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Settlement Ends Ethics Probe of WRPA Director
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The Ohio Ethics Commission has closed its review of allegations that Scott Lewis, a member of the Western Reserve Port Authority’s board of directors, acted improperly with regard to the Davis cargo building at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport
The end of the review follows a settlement agreement reached earlier this month between Lewis and the commission, James Floyd, port authority chairman, said in a news release issued Friday. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Lewis was under investigation for his role in brokering the lease for the cargo building, which his real estate firm, Edward J. Lewis Inc., represented for several years before his appointment to the port authority board in 2008. The Ridge Road building, located on airport land in Vienna Township, was sold in 2009 to Millwood Inc., and a long-term lease for the land the building sits on was negotiated between Millwood and the port authority.
In 2010, Lewis said he followed the instructions of the port authority’s legal counsel regarding the deal, and abstained from voting on matters related to the lease.
“Throughout the process everyone associated with the WRPA fully cooperated with and was responsive to OEC staff,” Floyd said in the prepared statement. Board members “respect and support” Lewis’ decision to resolve the matter by entering into the settlement agreement “and we look forward to working with him in the years ahead.”
In the statement, the port authority board emphasized its commitment to maintaining “the highest possible ethical standards and to operating openly, honestly, and accountably at all times and in all matters,” and “publicly and emphatically” reaffirmed its “zero tolerance policy for even the slightest appearance of impropriety, activities that in any way conflict with the law or that undermine [its] fiduciary responsibilities” as public board members.
“We are confident that this unfortunate situation will serve as a learning experience for the board and we will do everything possible to ensure that a similar episode never again occurs under our watch,” Floyd said.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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