Board of Elections: O'Toole an Ashtabula County resident

Oct. 13—JEFFERSON — After a seven-hour hearing, the Ashtabula County Board of Elections unanimously voted on Wednesday night to dismiss a challenge to Ashtabula County Prosecutor Colleen O'Toole's status as a resident and voter in the county.

At the end of the hearing, which started at 4 p.m., and after deliberating for about half an hour, board member Susan Hagan made a motion to reject the challenge to O'Toole's residency. Board member Jeff Magyar seconded the motion. The role call vote was unanimous.

Last week, the Board of Elections released a notice stating that a challenge had been filed to O'Toole's residency in Ashtabula County, and that the board was unable to determine whether or not the challenge should be granted or denied based solely on the information included in the challenge, and scheduled a hearing on the matter for Wednesday.

Judge Curt Hartman served as counsel for the board during the hearing, and Board President Joseph Varckette said Hartman has extensive experience in this field.

Martin Desmond appeared as counsel for Sarah Lowe and Chrissty Tryon, the two people challenging O'Toole's status as an Ashtabula County elector.

Joe Szeman appeared as counsel for O'Toole.

As an opening statement, Desmond said there are two questions: Is O'Toole a resident of Ashtabula County, and does she intend to return to Ashtabula County.

He said he would be calling two witnesses, Lowe and Tryon. The two claim O'Toole often told them she lived in Highland Heights, Desmond said.

He said tax documents filed by O'Toole are a "smoking gun."

"This DTF-100, where she signs under penalty of perjury, that this house in Highland Heights, Cuyahoga County, is her primary residence," Desmond said.

He said he would prove O'Toole said she has no intent to return to Ashtabula County.

The Ohio Revised Code states that a person can stay in another county or state and still be considered a resident of their home county as long as they have an intention to return to their home.

Szeman said a person can have many residences, but the voter's intent should be given the highest weight.

He said the hearing would involve the board hearing personal details about O'Toole's life, and that the Highland Heights property was purchased for the use of her significant other, William Weisenberg.

"She pays municipal income taxes ... in Ashtabula city, her vehicles are all registered to her Ashtabula address, it's her tax mailing address, her credit card statements, her bank account statements, her health information, everything goes to Ashtabula," Szeman said.

Desmond called Lowe as his first witness.

Lowe, a paralegal, said she started working in the Ashtabula County Prosecutor's Office in July 2020, and initially was a case specialist, doing intake and some quasi-investigational work on direct indictment cases, and providing support for prosecutors during trial.

She left the office in July 2022.

Desmond asked why she waited more than a year to file the affidavit challenging O'Toole's residency.

Lowe said she had personal matters to attend to, but the final straw was the termination of the drug court and mental health court programs.

"This county ... needs the drug and alcohol court, and it needs the mental health court," she said.

Lowe said she stands by everything on the affidavit.

Lowe said she, O'Toole and other staff members would also chat about non-work matters.

She and O'Toole had conversations about O'Toole purchasing a condo in Cleveland, and that Weisenberg had wanted to live in the Cleveland area, Lowe said, and at the time, O'Toole told her they both would reside there, and would tell people that Weisenberg was her tenant.

Lowe said O'Toole telling them she was driving to the office from Highland Heights was a regular occurrence, and said she was told not to tell people O'Toole was driving in from Highland Heights.

She said she does not believe O'Toole was living in Ashtabula County.

"I believe she resides in Cuyahoga County," she said.

Lowe submitted three documents with her challenge.

One was a sale verification questionnaire for the Highland Heights property, which states that O'Toole purchased the property.

Another was a property conveyance document.

In the document, O'Toole checked a box stating the property would be her primary residence by Jan. 1 of 2022.

The final document was tax information for 2022, paid in 2023.

The document showed that O'Toole received an owner-occupancy credit for the Highland Heights home.

On cross-examination, Szeman asked Lowe about claims that she resigned due to a hostile work environment.

He asked if Lowe was the subject of disciplinary action, to which she said yes.

Lowe said her resignation was not related to the disciplinary action.

"I didn't resign because she made up something to put in my public file," she said, and called the disciplinary actions against her "crap."

"I didn't respond to them because I knew they had no merit," Lowe said.

She said she spoke to her husband and decided to move on to something else.

Later in cross-examination, Szeman asked about Lowe's knowledge of O'Toole's current living arrangements.

"As we sit here today, you have no idea where Ms. O'Toole maintains her primary residence, correct?" Szeman asked.

Lowe said she believes O'Toole lives in Highland Heights.

Szeman said O'Toole has invested significantly in improving her Ashtabula home.

"Appearances can be deceiving," Lowe said.

Varckette asked how Lowe learned about the voter challenge process.

She said she researched the issue.

"I'm pretty savvy," she said.

Desmond called Tryon next.

Tryon, a paralegal, said she started working with the Prosecutor's Office in December 2013, and left in August 2022.

She said she spoke with O'Toole daily, and O'Toole said she would be in at about 10 a.m., and she was driving in from Cleveland.

O'Toole spoke in a common area about work being done on her Highland Heights house, Tryon said.

Desmond asked why Tryon didn't file her own voter challenge.

"It just seemed unnecessary," she said. She said she agreed with Lowe.

Szeman asked Tryon if she has personal knowledge of O'Toole's comings and goings since leaving the Prosecutor's Office, and Tryon said no.

Tryon said she started to have regular calls with O'Toole in October 2021.

"We would recognize Colleen's number, and sometimes Sarah got the call, and sometimes I got the call," she said.

She said on most days, O'Toole would call in early in the day. Tryon claimed O'Toole said on every one of those calls that she was coming in from Cleveland.

Szeman asked about the affidavit that Tryon submitted.

She said Lowe asked her to provide an affidavit to attach to her challenge, but she was not aware of anyone asking Lowe to file the challenge.

They did not discuss what the affidavits would contain before they were written, Tryon said.

Tryon said O'Toole always checked in with the office at 7:30 a.m., no matter where she was.

Szeman called Casey Briones-Cole as his first witness.

Cole is a paralegal with the the Ashtabula County Prosecutor's Office, and started with the office in 2021.

He asked what kind of contact she had with O'Toole.

Cole said it depends on what is going on.

"I mainly work with attorneys in county court," she said.

Cole said she has been to O'Toole's Ashtabula house many times.

"We've had many events held there on the back patio," she said.

Office staff have been to her home a number of times, Cole said.

"I stop by periodically to take her trash cans in," she said.

Cole said she does not really know why O'Toole visits Highland Heights, and she does not pry into other people's medical needs.

She said there have been significant improvements to O'Toole's Ashtabula home.

"There's been a lot of money put into that house," she said.

Desmond asked Cole whether she has applied for other positions.

"Absolutely, everybody's looking for a pay increase," she said.

Cole said O'Toole was able to get employees up to a certain pay level, so she stopped looking for jobs.

Desmond asked about the offices, and the fact that the criminal office in which Cole worked is in a separate building.

He asked about whether or not she had been witness to interactions between Lowe and O'Toole.

She said she was not in the civil office routinely to hear conversations between Lowe, Tryon and O'Toole.

Michele Lemons, a property manager, said she started cleaning O'Toole's home in late 2021. She said she cleans the home every month.

Lemons said she has seen O'Toole more often than not when she arrives to clean. She said she takes out trash and does dishes at the home.

"I see no indication of it being vacant," she said.

She said she has some experience with vacant homes from doing vacation rentals.

Kathy Holmes, a real estate broker, sold two homes to O'Toole, she said.

She said O'Toole was looking to purchase a house, and she may have had something to purchase.

Holmes said O'Toole was looking for a residence in Ashtabula County before she was elected, and she showed her homes all across the county.

"She was looking for a specific thing," she said.

Holmes said O'Toole's requirements got less specific as time went on, and she had to do a variety of improvements on the home.

She and O'Toole looked for another residence, for Weisenberg to be comfortable, Holmes said.

She said they weren't looking in a specific area.

Szeman asked if O'Toole's stated purpose was to re-locate from the county.

"Never," Holmes said.

Desmond asked about whether or not O'Toole made all of the decisions.

"He did a walk-through with us at the Highland Heights home before she made a final decision," she said.

Szeman asked if mistakes are commonly made on closing documents.

Holmes said mistakes can be made, and they can be corrected.

Weisenberg testified that he lives in the Highland Heights home owned by O'Toole.

He is a retired attorney.

"I've been a lawyer now for 54 years," he said.

He previously lived in Columbus, and decided he wanted to spend more time with O'Toole.

"I was much more flexible in my life at that point," he said.

Weisenberg said he and O'Toole looked at a variety of homes in the county before she purchased her Ashtabula home.

He said the primary reason he wanted to be in the Cleveland area was a medical diagnosis.

"If you have a heart problem ... the Cleveland Clinic is the place on the planet you want to be," Weisenberg said.

He said he moved his furniture into the Highland Heights home.

O'Toole moved some of her clothes to the Highland Heights home, and that was it, Weisenberg said.

Weisenberg said he only wants one home in his name, and he owns a home in Florida, hence why the Highland Heights home is in O'Toole's name.

O'Toole was always happy to show him progress she had made on renovations to her Ashtabula home, he said.

Weisenberg said he pays the mortgage on the Highland Heights home by transferring money to O'Toole every month, and she pays the mortgage through her bank.

"It makes it very simple that way," he said.

The only mail addressed to O'Toole that arrives at the house are a few utility bills, Weisenberg said.

He said O'Toole has never said she intends to move to Highland Heights.

Szeman called O'Toole to testify.

He asked about her Ashtabula house.

"We looked at a bunch of houses, because I've always wanted to retire in Ashtabula," O'Toole said. Her plan was always to buy a house along the lake, or in Roaming Shores. She said her house in Ashtabula reminds her of the house she grew up in.

"I basically took everything about my life that was historic and I put it in this home," she said.

She said the house was partially rehabbed when she bought it, but it needed a huge amount of work.

Szeman asked what her schedule has been like this year.

O'Toole said she goes back and forth.

"It's not that I really enjoy having to do these two things with these two houses," she said.

She said it would have been easier if they had been able to find something on the Route 534 corridor with accommodations for Weisenberg, but that was not possible.

Szeman asked about the closing documents, and the form on which she stated she planned to live there full-time.

O'Toole said she has no recollection of the closing on the Highland Heights house, and she only realized she checked the wrong box when the paperwork was presented to her regarding the challenge.

"Of course, I wanted to correct it, because I don't want to be getting an illegal benefit," O'Toole said. She called the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office and spoke to someone to fix the issue after it was brought to her attention.

"It apparently happens quite a bit," O'Toole said.

She said she was told to fill out the paperwork and send it in.

"This is in their hands now, I don't know where it is in processing," O'Toole said.

O'Toole said it is embarrassing that she checked the wrong box.

Szeman asked about the bills for the Highland Heights house.

O'Toole said it is a condition of the mortgage that an automatic deduction takes place.

She said her main focus is in Ashtabula.

"I also have Spectrum [in Ashtabula], which begs the question, if I wasn't living there, why would I be paying for cable," O'Toole said.

Szeman introduced a variety of items into evidence showing O'Toole's address is in Ashtabula, and shows her taxes are paid to the village of Jefferson and Ashtabula city. O'Toole said she does not pay income tax in Highland Heights.

O'Toole said she is invested in the community, and she has never intended to change her primary residence from Ashtabula County.

On cross-examination, Desmond looked at photos of O'Toole's Ashtabula home that had previously been submitted into evidence.

He asked O'Toole about walls that did not have pictures on them.

"Again, it doesn't appear that there's a single photo on one of those walls," he said.

O'Toole said there are a variety of items in that photo that were given to her by family.

As a closing statement, Desmond told the board to use their reason and common sense.

"This is a person who, from the outset, her residency has been always been challenged," he said.

He said, the next thing O'Toole did after renovating her Ashtabula home, was to purchase a home in Highland Heights.

"It is not in her boyfriend's name, it is in her name, the obvious intent is that she is going to live there," Desmond said.

He said the two witnesses who filed the complaint against O'Toole put themselves out there.

"They stepped up and they did the right thing," Desmond said.

He said the conversations Lowe and Tryon had with O'Toole have not been contradicted by any witnesses.

"For all we know, we've heard testimony that the ex-husband was staying there for a period of time," Desmond said.

He said the realtor's testimony conflicted with Weisenberg's.

"They have no intention of staying here, returning here, living here, and they don't now, either," he said.

Szeman said there had been no mention of the Ohio Revised Code rules on residency.

O'Toole pays her taxes here and her mail comes to Ashtabula, he said.

"All that they've got is some comments they allege O'Toole made," Szeman said.

As long as O'Toole has the intent to come back to Ashtabula County, she is an elector of Ashtabula County, he said.

"There's an overwhelming weight of evidence, people with personal knowledge of how she lives in her home," Szeman said.