Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly will walk into Tuesday night’s Candidates’ Forum amid allegations of assault and misspent funds for a campaign rematch four years in the making.
The forum at Athens Public Library, which will essentially be a debate between candidates Steve Kane and Kelly, will be Kane’s second chance to prove to voters that he’s better for the job than Kelly after he ran against Kelly and lost in the last election.
Kelly won about 52 percent of the vote in 2008, while Kane garnered about 48 percent.
In recent weeks, Kelly has faced allegations of assault and a report from Ohio State Auditor David Yost shows he may have misused taxpayer dollars.
On Oct. 4, Yost’s office released an audit that said Kelly illegally spent more than $14,000 from a “Furtherance of Justice” checking account.
The account is to be used only for expenses the sheriff would incur while on duty, meaning the expenses in question — including a sheriff’s dinner, towing bills and a check to the Athens County auditor’s office — were made illegally.
The audit says the expenses should be funded from the sheriff’s general fund, but Kelly said that —“right or wrong” — the practice of using the money from the
Furtherance of Justice account and then reimbursing it is a standard practice for the office. Kelly said he has returned most of the money.
“This is not an issue of losing money — all money is accounted for,” Kelly said.
“This is an auditor telling a sheriff what is appropriate to spend on law enforcement. That’s like a seamstress telling a surgeon which tools to use in surgery.”
The auditor’s office doesn’t know if other sheriffs in Ohio use the Furtherance of Justice account the way Kelly does, said Michael Maurer, spokesman for the auditor’s office.
Kane said he doesn’t plan on bringing up the auditor’s report at the forum, but if it comes up, he’d say the auditor’s report shows Kelly mismanaged money.
“I think his expenditures are questionable. Those are our tax dollars that should be used with common sense,” Kane said. “He uses his FOJ like a meal card for his friends.”
Kane said he wouldn’t spend money from the FOJ account and then reimburse it if he were elected.
Another incident surrounding Kelly’s re-election campaign is an alleged assault that is now being investigated by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office.
Kelly said the allegations are politically motivated, but Kane denies any involvement. Kane said he would talk about the assault allegations if they come up but won’t bring them up himself.
Instead, Kane said he would focus his attention on his qualifications for the position and what he will do if elected.
jj360410@ohiou.edu
