Session Minutes from Yesterday's Commissioner's Meeting

The session minutes from yesterday's Darke County Commissioner's meeting are now available (click here to download). Some highlights:

• Regarding the settlement, Commissioner Rhoades said, "a mistake has been made... and it has been corrected and won't happen again." Commisioner Stegall said that he "pretty much think[s] it is time to put this behind us and move on." Commissioner Delaplane simply refered to an attorney's suggestion to not comment but simply stated that hopefully they can learn from the situation going forward.
  
• Jim Ward from Frye & Co., CPA and Accountant for CIC, stated that he believed the cause of the settlement, a reported breach of trust, "has put a stake in the heart of economic development. These companies [who] want to come in here ... go down through a check list... and everyone of them has something to do with confidentiality on it, meaning that if we give confidential information over to Darke County, will it remain confidential? Well you know in the past I would say that is a yes, but now I say it is a no... [A] person that did violate confidentiality and breached that, and that person is still here, and I’m telling you, Diane, I’m asking for your resignation..."
  
• Darke County Citizen Aaron Ward read a prepared statement: "The number one thing that citizens bestow on their elected officials is their trust. Diane’s [Delaplane] breach of confidentiality has destroyed that trust. She ran a campaign on the premise that she is a fiscal conservative and solicited votes knowing she had wasted taxpayers dollars to the tune of $56,000 plus legal fees. This breach of confidentiality may cost Darke County even more due to the potential reduction of economic development. New and existing companies demand their discussions remain confidential. The citizens of Darke County deserve better."
  
• It was also clarified that the original incident in which EMA Director June Mong was terminated in 2009 was the result of falsifying records, and Commissioner Rhoades reiterated that he commends the whistle blowers for bringing that situation to light so that it could be resolved.