Blue Ash council never saw evaluations

Blue Ash taxpayers paid $5,600 for evaluations of the city’s department heads, including the city manager, and City Council apparently didn’t even know about it.

Blue Ash filed a response on Jan. 27 to a complaint The Community Press filed against the city in June for failing to provide and properly retain public records.

Blue Ash said in its response the records were not public records and were not kept by the city or relied on by the city in any way.

“Blue Ash Council … never used, reviewed, or relied on the documents to evaluate anybody or to make any personnel decisions,” the response read. “Council never saw the documents, or knew they existed.”

In May, The Community Press had requested a copy of a contract and related documents between the city and Inner Summit LLC, which conducted evaluations and questionnaires of senior staff members regarding key competencies and skill areas.

Blue Ash provided a proposal between the city and Inner Summit that said City Manager David Waltz, Assistant City Manager Kelly Harrington, Parks and Recreation Director Chuck Funk, Police Chief Paul Hartinger, Public Works Director Gordon Perry, Treasurer/Administrative Services Director Sherry Poppe and Fire Chief Rick Brown were evaluated. It includes a cost of $5,600.

The city, however, did not provide the evaluations themselves.

“The fundamental question, however, is whether a written assessment of senior Blue Ash managers related exclusively to the performance of public duties and prepared by fellow Blue Ash senior managers are public records,” The Community Press wrote in a legal brief filed in December. “If these records are not public records, it is hard to imagine what records would be.”

Blue Ash said in court documents that City Council did not know about the 360 Feedback evaluations that were conducted in 2014 and 2015 until the lawsuit was filed.

In its response, Blue Ash said The Community Press failed to prove the evaluations were public records or that the city did not retain the records properly.

“The city of Blue Ash continues to be disappointed by The Community Press suit,” the city wrote in a statement. “Blue Ash has spent nearly eight months defending itself and maintains that it always meets its obligation under the Ohio Public Records Act. The city’s final brief in this matter has been filed and the city eagerly awaits a decision.”

Blue Ash asked the court to dismiss the complaint with prejudice, meaning it could not be brought before the court again. The Community Press requested the court award a forfeiture of $1,000, have Blue Ash pay attorney fees, court costs and award any other relief it is entitled to.

Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas has yet to issue a ruling.

Want to know more about what is happening in Blue Ash? Follow Marika Lee on Twitter:@ReporterMarika