08/16/2019
Village Academy
With regard to the Village Academy, I acted as the Secretary of the Delaware County Finance Authority.
The City did not issue the conduit financing to the Village Academy 10 years ago. The Finance Authority did. The City was, in fact, asked to provide that conduit financing and they declined. Being the conduit financier, the Authority has the fiduciary responsibility to make decisions in this matter, in this instance. The City did not, and does not have standing in this matter. I made it abundantly clear that I was acting as the Secretary of the Authority to all involved and for legal reasons could not, cannot, and will not speak beyond publicly available facts.
I have signed an NDA and we have an MOU to work with the Academy and a client to preserve the facility as a school. I have worked tirelessly with the Client and the Academy, who are working diligently to move this forward. All of the speculation cannot be addressed due to the NDA.
The only motivation for the Finance Authority was to assure that the teachers were paid in the absence of the Academy’s ability to make that payment. This was the morally right thing to do. Similarly, last month the Authority provided a $50,000 grant to Olentangy Schools for an athletic facility. No Tax payer monies were involved.
If this property were to go to bankruptcy court it would be hung up in court for five to seven years, at which time the facility would have been worthless, except to a developer who would buy it for pennies on the dollar and bulldoze it.
No tax payer money was used to make the latest school teacher payroll. Those monies came from the Authority’s bank roll which is generated from fees assessed to developers on their projects. The Authority has never, and can never use tax payer money. We have provided over $350,000,000 in economic development and infrastructure in the county, just this year. This initiative, WITHOUT taxpayer money, will result in a significant increase in enrollment at that facility, which will increase the staff, which will be more highly paid, and the city will benefit.
I acted in the only role available to me. However, it will benefit the city. There are no encumbrances, strings or conditions. This property will remain in the City and continue to be a civic asset.
I always put the city first, this is demonstrated by my adamant defense of Firefighters in 2011, as well as my strong and vocal support again in the latest dispute between the Township, County and Firefighters on the EMS situation. For which, the Firefighters have unanimously endorsed me for Re-election.
Twice, I went to The Ohio State University development team, when there were obstacles in their path to establishing the Medical Center. OSU has now finalized the property acquisition and will be building a world class medical center in our community.
Health, Safety, and Welfare are the watch words of my service to the community. I serve our community with integrity and honesty. I also abide by the rules and do not violate any oaths or principles of office. I know the above facts will be a disappointment to some that attempt to discredit me, but I hope it will be reaffirmation of who I am to those that know and support me.
