Grendell Wants to Start Fresh With Entirely New Park Board

December 19, 2013

Whether they want to or not, Geauga Park District board members Mike Petruziello and Nick Fischbach will step down effective Dec. 31.

“It was the only decision to be made,” said Geauga County Probate and Juvenile Court Judge Tim Grendell in an exclusive interview with the Geauga County Maple Leaf last Thursday. “I did not want the park district to lose its focus. The focus is the great parks that we have and the programs, not to go into collateral personality wars or debates or issues and lose track that this is about the parks.”

Petruziello had one year remaining on his term; Fischbach had two.

Both members were Grendell’s first and only appointments to the board since he became judge in 2011.

After the board voted 2-1 to not renew the contract of former Executive Director Tom Curtin, the action was “met with some public resistance and has generated unfortunate personal rancor between some members of the park board,” Grendell said.

Refocus on Park System

The judge met with the park district Board of Commissioners, Jim Patterson, Fischbach and Petruziello, in executive sessionlast Tuesday and told them everyone needs to refocus on the park system and less on the personalities and the people.

“I felt that the only way to do that, to start with a fresh start, was to just ask the other two (Fischbach and Petruziello) did they want to be elected officials or park commissioners,” he explained. “I expect both of them to be giving me letters resigning effective Dec. 31 by the end of tomorrow (Dec.13).”

While he respects Patterson and the job he has done as a park commissioner, Grendell said “you can’t start fresh without starting fresh; you’ve got to go back to zero and start over.”

At the time he appointed Fischbach and Petruziello to the park board, they had no real or perceived conflicts of interest, he said.

In the case of Petruziello, the judge said his taking the position of township trustee later this month is what raises questions of possible conflicts.

“There are two (Ohio) attorney general opinions and now an opinion that (Geauga County Prosecutor) Jim Flaiz gave saying that it is a conflict,” he said. “In light of that, whether you say the opinions are law or not, there is at least the appearance of a potential conflict.”

That is the reason he declined to reappoint former park Commissioner John Leech to the board.

“To be consistent, I had to ask Mike Petruziello to honor that. So, we’re going to start fresh,” Grendell explained.

The people of Geauga County don’t need this confrontation at this time, Petruziello said .

“The decision to resign is about the taxpayers and not about me or Nick or Patterson,” he said.

Petruziello said he preferred that Curtin be allowed to exit with grace. However, because so many of the reasons the board decided not to renew have been brought out and, because it is causing personal animosity and problems, he said he is not certain it helps either Curtin or anyone.

“If I was going to be asked to step down and no one else, I would have fought it, but with everyone agreeing to step down or not be reappointed and that a fresh start begins in 2014, that is in the best interest of the taxpayers of the county,” he said.

No Benefit to Controversy

Petruziello takes exception to those who have criticized him and Fischbach for not renewing Curtin’s contract.

“Well, quite frankly, I didn’t bury the car, I didn’t mishandle machine guns and there are other issues. We didn’t want to bring that public. We wanted Tom to go out with grace,” he said. “There were other issues talked about in executive session, but I consider those privileged and I didn’t want to talk about them to other people. The taxpayers have gotten lost. The taxpayers that have paid for that park district, they’ve never been represented well, until I got there, I think, and Mr. Fischbach.”

Petruziello said he doesn’t think the controversies or lawsuits benefit anybody.

“The people making the accusations for the lawsuits are the wealthy in the county. And they’re just wrong in what they believe. Why would they sue a park commissioner who is working for the best interest of the people?” Petruziello asked. “Those threats, I don’t take them lightly. I was prepared to challenge that (1988 attorney general’s opinion). If they had gotten me out, they were going to get Nick out anyways. They’d go after Nick, too. Those are the threats that were being made.”

Grendell said he has fielded lots of phone calls from the park commissioners, members of the Geauga Park District Foundation and the general public.

Resignation, Not Confrontation

But he declined to meet with commissioners individually to avoid any claims of Sunshine Laws violations or “round-robin” meetings.

Instead, he wanted to discuss with all three commissioners, face-to-face, about why he felt they needed to take a step back and, for the good of the park district, allow a new board to start over.

Acting Deputy Director John Oros would make any day-to-day decisions after Dec. 31 and until a new park board is seated.

“My goal is to get the new commissioners in the week of Jan. 6,” Grendell said. “That is why I set a deadline of Jan. 2, so I can get things going again.”

Grendell said if Petruziello or Fischbach had refused to resign, he would have removed them under the same statute that grants county probate court judges the power to appoint people to park boards.

“But I have to give 10 days notice and a public hearing. It’s in my discretion; there is no cause required,” he added.

Petruziello said Grendell’s possible use of his statutory power to remove park commissioners did not factor into his decision to resign.

“That didn’t play a role. (Resignation) was asked so we don’t have this confrontation. And in good faith — the only people that would have benefitted would be the lawyers,” he said. “That made absolutely no sense.”

He added, “In the business world, if you can settle something without going to court, then that is what you should be doing.”

Grendell said he believed Fischbach could continue to serve — with one caveat — but Petruziello’s election as a Chester Township trustee just “clouded the issue.”

The one caveat involves discussions park district officials have had with the Geauga County Historical Society about getting involved with Century Village Museum, either as a park or in some cooperative or management effort.

“I’m a big fan of the historic value of Century Village, but they suffer from financial problems, whereas the park district, thanks to the kindness of the taxpayers of this county voting for levies, is probably one of the better financially stable organizations,” Grendell said, adding he helped promote the discussion.

Century Village Considered

The judge credited Patterson with starting discussions with the county historical society, which is located in Burton Village.

He added Fischbach has had to abstain from participation in those discussions because that is where the potential conflicts of interest begin to “creep in.”

“I hope that (discussion) comes to some fruition,” Grendell said. “As that moves forward, people will be screaming more about conflict there, so my goal was just to eliminate the conflict.”

Fischbach said he was surprised by Grendell’s decision and thoroughly enjoyed being a commissioner.

“In fact, of all the positions that I’ve held, I probably enjoyed that one the most,” Fischbach said. “I’m in the parks all the time, my family is; we love the parks.”

Fischbach served as chief ranger of Punderson State Park in Newbury Township from 1979 to 1989 and was assistant manager and manager for 20 years.

“I know the park service inside out,” he said. “There isn’t a state park I couldn’t manage or even a metropark. I know the system.”

He added all the staff at the Geauga Park District are wonderful and intelligent.

“They really care about their job, they care about the parks; they want to make sure the residents of Geauga County have a system to be proud of,” Fischbach said. “I’m really proud of them, because the majority of them really, really work hard to do that.”

All that said, Fischbach said he understood where Grendell was coming from in his decision and the personal animosity is unfortunate.

“It shouldn’t have gotten to that point. It didn’t need to, but it did,” he said. “So, the judge made a decision to replace all three of us on the board.”

Fischbach said Grendell told him his positions as mayor and park commissioner were incompatible.

Incompatible Positions

“Instead of causing any issues about it, he asked me to step down. I understand and appreciate the judge’s position,” Fischbach said. “Hey, he gave me the opportunity to be a commissioner for a year and I really enjoyed it.

“I’m not real happy about it, but I understand and I have no problem stepping down.”

Grendell noted the incompatibility referenced in the 1988 attorney general’s opinion is between a township — not a village — and county park board.

“The whole thing is based on county funding and a village does not sit in the same position as a township when it comes to the funding issue,” he explained. “But the bottom line is this, especially now, there have been phone calls and people are threatening to hire lawyers and they’re going to challenge Petruziello if he stays on, they’re going to challenge Fischbach if he stays on, they’re going to file charges against Patterson if he stays on.

“The problem is nobody is saying that this is putting the parks first the problem is we’re losing the focus. We’re losing sight of what this is all about, which is maintaining a wonderful park district for people to preserve natural resources and provide outstanding outdoor recreational opportunities. That discussion got lost somewhere along the way. I want to refocus on that discussion and get away from the inner personality issues.”

He added, “I don’t know how else to do it. If I would have kept any one of the three, some constituency would have been screaming and we’d still be misdirected off in that direction instead of talking about the parks. So, I figured I’d restart the clock.”

Patterson, who served on the park board for one three-year term, said he’s “really enjoyed the opportunity to serve on the park board.”

“Geauga Park District is recognized as one of the finest in the state,” Patterson said. “A lot is attributable to the board over the years, going way back, but it’s the staff and the volunteers, and the foundation that has enabled the park to become what it is. So, I have nothing but good things to say about the park district.”

He added, “I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to contribute to that and hopefully we’ve, not I, made it even better.”

Patterson said he hopes to remain involved in the Chip Henry Institute.

“I have a particular interest in the young people with the Chip Henry Institute and the NatureScope program. I would envision me continuing to be involved with that,” he said.

Petruziello said he would make himself available to the new park commissioners.

“If they need something, I’d be more than happy to assist them.”

He added he is looking forward to taking his seat on Chester Township Board of Trustees.

“I’m looking forward to that because I think that’s going to be a challenge in itself.”

Grendell is seeking letters of interest and resumes from Geauga County residents who are interested in serving on the board. The deadline for submission to the Geauga County Probate Court, 231 Main Street, Suite 200, Chardon, OH 44024, is Jan. 2 by 4:30 p.m.