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Barborak, Bosel in tug-of-war over public records

 

LISBON — Columbiana County’s Democratic Party chairman and county Recorder Theresa Bosel are involved in a tug-of-war over a public records request that has Bosel suggesting that she is being stalked.

Democratic Party Chairman Nick Barborak issued a news release late Friday saying Bosel has denied his request for records initially filed on Sept. 29 and she continues to do so.

“It is frustrating that those records are so casually withheld from the public when the law requires them to be released promptly upon request,” he said. “It is just as troubling that she seems to question my purpose for asking for the documents. That is simply not permissible under the law.”

Bosel, a Republican, is seeking re-election in the Nov. 8 election. She is opposed by Democrat Tiffany Chetock.

Barborak asked for copies of:

–Any inventory of public record supposedly performed by Bosel. He cited campaign statements from 2012 stating she intended to perform a complete inventory of records.

–Documents that reflect any missing or misplaced indexes, documents, books and volumes.

–Written communications between herself and her staff and Chesapeake Energy and DPS Penn and their agents.

Bosel replied on Oct. 5, saying she was denying the request because it was so “ambiguous and overly broad” to where it is unclear what records are being requested. She advised Barborak to submit a revised request for her consideration that was more specific.

Barborak sent a second letter dated Oct. 11, and Bosel responded by asking for a copy of the campaign statement he was referring to because she could not recall what he was talking about. She also told Barborak she was unaware of any missing records and also denied his request for copies of all communications with Chesapeake and DPS, saying he needed to be more specific.

“If you have something specific that you want, such as a specific contract that we have signed with Chesapeake or DPS Penn or specific emails relating to these contracts then I can and will comply. But we will not have you subject this office and my staff to some sort of politically motivated, unspecified document search spree of ‘every email’ and ‘every communication’ in this office,” she concluded.

In Barborak’s next response, dated Oct. 17, he accused Bosel of attempting to deflect “my legitimate request for public records from your office,” adding that whether she believes the request is politically motivated has no bearing on whether his request for public records should be honored.

He told Bosel it is not for her “to decide whether you will or will not provide documents based upon whether you approve of the requester’s purpose with respect to those records. Quite frankly, the reasons why any taxpayer wishes to obtain records is none of your concern and should not be factored into whether you decide to honor the law.”

Bosel has twice been sued after balking at requests from companies seeking electronic copies of recorder documents on the same grounds cited to Barborak. The first time, Bosel agreed to pay $3,000 in attorney fees to resolve the dispute, but the second time she refused and the dispute is now before the Ohio Supreme Court. Chetock has made these lawsuits a centerpiece of her campaign, saying Bosel needlessly picked a fight with these companies when it is clear they were entitled to the documents under Ohio’s public records law.

Bosel has disagreed, saying the companies — like Barborak — are not automatically entitled to the records if their requests are so overly broad and ambiguous as to create an unnecessary burden on the office.

Over the weekend, Bosel prepared another response she said was mailed to Barborak on Monday. In that response, Bosel said the “records inventory” comment attributed to her, on which his request was based, was a reference to how the office was able to digitize all records during her four years of office.

“Once again, your request is overly broad and ambiguous and completely nonsensical. To provide you with this would be millions of pages. Is this what you would like for me to provide?” she wrote.

As for providing records Barborak may believe have been lost or destroyed, Bosel said there is no such list. She said her staff routinely identifies missing records discovered during the course of performing their regular duties and address the problem, but no list exists. She again asked Barborak to be more specific.

As for the requested communications between her and her staff and Chesapeake/DPS Penn, Bosel said Barborak still needs to be specific. Without more specificity, such a review would likely involve thousands of emails going back nearly four years and would take at least 30 days to comply.

Bosel advised Barborak to send any future correspondence to her by mail instead of dropping it off at the office. Bosel also accused Barborak of “in essence” trying to stalk her online, with someone gaining access to a private domain she later identified as her Facebook page. Bosel went on to say Barborak is also aware when she has been campaigning in “certain neighborhoods.”

“Frankly, all of this, in combination with your accusatory letters and insinuations is reaching a level of what my family deems to be both professional and personal harassment. I am asking that you cease with your personal stalking of me, be it online or in person, or I will seek a personal restraining order against you in a court of law,” she said.

Barborak was contacted by the newspaper and was taken aback by the stalking comments. “It’s completely absurd and ludicrous that I’m stalking her,” he said. “As an attorney I’ve represented victims of stalking and she is not one. It’s an insult to stalking victims that she would even suggest that.”

First off, any online searches Barborak said he made were of public websites. For example, his records request was based in part on a candidate profile of Bosel he found available at a newspaper website.

“I don’t know why she would give an interview to a newspaper if she didn’t expect people to look at it,” he said.

As for keeping track of where Bosel has been campaigning, he said that is part of his job as party chairman. “I’m chairman of the Democratic Party and people call me to report to me where she is out campaigning … That just goes with the territory. When I ran for office people would say they saw my opponent campaigning in this neighborhood” and that he should do likewise, Barborak said.

Barborak said he would not sue to gain access to the denied records but instead wait for the electoral process to play out.

“I am not going to put the taxpayers through another lawsuit. I am confident that soon there will be a new recorder and I will be able to obtain the records I seek without much hassle,” he concluded.

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