ELYRIA — Wellington Township Trustee Virginia Haynes announced Wednesday that she would be willing to resign from her newly appointed position on the board of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency — if certain conditions are met.

The Lorain County commissioners’ Dec. 30 decision to name Haynes to the post over LaGrange Township Trustee Rita Canfield, whom the Lorain County Township Association had wanted to fill the job, has touched off a feud between many township officials and the commissioners.

It also prompted the association to ask a county judge to declare Haynes’ appointment unlawful in a lawsuit filed last week.

In an e-mail to the commissioners, prosecutors, township officials and the media on Wednesday, Haynes, who is also a county economic development employee, wrote that her resignation could end the dispute.

“I see this appointment is driving a wedge between the townships and the Lorain County Commissioners and creating division that is contrary to my goals,” Haynes wrote.

If the association were to drop the lawsuit and appoint one of two other people the commissioners have suggested to the NOACA board, Haynes wrote she would be willing to resign.

Township officials have complained that the county ignored the long-standing practice of appointing the person to the NOACA board as the township representative that the association suggested.

But commissioners Betty Blair and Ted Kalo, both Democrats, have said they didn’t feel they could trust or work with Canfield, a Republican who has run against both of them in the past. Blair is retiring after her term ends this year, and Canfield has said she has no plans to run for the job.

Blair said Wednesday she felt Haynes was better qualified to serve on the NOACA board than Canfield, whom she said she still won’t consider for the job.

“We were elected to do a job and we need to do that job as we see fit, and we did,” Blair said.
Blair, Assistant County Prosecutor Gerald Innes and Elyria Township Trustee Rob Scheithauer, the president of the association, all declined to name who the proposed replacements for Haynes are.

Commissioner Ted Kalo said he doesn’t even know who they are.

“I was surprised by the letter and I want an opportunity to look into it at this point,” he said.

Scheithauer said Haynes’ proposal could have merit, but the association needs to review it at a meeting tonight.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” he said.

But he also said that not all of the townships are on board with the lawsuit filed last week. Eaton Township asked to be removed from the lawsuit, he said, a request that has been granted.

Innes said he doesn’t believe the lawsuit is even legal at this point. The association may not have had the legal standing to file it in the first place without the permission of its member townships, he said.

Even if the lawsuit is legal, Innes said, county Prosecutor Dennis Will would have to remove his office from the case because his assistant prosecutors represent both the county and the townships.

Blair said that’s another reason to try to resolve the dispute amicably — the cost of bringing in outside attorneys could prove too expensive for the cash-strapped county.

Haynes did not return a call Wednesday seeking additional comment.

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

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---