A current and a former Xenia city councilman want an apology after the Ohio Ethics Commission concluded there was insufficient evidence to supports allegations of ethical wrongdoing.
Despite the finding, Councilman Dale Louderback and former Councilman John Caupp said their reputations in Greene County are ruined.
Both told the council in February 2015 that they had a conflict of interest because the two of them planned to invest in a proposed $7 million entertainment center in Xenia. The rest of the council filed an ethics complaint and claimed Louderback and Caupp had violated the city’s charter.
In September 2015, the council voted to reprimand or censure Louderback and Caupp. That was the upshot of an ethics inquiry designed to determine if they violated the charter started on Aug. 19.
The charter prohibits council members from having an interest in any contract, job, work or service related to the city. Any city contract where a council member has an interest or becomes interested could be voided by the council.
Tonight, for the first time publicly, both men spoke about the situation with News Center 7’s Natalie Jovonovich.
Louderback said the site of the proposed center — the former Fullmer’s market and Kmart buildings — are still empty and the council is to blame.
“The only thing we’re guilty of is trying to invest in our community,” Louderback said. “That’s the only thing we’re guilty of. Had the city council not went on the witch hunt, city management also, I honestly believe there’d be an entertainment center over there.”
Caupp said, “We had two political adversaries that we’d been going back and forth with for months on the new city administration building that Councilman Louderback and I were thoroughly against. I believe when they heard we had a conflict of interest, they took every opportunity to exploit that and use it against us for political reasons.”
Is an apology in the offing?
City Council President Michael Engle said, “We consider the matter closed, we do not consider an apology relevant at this point as we believe that our findings from our independent inquiry stand as they were judged last year.”
Louderback offered a different view of the future regarding the ethics case.
“You guys think this is over?” he asked. “As far as I’m concerned this is just the beginning.”
