LORAIN — When City Councilman Dennis Flores showed up to a neighborhood watch meeting Thursday night, he was firmly asked to leave.

Several watch captains met at City Hall to plan a crime-prevention picnic in August. Flores said he is a watch captain, too, but when he tried to get into the meeting, he was stopped by Lorain police officer David Kusznir.

“He said he didn’t want me there,” Flores said. “I was worried that if I went in there, they would call the police and have me escorted off the property.”

Flores, D-2nd Ward, was charged May 23 with DUI and trying to solicit a prostitute. He was one of six men arrested during a citywide sting.

A pretrial has been set in Lorain Municipal Court for Aug. 22, but in the meantime, Flores said police who run the city’s neighborhood watch aren’t giving him any breaks.

Kusznir told him not to be involved in the watch while the charges are pending, Flores said.

Mayor Tony Krasienko said Flores filed an official complaint against Kusznir on Friday with Safety Director Phil Dore.

“I know that Mr. Flores is saying something illegal might have happened,” Krasienko said. “The complaint is pretty vague.”

He said there will be an investigation to see whether any department policies were violated.

Lorain Police Chief Cel Rivera said Kusznir had a “short, polite conversation” with Flores before the meeting and told him the neighborhood watch wanted a break in its relationship with the councilman.

“It’s hard to say we want someone to come fight drugs and prostitution when he’s been charged himself with soliciting prostitution,” Rivera said. “Until the issue is resolved in court, it doesn’t serve the interest of the neighborhood watch program to have Mr. Flores as a captain.”

Rivera said he supports Kusznir’s statements asking Flores to leave, especially because other neighborhood watch members have expressed concerns about Flores and his public image.

He said he plans to call Flores on Monday and try to come to a friendly solution to the problem.

“I think he really wants to make a difference, but he has baggage, you know?” Rivera said. “We’re more than willing to work with him, but right now we need him to address his issues.”

Flores said he doesn’t want to be judged for crimes of which he hasn’t been convicted.

He also said he shouldn’t be barred from any watch meetings, because he should be allowed to represent the people of the 2nd Ward, where he’s seen so much crime in the past few weeks.

Turning him away from the meeting was illegal, Flores said.

“It was intimidation of a public official,” he said. “If I had wanted to push the envelope, I could have fought it.”

Contact Jason Hawk at 329-7148 or jhawk@chroniclet.com.

 

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