Court rules in suit on Canfield recordings

By Ed Runyan

Officials hoped reusing tapes would free up storage space.

YOUNGSTOWN — A judge has ruled in a 2005 lawsuit filed by one Canfield Township trustee against the two others that the township did not violate state law when it passed a resolution giving officials permission to erase recordings of meetings.

The lawsuit, filed by former trustee Judy Bayus against trustees William Reese and Paul Moracco and others, said a resolution approved by Moracco and Reese was an attempt to destroy tape recordings regarding a road development project.

A judgment entry filed May 15 by Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, however, says the trustees did not violate state law by passing the resolution.

“The ... facts show that none of the tapes at issue were removed, mutilated, destroyed, transferred or damaged,” the ruling says. “Further, there is no evidence that there was an attempt by Defendant to do so.”

It adds that passing the resolution did not constitute “a threat to destroy, remove or damage records.”

Judge Durkin denied a permanent injunction that would have barred the township from destroying such records. He also refused to grant Bayus’ request to have the township pay her attorneys fees.

In a letter to trustees last week, Mark S. Finamore, the township’s lawyer, said the resolution, “on its face, would violate the Public Records Act,” but no violation had actually occurred.

Finamore has said the resolution is only the first step in the process of getting rid of records such as tape recordings. To complete the process, the township would have to form a records commission and get permission from the Ohio Historical Society.

The township has not taken any of those steps and still has all of the tapes, township clerk Carmen Heasley said Tuesday. Heasley was also named in the suit.

Officials except Bayus wanted the resolution so that the tapes could be re-used in order to free up storage space, Heasley said.

runyan@vindy.com