GALION, Ohio — Galion Law Director Thomas Palmer was busier in 2015 than he was in 2014. According to his annual report, Palmer’s office helped with 1,189 cases in 2015 — an 11 percent increase from 1,074 in 2014.
Although those numbers represent a relatively small percentage increase on paper, in reality, Palmer said 2015’s cases, which represent criminal, traffic and small claims, amount to more than 40 hours per week.
“It took an extraordinary amount of hours. But that’s okay, I enjoy my job,” Palmer said.
Here’s the breakdown.
“The office was definitely busier this year, that’s safe to say,” Palmer said. But the law office was not only tied up with tedious court cases. He said much time and resource was devoted to fulfilling “a high rate” of public record requests.
“The processing of public records requests which appear to arrive at a higher rate than many other Ohio communities is an ongoing concern,” Palmer wrote.
Most public records requests were made in reference to the ballot initiative Citizens of Galion attempted to enact through a city ordinance. The ordinance would have required the city to run an audit of the electric rates from the past seven years. Additionally, if those audits found overcharges, the ordinance would have required the city to reimburse citizens.
“It was challenged by the city, so then it went to the board of elections and they rejected it. After that, they appealed it to the Ohio Supreme Court. It was the first time in Ohio history that a ballot initiative of that nature was looked at on the Supreme Court level. They rejected it,” Palmer said.
Palmer, who works with three other employees in the Law Director’s office, also said much time was devoted to large-scale economic projects, “including assistance with the Mayor’s office on city projects that represent over $11 million in transactions and investment,” he wrote in his annual review.
Those projects included the income tax ordinance overhaul, which affected Galion and all Ohio cities due to legislation passed by the Ohio General Assembly, the Central Hotel Renovation, the HTI Building Donation and the TIF and state Route 598 Hotel Development project.
Palmer said he looks forward to 2016 and that he will continue to work under this belief:
“It’s important to be a good steward of tax payer money.”
