RC commissioners accuse RCMH&RS board member Wachs of benefitting from public monies

Richland County Commissioners on Tuesday voted to accept the resignation of the Richland County Mental Health & Recovery Services board member who they allege was financially benefiting from public monies, in violation of Ohio law.

"This is quite problematic as a sitting board member with additional records that indicate you personally voted on said monies to enrich yourself," Commissioner Tony Vero said in an email Monday to Jay D. Wachs. "Additionally, we also (are) in receipt of payments comprised of public dollars that you also personally approved as a board member to an organization known as Gravity Ohio."

In an interview with the News Journal Tuesday, Wachs said he was unaware of any violations.

"I had no idea. As soon as it was pointed out the statute was very clear. It was obvious there was a conflict of interest and it required a resignation," he said.

'These matters are quite serious'

"Our attached documents note you serve as a chairman of that organization along with the RCMH&RS Director Joe Trolian serving on that board as well. This would bring such actions under the auspices of the Ohio Revised Code provisions provided in this email," Vero said.

"These matters are quite serious, and the Richland County Board of Commissioners intend to proceed with the process under Ohio law to remove you as a board member of the RCMH&RS. (Richland County Administrator) Andrew Keller wanted to afford you the professional courtesy of a meeting before we proceeded with the process....," Vero said.

The matter has been turned over to the appropriate law enforcement authorities, commissioners said during their regular board meeting Tuesday morning.

Wachs on Monday told Joe Trolian, executive director of the Richland County Mental Health & Recovery Services, that he was stepping down due to a conflict of interest, Trolian informed commissioners in an email on Monday.

Wachs is board chairman of Gravity Ohio, a nonprofit "that fosters mutual respect and understanding of all peoples through shared cultural and artistic self expression."

Wachs submitted his resignation before commissioners could remove him from the RCMH&RS board.

Wachs said in an email to Vero, "Based on this information, it is clear that this is a conflict of interest. I had no idea that this was the case. As a result, please accept my immediate resignation as a commissioner-appointed board member from the Richland County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board."

Wachs said there was no need for a courtesy meeting.

According to documents provided to media from commissioners, Trolian sent an email Feb. 23, regarding the documentary "Faces of Hope," to numerous executive directors and clinical leaders encouraging entities to enter into an agreement regarding "anyone who is in recovery (or recovered) from mental illness or addiction who is willing to tell their story and share their likeness in a campaign to draw attention and display appreciation for those who have benefitted from the help that is offered and now giving back to others in need."

Trolian encourages consultation agreement

Trolian further addressed in his email with a subhead, "Shared Funding for Public Relations Consultation Agreement":

"We would like to continue to encourage agencies to a) build their ability to increase awareness of what they have to offer, b) promote their business and c) help people to Know It Before They Need It. In doing so I have attached an agreement to share funding for with agencies to enter into a consultation agreement with JW Consulting who presented earlier this month, New Day Creative, James Boyd, who present(ed) last spring or any other local firm. Our agreement is to pay 50% for up to 10 hours a month for up to a total of $7,200 per year. If you want to take advantage of this offer, please contact the consultant of your choice and work with them to complete the requirements listed on the agreement, sign the agreement, and send it to me. If you have any questions, please contact me at your convenience. You do not need to be a contract agency to take advantage of this offer, but it will limit it to 7 agencies total."

Commissioners provided media with a package of emails, and invoices for services received by the Richland County Auditors Office showing RCMHJ&RS payments to Gravity Ohio including a $250 donation for a free Thanksgiving dinner for Nov. 24 at Dan Lew Exchange; and a $1,000 check for admission to an LGBTQIA+ "Voices of the Future" event March 21 at Dan Lew Exchange.

Another invoice dated April 17 shows a $1,000 check Wachs turned in to the county mental health board for commercial video production for "Voices of the Future" documentary which Wachs was producing.

Another invoice on May 11 is for the amount of $1,125 to Trolian and the board from Wachs for nine episodes at $125 per episode. "Please remit to Jay D. Wachs," the document states.

Yet another April 12 invoice for services to RCMH&RS requests payment of $1,375 for 11 episodes from Jay D. Wachs for the "Faces of Hope" documentary.

Also, Wachs submitted to Trolian and the mental health board an invoice for $250 for a Sept. 13 event for 25 admission tickets for students to Ted Yoder's hammered dulcimer concert at Dan Lew Exchange.

Another invoice for $250 from Jay D. Wachs was submitted to Trolian and the board for an information booth at Rock 'N Ribs. Oct. 5-7. Wachs was promoting the Rock 'N Ribs downtown festival.

In several copies of board meeting minutes of the RCMHJ&RS provided to the News Journal, sentences were highlighted in the documents that the motions to approve expenditures were passed unanimously by the board.

Trolian questions concerns since Wachs resigned

Trolian, when contacted Tuesday afternoon by phone, said he did not attend the commissioners' meeting Tuesday morning.

"They pointed out the conflict of interest and he (Wachs) immediately resigned so I'm not sure what the concern is," Trolian said.

Trolian said Wachs was producing videos for the RCMH&RS' "Faces of Hope" project.

"Technically it's the board members' responsibility to identify conflict of interest which is why when Jay talked to me, if you want to continue producing these 'Faces of Hope,' because this has been a real passion project, you're going to need to step down from the board and he was like, 'Fine. I'll go ahead and do that.'"

"And I've done sponsorships for the NAACP and I have two members of the NAACP that sit on my board," he added.

"These are public awareness issues. We're not donating money. We can't donate tax dollars. We do sponsorships," Trolian said. "For Gravity I purchased 25 seats so that some adolescents could attend when they had the national speaker in to talk about the high suicide rate among LGBTQIA+ adolescents. We wanted to make sure nobody was not coming because they could not afford it. It's not like we were writing a check to Gravity saying, 'Here's a donation to operate. I made that clear to him in the beginning."

"This is much larger than what I thought. The commissioners did not provide any information to me directly," Trolian said.

The RCMH&RS board has 14 members, 8 of whom are appointed to the board by county commissioners and six who are appointed to the board by Trolian for the state of Ohio for four-year terms.

Trolian sits on the advisory board of Gravity Ohio.

Ohio Revised Code, Section 2921.42, addresses having an unlawful interest in a public contract:

"(A) No public official shall knowingly do any of the following:

"(1) Authorize, or employ the authority or influence of the public official's office to secure authorization of any public contract in which the public official, a member of the public official's family, or any of the public official's business associates has an interest;

(4) Have an interest in the profits or benefits of a public contract entered into by or for the use of the political subdivision or governmental agency or instrumentality with which the public official is connected;"

Wachs says budget was not 'hyper specific'

Wachs said the budget was not specific and he saw no need to recuse himself from voting on it.

"They would say this was the budget for the year and we would approve the budget but it wasn't hyper specific. So I didn't know to recuse myself," he said.

"I didn't know," he said.

"Trust me I'm not done. I will continue to work tirelessly as an advocate for mental health whether or not I'm a county-appointed board member."

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mental health board member resigns over conflict of interest issues