Colerain Whistleblower Blows the Lid Off Township's Real Problems

Article Summary:

Public records reveal the inner workings in Colerain Township that result in a revolving door of disgruntled employees, community fatigue, and costly litigation.

Another Zoning Administrator in Colerain Township was fired “without cause,” per Trustee Matt Wahlert, in late August. He is at least the 3^rd Zoning Administrator forced out in the last 6 years. The Public Works department has also gone through 3 directors fleeing the township in as many years. In addition, the township is on it’s 2nd administrator. In total, 12 department heads and numerous staffers, including the entire zoning department, have passed through the township’s revolving door since Trustee Dan Unger came on board.

No matter how you look at it, the records reveal the township is a mess.

The blame game.

Trustee Dan Unger has long maintained that the exodus from the township is due to a select few residents who have brought what he deems unfounded allegations against the township into the public forum. Two residents, Kathy Mohr and Stephanie Wright, have proven that residents have good cause to be concerned. They have won 2 lawsuits against the trustees for repeatedly violating public records law and the Open Meetings Act. The trustees have had to pay settlements on these cases.

Colerain Township residents who have brought concerns to the Board's attention and suffered reprisals from the trustees.Photo byWaycross Media, September 16, 2023

Record with non-residents.

The residents aren’t the only ones who have had to take the township to court to make them comply with policy and law.

• Two employees have sued for improper treatment of workers including disability discrimination and sexual improprieties. The township settled those suits and township taxpayers have paid for that misconduct.
• Multiple other employees have received settlements upon exiting.
• Phantom Fireworks took the township to court for passing a retroactive zoning resolution (after the fact) in an attempt to secure a property for the township’s preferred use. The township settled that suit as well.
• Recently, the state held the township’s feet to fire for destroying 400 kids’ football field at a park in order to build a firehouse without legally required, prior permission from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which spent $1.4M to make it a park, fined them, and called them to task for failing to register a deed restriction that prohibited them from converting that park into a firehouse.

Trustee Unger, "I just thrive on this stuff... I love it " when ridiculing a resident concerned that people may be charged $500 for runawaysPhoto byClip from Waycross Media, January 23, 2024

Meanwhile, trustees Dan Unger and Cathy Ulrich laugh and giggle during official meetings about how much they “love” ridiculing and criticizing residents who make allegations against the township. At the same time, Trustee Matt Wahlert prefers to outright insult residents calling one a "race-baiter" and telling her to "get a job" for bringing concerns regarding the displacement of over 200 black youth from a park to the Board’s attention. They do so under the cloak of privilege that does not permit those being attacked to respond to their assertions in real-time.

The real problem. Documents shed light on the inner workings of the township.

Now, the depth and breadth of the real problems in the township are being exposed in documents produced via public records requests fulfilled by their law director, Scott Sollman of Schroeder, Maundrell, Barbiere, & Powers.

Alig’s writings make clear that the problems in Colerain Township are not brought on by “certain residents,” whom Unger targets at nearly every meeting. “There is a very serious problem here,” according to Alig, in the leadership of the township, overall.

Alig’s email of August 18^th pleads with elected officials to address the “incredibly low” morale of staff in the administration office. He itemizes the lack of experience of staff due to the high turnover rate, explicitly, stating that he has more seniority than 2/3s of the staff and he has only been there 2 years. He attributes the low morale, high turnover, and inexperienced staff to a need to evaluate “the processes, procedures, and actions of the Colerain Township administration”. Much like what residents have been saying.

Jarrod Alig's email to Colerain Trustees pleading for them to intervene.Photo byThe Cincinnati Post, February 2024

According to Alig, the law director, Scott Sollman, has walked the township into several lawsuits and exposed the township to unnecessary legal jeopardy with his “worth the risk” mentality regarding the due process rights of residents and procedural safeguards. It’s certainly “worth the risk” for Sollman, who draws a $20K monthly salary - part-time - while also being paid to represent the township in actions derived from his advice.

"Catch 22" Alig's letter invoking protection under the township's Whistleblower Policy and requirement to make the report per Ethics PolicyPhoto byThe Cincinnati Post, February 2024

Alig’s concerns were serious in that he and his subordinates could be found criminally or civilly liable for knowingly violating the law or due to the incompetence of his superiors who bear no qualifications to work in the Planning and Zoning Department, respectively. If the township were sued, Alig, as the Zoning Administrator, would be a named party to any legal actions. Six months before his firing he had filed an Ethics Complaint under the Whistleblower policy of the township reporting his concerns.

Renatta Edwards, HR Specialist, was assigned to investigate Alig’s complaint. She is not an attorney or in any way qualified to perform such a task. Because Sollman was the subject of the complaint, he could not serve as an impartial arbiter. Edwards’ written report in which she attempts to make Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, establishes that she did not understand the basis of Alig’s complaint. Alig's complaint pertained to the legal notice required to be sent to lienholders, not property owners. In Edwards’ dismissal of Alig’s complaint, she demonstrates that she does not comprehend the subject matter she was charged with investigating. She states, in part:

Mr. Alig's interpretation of the code ... leaves no alternative method for notifying owners..."

Her decision to dismiss his complaint as false is facially flawed. She completely missed the point. No one on the township payroll was able to discern that the investigation didn't even address Alig's complaint.

Alig's legal controversy.

"Lienholders” have the right - and duty - to take corrective actions on properties as interested parties under Ohio law and township policy. They have a legal right to remediate any issue and to take far less expensive actions under these circumstances than imposed by the township. Alig emphasizes that his concern lies not just with the due process rights of all properties’ stakeholders, but the legal jeopardy and irreparable harm the township could be held liable for if proper notice does not comport with the requirements of the Ohio Revised Code. Nearly every single property upon which the township has taken assessment or abatement actions, without proper notice, subjects the township to costly, legal challenges based on fundamental due process grounds.

Workplace harassment and retaliation for filing his February complaint.

Instead of the township addressing Alig’s concerns, he was subjected to an escalating hostile work environment creating increased work stress and anxiety that compounded his military disability.

According to the records provided by Sollman, a notable example of possible workplace harassment imposed on Alig may have occurred in August, when Alig’s superior bypassed Alig and assigned a newly hired, unqualified, and inexperienced zoning staffer to perform the zoning administrator’s duties relative to preparing a text amendment regarding cannabis prohibition sought by the trustees. Alig writes to trustees:

Jeff McElravy assigned David Peters (who started with the Township on June 5, 2023) to “take point” on this specific text amendment. In your evaluation of the matter please consider that this is the “leadership team” that both Justin Becker, and David Peters are being directed by while in the infancy of their planning and zoning careers. This was their first experience in preparing a text amendment after graduating from Miami University this past May…We are in a very bad spot under the current leadership team."

Aside from the fact that the department was directed to draft a text amendment in a manner inconsistent with the Ohio Revised Code and township policy - another specified issue in his complaints - Alig believed that this duty was intentionally miscommunicated to him. He believed that he was knowingly being asked to violate the law to create a condition upon which he could be legitimately terminated. Leadership was setting him up for failure while stripping Alig of the duties and authority of his office by appointing his subordinates to perform his duties. Alig claims these types of actions were retaliatory and a direct violation of the township’s Whistleblower Policy which states, in part:

Colerain's Whistleblower Policy under which Alig reported misconduct that was suppose to protect him from being fired. It did not.Photo byThe Cincinnati Post, February 2024

The policy protects the person reporting alleged misconduct:

No employee who whistleblows will be subject to any corrective or other retaliatory action for making what the employee believes to be an honest report. Any person found to have committed such disciplinary or other retaliatory action shall be subject to discipline.”

The hostile work environment escalated to the point that Alig requested that the Board of Zoning Commissioners intervene on behalf of him and his staff.

The proposed Text Amendment approved by the township's Zoning Commissioners to protect Alig and his staff from improper interferencePhoto byThe Cincinnati Post, February 2024

Alig introduced a Zoning Text Amendment on August 15^th to the Board of Zoning Commissioners, attempting to both address workplace harassment and resolve interoffice conflicts. His amendment was unanimously supported by the Zoning Commissioners. However, the trustees refused to put the text amendment on their agenda.

Instead, Alig was canned. First, he was suspended briefly while the staff conducted another botched investigation of his 2^nd Whistleblower complaint.

Jarrod Alig, Planning & Zoning Director, believed he was in a "Catch 22" with Colerain and "Damned if I do (report); and damned if I don't".Photo byWaycross Media, August, 2023

"Catch 22... Damned if I do, and damned if I don't"

Alig contends that township policy put him in a “Catch 22” where he was -

Damned if I do, and damned if I don’t.”

He restates the policy in an email on August 18^th to Board President Cathy Ulrich, (emphasis added is by Alig):

Alig's cited email to the township's Ethics Policy and requirement to report misconduct.Photo byThe Cincinnati Post, February 2024

For the 2^nd time in less than a year, he opted to follow the township policy, literally, and filed another Ethics Complaint pertaining to the conduct of Finance Director Jeff McElravy, Development Director David Miller, Law Director Scott Sollman, and Township Administrator Jeff Weckbach, as required. If he did not report the conduct, he violated policy and it is grounds for termination.

Included in that report was a reference to his being repeatedly asked to give preferential treatment to certain clients:

Allegations made by Alig in his Ethics Complaint against personnel in Colerain TownshipPhoto byThe Cincinnati Post, February 2024

A review of Alig’s full Whistleblower investigation reveals that the township, again, side-stepped the actual issues within the complaint such as preferential treatment of certain clients, the interference with his job duties, changing his job description, and authority, and focused primarily on attacks against Alig for how he reacted to the retaliation imposed on him. Alig’s pleas for fairness and resolution of questionable conduct of staff were disregarded:

Alig alleging that co-workers were harassing him and "throwing (him) under the bus"Photo byThe Cincinnati Post, February 2024

After a brief suspension, while Edwards conducted her investigation, Alig was fired “without cause”.

Again, Edwards focused on Alig's behavior and not on the elements of his complaint: was he asked to give particular clients preferential treatment? again, was the township required to give notice to lienholders? and, were the processes required for a text amendment legal and did they follow the law?

Status Quo.

Currently, the Planning and Zoning Department has no person who meets the township’s requirements for the job, per the township policy book. However, they do have a flock of subordinates who know not to question their superiors or challenge the status quo.

Like residents who complain - they are assumed to be always wrong.

The problem in Colerain Township is not unique to residents. It is rampant throughout the township organization.

One advocate, who refuses to be identified due to the retaliatory nature of the Board of Trustees, summarized it:

While residents are upset about the trash on the streets, the stench of Rumpke, the ever-rising fees imposed by the township, the ad hoc enforcement of the zoning code, the destruction of green space and parks, the elimination of resident committees, and an overall failure to uniformly implement and enforce the policies of the township and laws of the state - what residents and employees are most upset about is the leadership's failure to adequately address any of these issues, in any meaningful way, and take responsibility for the state of the township.

Post script:

Jarrod Alig intends to file a lawsuit against the township on this matter and a wholly separate lawsuit was filed by a resident last week for violating a resident's First and Fourth Amendment Rights.