PETITION TO THE WASHINGTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
We, the undersigned residents of Washington County, Ohio, call on the Board of Commissioners to require the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority to make all contracts, land deals, financial records, and compensation fully public as a condition of receiving the county’s annual appropriation of one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars. We further call for a full public accounting of the one-point-five million dollar county funding for the AMP site, the one million dollar brownfield grant for the Muskingum River Industrial Park, the one-point-five million dollars Bit56 paid the Port Authority in 2024, and any related development projects.
The Port Authority is a component unit of Washington County, created by the Commissioners in 2003, and its board is appointed by them. The 2024 audit by the Ohio Auditor of State found the Authority spent sixty-four thousand six hundred eighty-two dollars over its appropriations — a finding the Auditor flagged as noncompliance with Ohio law. Public records requests to the Authority have gone unanswered for months, including requests for the director’s salary.
In August 2024, the Commissioners approved placing one-point-five million dollars into a community development fund for the Port Authority to purchase the former AMP-Gorsuch site on State Route 7. The Authority has since leased eighteen acres of the Muskingum River Industrial Park for a two-hundred-megawatt data center and acquired the AMP site itself. Residents only learned the full scope of these plans this year, after officials had signed non-disclosure agreements and coordinated behind closed doors for years.
At the county office, a clerk who pulled the file reported that notes previously written down were no longer in the record. The same file review showed multiple option agreements under different company names at the same time. No Secretary of State registration was located for Muskingum Landhold LLC. Some amendments were filed with no memorandum attached. The June termination document did not cover HashWorks or Muskingum Landhold.
We believe the public has a right to know how its land, water, and tax dollars are being used before these decisions are made, not after. We ask the Commissioners to require full transparency as a condition of continued funding.
Who it is addressed to
Washington County Board of Commissioners
Charlie Schilling, Eddie Place, and Greg Nohe
Paper copies are also circulating through MASH Focus Publication and Network. Questions and documented corrections: [email protected].
25 Comments
I believe in full and accurate government transparency. These commissioners continuously choose to convey that their responsibility is first to themselves and second to the taxpayers. VOTE!!!!
We need transparency and honesty with our tax dollars
These deals should be transparent to the local citizens.
Misuse of our tax dollars that are so high alot of people struggle to afford to pay those taxes must and need to be used appropriately and not used for personal gain by the county commissioners. If our taxes keep going up to line the pockets of the commissioners pockets they need to be prosecuted and taxes reduced back to where people can afford to pay their taxes and that money should go to project that benefit the community as a whole.
I don't believe it's right to sign these NDAs. Nothing should be hidden from the public.
Transparency is very important in all levels of government
Anyone who works for the people needs to be transparent. If they aren’t, then they are hiding something
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PETITION TO THE WASHINGTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
We, the undersigned residents of Washington County, Ohio, call on the Board of Commissioners to require the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority to make all contracts, land deals, financial records, and compensation fully public as a condition of receiving the county’s annual appropriation of one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars. We further call for a full public accounting of the one-point-five million dollar county funding for the AMP site, the one million dollar brownfield grant for the Muskingum River Industrial Park, the one-point-five million dollars Bit56 paid the Port Authority in 2024, and any related development projects.
The Port Authority is a component unit of Washington County, created by the Commissioners in 2003, and its board is appointed by them. The 2024 audit by the Ohio Auditor of State found the Authority spent sixty-four thousand six hundred eighty-two dollars over its appropriations — a finding the Auditor flagged as noncompliance with Ohio law. Public records requests to the Authority have gone unanswered for months, including requests for the director’s salary.
In August 2024, the Commissioners approved placing one-point-five million dollars into a community development fund for the Port Authority to purchase the former AMP-Gorsuch site on State Route 7. The Authority has since leased eighteen acres of the Muskingum River Industrial Park for a two-hundred-megawatt data center and acquired the AMP site itself. Residents only learned the full scope of these plans this year, after officials had signed non-disclosure agreements and coordinated behind closed doors for years.
At the county office, a clerk who pulled the file reported that notes previously written down were no longer in the record. The same file review showed multiple option agreements under different company names at the same time. No Secretary of State registration was located for Muskingum Landhold LLC. Some amendments were filed with no memorandum attached. The June termination document did not cover HashWorks or Muskingum Landhold.
We believe the public has a right to know how its land, water, and tax dollars are being used before these decisions are made, not after. We ask the Commissioners to require full transparency as a condition of continued funding.
Who it is addressed to
Washington County Board of Commissioners
Charlie Schilling, Eddie Place, and Greg Nohe
Paper copies are also circulating through MASH Focus Publication and Network. Questions and documented corrections: [email protected].
25 Comments
I am optimistic the Port Authority will be fully compliant with the request. However, I am signing on to promote transparency in local government.
I believe in full and accurate government transparency. These commissioners continuously choose to convey that their responsibility is first to themselves and second to the taxpayers. VOTE!!!!
We need transparency and honesty with our tax dollars
These deals should be transparent to the local citizens.
Misuse of our tax dollars that are so high alot of people struggle to afford to pay those taxes must and need to be used appropriately and not used for personal gain by the county commissioners. If our taxes keep going up to line the pockets of the commissioners pockets they need to be prosecuted and taxes reduced back to where people can afford to pay their taxes and that money should go to project that benefit the community as a whole.
I don't believe it's right to sign these NDAs. Nothing should be hidden from the public.
Transparency is very important in all levels of government
Anyone who works for the people needs to be transparent. If they aren’t, then they are hiding something
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I am optimistic the Port Authority will be fully compliant with the request. However, I am signing on to promote transparency in local government.