ELYRIA — Lorain’s chief building official, Bill Desvari, has been indicted on charges of bribery and dereliction of duty.

Desvari, who has been suspended with pay since February, could get more than five years behind bars if convicted of the felony and misdemeanor charges.

There could be more charges against Desvari and others, county Prosecutor Dennis Will said.

Lorain City Councilman Dan Given, D-at large, said that during his brief tenure earlier this year as the city’s safety service director he received complaints from residents of the King’s Woods subdivision on the city’s west side. The residents complained that there were problems with their new homes, including concerns about heating and air conditioning units and the plumbing, Given said.

All of those things should have been inspected and cleared by Desvari’s department, Given said.

“Obviously, this (was) a lot bigger problem than somebody forgot to do something,” he said.

Given said he turned the complaints over to police, who seized the Building Department file on King’s Woods as part of their investigation.

Several developers built homes in the subdivision, but Given said he didn’t recall which ones built the problem homes. Given, who also works for Oster Homes, said he’s never heard of Desvari requesting or accepting a bribe.

However, he added that he didn’t know what police discovered after he handed off the investigation.

The investigation — on which Will and Lorain police declined to elaborate — has expanded in scope since the initial allegations led to Desvari’s suspension, said Lorain police Sgt. Mark Carpentiere.

Will said he doesn’t want to jeopardize the ongoing investigation by publicly discussing exactly what Desvari is accused of.

Will did say, however, that Desvari’s alleged illegal actions took place between January 2004 and December 2007 and showed a pattern of activity.

“In order to have an indictment for bribery, he has to accept or solicit some type of bribe to influence his job,” Will said.

The dereliction of duty charge refers to intentionally failing to do one’s job properly.

Lorain Mayor Tony Krasienko said he couldn’t comment on the specifics of the case because he was kept in the dark about the nature of the investigation after Given forwarded the matter to police.

“This way, no one can accuse us of hindering or pushing an investigation,” Krasienko said.

Desvari, who declined comment Friday, has insisted in the past that he did nothing illegal during his stormy tenure with the city. He was released from the Lorain County Jail shortly after his arrest in East Cleveland on Friday morning.

Javon Head, assistant human resources director in East Cleveland, said Desvari had been applying for a position as an outside contractor with that city, where he worked before he was hired by Lorain in 2003.

During his years in Lorain, Desvari has been a lightning rod for controversy, sparring with city officials and drawing a demand from City Council that he be fired because of allegations he used city-owned vehicles for private business, misrepresented his education when he was hired and had prior felony convictions for theft and forgery.

Desvari, 58, has also been reprimanded numerous times, including for failing to properly review documents, not working a full 40-hour week, intimidating a fellow city employee and failing to do inspections.

Krasienko, who was a leading Desvari critic when he was a member of City Council, said he still needs to review civil service rules before he can make a decision about whether Desvari will be suspended without pay. The city recently began not paying suspended employees for the maximum two months allowed by state law, but must begin paying them after those two months.

Councilman Craig Snodgrass, D-8th Ward, said he knows virtually nothing about what Desvari is accused of, but he hopes that will change now that charges have been filed.

“We should be at least given an overview of what’s going on,” he said.

Given said the Desvari investigation shows the city is willing to clean up its own messes — even if it looks bad.

“I’m deeply disappointed that we have an employee who may have knowingly violated the law,” Given said. “I’m disappointed that it’s another black eye for the city.”

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

 

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