ELYRIA — Angry township officials confronted the Lorain County commissioners Wednesday on their decision not to appoint LaGrange Township Trustee Rita Canfield to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency board because she had run against two of the commissioners.

The commissioners instead voted Jan. 11 to appoint one of their own economic development employees, Virginia Haynes, a Wellington Township trustee, to NOACA, which helps oversees the distribution of federal funding to this area. “This appointment has stirred up a hornet’s nest,” said Rob Scheithauer, president of the Lorain County Township Association. “Our association is very capable of appointing our own township representative.”

Other township representatives said the decision sets a bad precedent and begged commissioners to change their minds.

Because Haynes is a county employee, “There will be a perception her loyalty is divided,” Huntington Township Trustee Mary Beth Derikito said.

Neil Lynch, an Amherst Township trustee, asked point blank: “Why won’t the commissioners accept the township’s representative?”

Commissioner Lori Kokoski replied, “Come on, seriously, are you asking that question?”

Kokoski said Canfield is “an outstanding person and I consider her a friend, but she never ran against me.”

Commissioner Ted Kalo told township officials, “There could have been more sensitivity on your pick,” and said, “You need a certain trust level I don’t believe I would have with your pick.”

After the meeting, Kokoski said the earlier campaigns got a little rough, with Canfield raising the issue of taxes that Kalo owed that went unpaid for some time.

Commissioner Betty Blair, who defeated Canfield in her last re-election bid, told a reporter “No way” when asked after the meeting if she would reconsider and appoint Canfield instead of Haynes.

When asked if he would reconsider, Kalo, who also beat Canfield in his last reelection bid, said Canfield is, “a possible candidate for county commissioner who ran against two county commissioners and criticized what we have done.”

“She ran a negative campaign against me and Betty and that’s OK — that’s politics, (but) you’ve got to be able to have a working relationship,” Kalo said.

Canfield did not attend the meeting, but said afterward, “This involves a much bigger issue than me — the townships lost that right to appoint for themselves.

“That I ran against Betty and ran against Ted is a side issue — it’s sad they took that tact,” Canfield said.

Haynes, an economic development specialist in the Lorain County Community Development Department, said, “You know I would talk to you at any time, but this time I’m not allowed to because I’m a county employee.”

Meanwhile, the township association is considering taking its concerns about Haynes’ appointment to NOACA to determine if it was handled properly, said Jim McConnell, fiscal officer for Pittsfield Township.

McConnell said commissioners would never dare reject a city’s recommendation on an appointment to the NOACA board.

McConnell wrote Blair an e-mail stating that “your snub of our appointment and subsequent appointment of one of your employees to that position, without even so much as a phone call to express your concerns, will without question be viewed as an arrogant slap in the face to all of the township officials in this county.”

He begged Blair to change her mind, writing, “Don’t pass up a golden opportunity to improve relationships here rather than make a bad situation worse.”

Assistant County Prosecutor Gerald Innes said after Wednesday’s meeting that he was not able to immediately address whether the commissioners could legally appoint an employee whose job might depend on votes to bring funding to the county.

Kalo said Innes will research the matter. If Haynes cannot serve, commissioners would consider another recommendation from the township association, Kalo said.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

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