Hambden Township officials face scrutiny over financial oversight of a fire department that receives nearly $800,000 a year in public funding

Today in Ohio
cleveland.com

HAMBDEN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A firefighter admits he stole money. He resigns. Nobody noticed until it was too late. The sheriff — who also happens to be the fire chief — is on Facebook complaining about the media coverage.

Welcome to Hambden Township, Geauga County, where Today in Ohio podcast hosts say too many questions are going unanswered about a critical public safety agency.

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The story, reported by Molly Walsh, centers on a volunteer fire department that operates as a private nonprofit, not the kind of professional departments you find in most cities. The township contracts with the nonprofit for fire services for nearly $800,000 a year. Township trustees say they have no financial oversight over how that money is spent.

On top of the operating money, host Courtney Astolfi said, the nonprofit also has received nearly $9 million in state and federal grants to build a new firehouse. Not yet clear to the public is whether the grant money is part of what has been stolen.

The fire chief is Geauga County Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand, who still won’t say how much money was stolen.

“It sounds like it’s a gigantic pile of cash that somebody was able to steal with nobody noticing, even though the sheriff is the fire chief,” host Chris Quinn said on the podcast. “Makes no sense.”

When the township was confronted about the lack of oversight, Trustee David Johnson described the nonprofit as just a vendor — like any other contractor.

“The claim that it’s a vendor and ‘we don’t have control’ is pretty much nonsense,” Quinn said. “This is what this place relies upon to put fires out and to respond to emergencies. It’s a much tighter relationship.”

The lack of oversight extends past the township trustees. Firefighters sit on the non-profit board. In that role, they oversee the fire chief, but out on a fire call, the fire chief oversees them. Quinn said the board should be made of outsiders, preferably people with the financial acumen to notice when money is disappearing.

The unnamed individual — who has not yet been formally charged — submitted a resignation and admitted he stole money. How long was he stealing? How much was he stealing? Did someone with oversight fail to pay attention? The answers matter because the township had to front the nonprofit more tax dollars to keep the fire department operating.

Meanwhile, the sheriff/fire chief has been venting on Facebook about the coverage of his scandal rather than answering the tough questions that come with holding two powerful public roles simultaneously. Quinn’s message was direct: figure out how this happened on your watch before pointing fingers elsewhere.

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