2008 Woodie Awards
Auditor questions use of Butler Co. resources
Chloe Esposito
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: Community
"Kay is determined to prove that Furmon's meetings were held 'off-the-clock' … which can be true, but the question of whether he made employees come to these meetings is what matters," Piper said.
However, according to Piper, Furmon strongly believed that his actions were just and did not violate the laws of ethics. The prosecutor said that Furmon's defense could in fact be true since politicians commonly hold 'off-the-clock' meetings to try to reach out to their supporters.
"A lot of politicians hold meetings and fundraisers," Piper said. "It is just a way to advertise their campaigns … You will even see, at Miami University, that political organizations such as College Republicans will hold private meetings. According to Furmon, his meetings were not mandatory. We must review all allegations to come to a solid conclusion."
Brown said the recent investigation facing Furmon falls within the larger context of corruption charges against other members of the Republican Party in Butler County.
"At least three Republican county officials have been found guilty of breaking the law or ethics violations recently, and there are some hints of more to come … these developments should in fact be of concern to all citizens within the area," Brown said.
According to Brown, there has been an unusual pattern of in-fighting within the county Republican Party and its elected county government officials.
"County Auditor Rogers … and County Commissioner Furmon are going at each other tooth and nail," Brown said. "Republicans are going at each other like out-of-office minority political parties."
Piper stated that Rogers originally wanted to bring her accusations to the state prosecutor instead of presenting her case to the county prosecutor. However, she has now changed her mind, since Piper said Rogers needs to collect more information on Furmon's violations in order to prove her case before the primaries.
At this time Piper does not have any intentions of jumping to conclusions about the accusations against Furmon.
"There will be no charges as of now," Piper said. "We need to look at the things that have been turned over, and if there is no merit to it, we cannot accept it as true and unethical. So far, the only thing we have the opportunity to do is to see if her accusations have substance to them, and after that we can determine how to proceed."
However, according to Piper, Furmon strongly believed that his actions were just and did not violate the laws of ethics. The prosecutor said that Furmon's defense could in fact be true since politicians commonly hold 'off-the-clock' meetings to try to reach out to their supporters.
"A lot of politicians hold meetings and fundraisers," Piper said. "It is just a way to advertise their campaigns … You will even see, at Miami University, that political organizations such as College Republicans will hold private meetings. According to Furmon, his meetings were not mandatory. We must review all allegations to come to a solid conclusion."
Brown said the recent investigation facing Furmon falls within the larger context of corruption charges against other members of the Republican Party in Butler County.
"At least three Republican county officials have been found guilty of breaking the law or ethics violations recently, and there are some hints of more to come … these developments should in fact be of concern to all citizens within the area," Brown said.
According to Brown, there has been an unusual pattern of in-fighting within the county Republican Party and its elected county government officials.
"County Auditor Rogers … and County Commissioner Furmon are going at each other tooth and nail," Brown said. "Republicans are going at each other like out-of-office minority political parties."
Piper stated that Rogers originally wanted to bring her accusations to the state prosecutor instead of presenting her case to the county prosecutor. However, she has now changed her mind, since Piper said Rogers needs to collect more information on Furmon's violations in order to prove her case before the primaries.
At this time Piper does not have any intentions of jumping to conclusions about the accusations against Furmon.
"There will be no charges as of now," Piper said. "We need to look at the things that have been turned over, and if there is no merit to it, we cannot accept it as true and unethical. So far, the only thing we have the opportunity to do is to see if her accusations have substance to them, and after that we can determine how to proceed."
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