By GUY VOGRIN

Staff writer

WARREN — A Mogadore man who calls himself an open meetings “bounty hunter” — Brian Ames of Mogadore — has settled lawsuits against two Trumbull County townships he accused of violating open meetings law.

Ames, of Ranfield Road, said he has settled lawsuits against both Champion and Kinsman trustees, agreeing to receive $1,000 from each of the townships. Earlier, Ames had settled out of court with six other Trumbull County communities he had sued because of alleged Ohio Open Meetings Act violations.

Ames denied the tactics are a money-making scheme — he said he just wants the public bodies “to follow the law.”

Court records show that attorney Mark Finamore, representing both Kinsman and Champion, moved to have the lawsuits dismissed in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. Both were scheduled for hearings this month. Judge Ronald J. Rice was to hear the Kinsman matter on Friday, while visiting court magistrate Jami Bishop had scheduled a teleconference Dec. 16 on the Champion case.

The Champion lawsuit mentions 11 executive sessions in 2020 and 2021 in which the township trustees are accused of violating state law. In the majority of those, they discussed personnel matters without announcing a specific reason, the lawsuit states. On April 7, 2020, Champion trustees allegedly went into executive session without citing any purpose at all.

Finamore said the settlements were done out of prudence.

“After examining the evidence in the case and discussing it with the township officials, it was decided it was in the best financial interests of both townships to settle the cases,” Finamore said. “I was satisfied that this is the best course of action. I believe Mr. Ames has treated us fairly.”

Judges also have signed off on out-of-court agreements among Ames and the city of Hubbard in addition to Fowler, Johnston and Vienna townships. In each of these settlements, Ames also had accused the governmental bodies with violations of the open meeting law. In Fowler, Ames had accused the trustees of entering into certain executive sessions closed to the public without proper motion and also failed to keep adequate meeting minutes at two of its sessions. In each case, the government bodies were required to pay Ames’ court costs, which totaled $5,500.

In the Kinsman case, Ames cited seven violations by the board of trustees. They charge the trustees violated the open meetings law April 30, 2020; Oct. 12, 2020; Jan. 11, 2021; Jan. 25, 2021; April 26, 2021, June 14, 2021; and July 27, 2020.

The first five times, trustees motioned to enter private session for discussing personnel but cited no specific reason listed in the open meetings law, Ames claims.

In the June 14, 2021, Kinsman meeting, the lawsuit states trustees motioned to go into private session to discuss police matters. On July 27, 2020, the township board was accused of entering into closed session to discuss legal issues with the zoning inspector. According to Ames’ lawsuit, under the Ohio Revised Code, a public body may enter executive session only to discuss “pending” or “imminent” litigation with its counsel.

gvogrin@tribtoday.com