Ronyak Pleads Guilty to Having an Unlawful Interest in Public Contract

March 16, 2018 by John Karlovec

Craig Ronyak resigned from Burton Village Council March 12, saying he could no longer perform the duties of council and his new full-time job.

“It has been one of the most rewarding times in my life and I thank the residents for allowing me to do it,” Ronyak wrote in his letter of resignation to Mayor Jim Koster and council members.

On Feb. 7, however, Ronyak pleaded guilty in Chardon Municipal Court to a misdemeanor charge of having an unlawful interest in a public contract.

He was fined $100 and given a 180-day suspended jail sentence. He also was ordered to pay $13,063.81 to the Ohio Ethics Commission for the costs of its investigation and to resign from council, a position he held since 2009.

“Craig remained in the village meeting when best practice dictated that he should have stepped out during the discussion of a road contract,” Ronyak’s attorney, Ian Friedman, told the Geauga County Maple Leaf March 13. “Without any attempt to steer the contract, exert influence or obtain any benefit, this was merely a technical violation. Had Craig’s conduct been determined more serious, it would not have been resolved by way of a misdemeanor.”

Added Friedman, “Craig made the original suggestion to resign as he obtained new employment and had no further time to dedicate to the village.”

Ronyak had not attended a council meeting since Jan. 8, according to meeting minutes.

Jill Del Greco, public information officer with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, said March 13 Ronyak’s resignation from village council was a condition of a sentencing recommendation.

Ronyak became the subject of an OEC investigation after allegations arose that he used his authority as a council member to secure a paving contract for the resurfacing of Rapids Road for his family’s company, Ronyak Brothers Paving Inc.

According to the OEC investigation report, which the Maple Leaf obtained through a public records request, Ronyak — who was vice president of Ronyak Paving as well as an estimator — violated the “felony public contract prohibition” under Ohio Revised Code section 2921.42(A)(1), which prohibited him from using his position on village council to secure a public contract in which he, a family member or a business associate has an interest.

The report found Ronyak “extensively participated” in village council’s discussions related to the Rapids Road contract.

“At the August 2013 village council meeting, village council reviewed the bid submitted by Ronyak Paving. Since Ronyak Paving’s bid, which was the only bid received, had a calculation error, the mayor recommended that it be declined and the project be re-bid,” the report stated. “Ronyak argued against rebidding the project and advised that the error would be fixed. Village council then voted to award the contract to Ronyak Paving.”

Ronyak abstained from voting on the contract, which was approved in a split 3-2 vote. You can read coverage of the Aug. 12 meeting here.

Investigators also found Ronyak had communication with another council member outside of council meetings regarding the bid.

Then, in June 2014, village council convened a special meeting to discuss additional work that needed to be done on the Rapids Road project.

“In order to complete the work, an additional $25,425 in funding was needed,” the report said. “At the meeting, Ronyak recommended that the additional work should be done immediately rather than bidding it out because there would be a cost savings if it was done immediately.”

Council approved the additional funding in a split 3-1 vote, with Ronyak abstaining.

In January 2017, Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge Forrest Burt appointed Ohio Assistant Attorney General Christian Strickan and Julie Korte, OEC chief investigative attorney, as special prosecutors to handle the case. You can read that story here.

“In a nutshell, the idea of the ethics law is to prevent those of us who go into public service from using our public position to unfairly benefit ourselves, our families, our outside business associates, outside business ventures we have,” OEC spokeswoman Susan Willeke told the Maple Leaf in January 2017.

With respect to public contracts, Willeke said ethics laws prohibit a public official from taking any action, including voting, discussing, deliberating and formally or informally lobbying, or participating in any fashion, on any matter where something of value is at issue for the public official, his family, business associates or others with whom he has a relationship that would affect his objectivity.

“It sometimes concerns me when I hear people say, ‘We had a township trustee or a county commissioner who had a conflict of interest but he did the right thing because he abstained from the vote,’” she said. “I always say, ‘That’s good that they did that, but did they abstain from the discussion preceding the vote?’”

That would apply to discussions during a public meeting or “behind the scenes” and outside a public meeting, Willeke added.

Del Greco explained March 16 both the Ohio Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Section and the Ohio Ethics Commission prosecuted the case, and the OEC investigation report only summarized the initial investigation in this case.

“It is common practice for prosecutors to request additional follow-up investigation once an initial investigation is finished,” Del Greco said. “In this case, additional investigation was conducted following the creation of the initial investigative report that would not be reflected in that document.”

Based on that follow-up investigation, Del Greco said prosecutor concluded Ronyak’s actions did not meet the standards for a felony conviction.

“His actions did, however, rise to the level of a misdemeanor charge under ORC 2921.42 (A)(4), which led to the defendant’s conviction and resignation from office,” she added.

What’s Next

On March 13, village Fiscal Officer Chris Paquette told the Geauga County Maple Leaf the village would advertise for candidates to fill Ronyak’s seat.

Council then would consider applicants and vote on a replacement. If a majority of council cannot agree on a candidate, after 30 days Koster would choose Ronyak’s replacement.

The replacement would hold the council seat for the rest of Ronyak’s term, which ends in December 2021, Paquette said.

Despite being the subject of a pending ethics investigation, Ronyak ran for and won re-election to council last November. He received the fewest votes (171) of the four winners out of six candidates.

Finishing a distant fifth with 143 votes was Ann Therese Bullard and sixth was Vicki L. Blair with 123 votes.