the chair of the Trumbull county Board of Commissioners, during the proceedings, to ensure that each person self-identifies prior to speaking during the proceedings, or to otherwise supplement the electronic record with written minutes as needed.

4. Respondents shall not delete or otherwise destroy public records under Ohio law, regardless of whether those records are stored on personal devices or social media platforms unless those records are destroyed in compliance with the Respondents records-retention schedules and Ohio law.

5. Respondents shall pay Relators' attorney fees in the amount of $49,500 within 21 days of this order in a check made payable to Barron, Peck, Bennie and Schlemmer Co LPA.

6. Respondents shall pay Relators a total of $1,500 in statutory civil forfeitures within 21 days of this order in a check made payable to Barron, Peck, Bennie and Schlemmer Co, LPA.

With the injunction, the case is now dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled and has been adjudicated.

The suit provided background on several meetings the commissioners held either without public notice or via email or phone call, without including Frenchko. 

Ohio law requires that if a quorum of a public body is present, it constitutes an official meeting and must follow guidelines for how to conduct business in full view of the public. 

The suit also provided video evidence of some of these meetings, during which official decisions were made regarding county business. The law requires those actions only be taken in publicized, public meetings. 

As part of the settlement, the county will need to pay out approximately $51,000, which come out of the county's general fund, the vast majority of which will go to cover attorney fees. 

Commissioner Tony Bernard, who was not yet on the board at the time of the alleged misconduct, expressed frustration that the county allowed the expense to taxpayers to pile up, believing the matter should have been settled much sooner. 

"You would have thought that someone would have said 'wait a minute, let's put the brakes on this,' because if you lose one suit, then you have to pay all the attorney fees," Bernard said. 

Commissioner Denny Malloy is quoted in a news release saying now that the lawsuit has been settled, the county can finally move on from the situation and focus on advocating for residents of the county.

"It's sad that the county's elected officials and taxpayers had to spend two years fighting alleged sunshine law violations brought by a former commissioner against the very board of commissioners that she served on," Malloy said.

However, Malloy also acknowledged that a judge had told the board they would not likely prevail in the suit as far back as January. 

Frenchko sent 21 News the following statement on the lawsuit being settled:

"When elected officials cavalierly violate the law and public trust, they must be held accountable. My efforts have always been to correct misconduct and it's unfortunate they wouldn't do so based on my guidance - rather than a lawsuit."

"The case should have settled last year for a fraction of the costs, but for political reasons, Malloy and Cantalamessa wasted taxpayer funds on legal fees for matters where offenses were flagrant. (This was not covered by insurance - but the general fund."

The release from the commissioners' office also claims that an allegation that former commissioners and the former sheriff destroyed text messages related to Frenchko's 2022 arrest was settled. 

In that matter, Frenchko accused the others of conspiring to have her arrested during a meeting, a matter that was eventually thrown out. A federal judge ruled in Frenchko's favor in that case as well, finding that her constitutional rights were violated by the arrest, which came during a discussion of her criticism of jail inmates. 

However, that matter is a separate, federal suit and the settlement announced on Wednesday does not pertain to that case, which remains open.