The Jerome Township Board of Trustees chose a new lawyer to investigate alleged misconduct by Fire Chief Douglas Stewart, just two days after voting to dismiss the township's first set of charges against him.
The trustees voted 2-0 at a July 29 special meeting to select attorney Christina Corl of law firm Plunket Cooney as the new investigator and pay her up to $10,000 at a rate of $250 an hour. Trustee Joe Craft was absent from the meeting.
Corl specializes in labor and employment law and currently serves as special counsel to the Ohio Attorney General's Office. She also handles employment matters for Ohio State University, Ohio University, Miami University and the University of Cincinnati, according to her profile on Plunket Cooney's website.
"She comes highly recommended," Trustee Barry Adler said.
The first investigation into Stewart conducted by township administrator Brandon Standley resulted in four charges that were later dismissed by the trustees July 27 due to legal concerns over Standley's role as investigator. Several of the trustees indicated that they wanted to quickly select a new investigator after the July 27 dismissal vote.
Stewart's lawyer objected to the Standley-led investigation at the first hearing on Stewart's alleged misconduct July 21, saying Ohio law requires the investigator be either a fire chief or a private citizen. After Stewart declined to waive his objections at the second hearing July 27, the trustees met in executive session for around an hour before voting to dismiss the charges without prejudice, meaning the township could possibly hold more public hearings and dismiss Stewart at a later date.
The township previously accused Stewart of improperly participating in partisan political activities, sending an unauthorized letter to a data center developer, unprofessional conduct and insubordination, according to the now dismissed charges the township presented Stewart with on June 15.
Several supporters of Stewart attended the July 29 meeting and audibly groaned and gasped when Adler announced the rate for Corl's services. Speaking after the meeting, Stewart supporter Kristi Morris said she couldn't figure out why the trustees are continuing with the investigation.
"Every review he's had has been stellar. It's always been the top numbers you can get. And then, when he spoke out about fire safety concerns with data centers, all of a sudden, this all happened," Morris said.
Stewart has been on administrative leave since a May 2 board of trustees vote.
Transportation and neighborhoods reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at NHart@dispatch.com, @NathanRHart on X and nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Jerome Township trustees select new investigator for fire chief case
