David Moore to Michelle Hung: Resign from county commission (UPDATED)

ELYRIA — Lorain County Commissioner David Moore on Tuesday called for his fellow Republican commissioner, Michelle Hung, to resign based on what he said was her recent admission to having an affair with a county worker. "After Michelle Hung's admission of an affair with a subordinate, 911 Director Harry Williamson and his ultimate termination, I felt she deserved an opportunity to speak with her family and weigh her options. I believed then and I believe now that the proper course is for her to gracefully resign her position as Lorain County Commissioner," Moore wrote in a statement he provided to The Chronicle-Telegram on Tuesday. "Unfortunately, it has become clear that Commissioner Hung has no intention of resigning. As a result, today, I am compelled to join others in publicly asking for her resignation. Her inappropriate behavior on county time with a county employee is both an embarrassment and a distraction to Lorain County and this board," he wrote. "It is past time for this to end and for the county to move forward with three commissioners whose ethics and integrity are beyond question. Unfortunately, Commissioner Hung does not fit those criteria." A message seeking comment on Moore's statement was left for Hung on Tuesday evening. Moore and Commissioner Matt Lundy, a Democrat, voted to fire Lorain County 911 Director Harry Williamson on Aug. 3. Hung abstained from the vote. Prior to the publication of a Feb. 26 surveillance video that captures Hung and Williamson sharing a kiss, Hung said that she abstained from voting on Williamson's termination "because I could not participate or have my hands in another bloodbath" — referencing the firing or demotion of numerous county officials and employees by Hung and Moore on Jan. 4, their first day in office. Hung further claimed that Moore and County Administrator Tom Williams called Jan. 4 "Bloody Monday" in reference to the firings. Williams denied this, and Moore publicly questioned Hung's explanation of her vote in an story published online by The Chronicle on Aug. 5. The same day, The Chronicle received a nine-second video that showed Hung and Williamson sharing a kiss that was caught on tape inside the Gateway Center, a county building on Gateway Boulevard North in Elyria. Also on that day, Lundy and Moore issued a joint statement explaining Williamson's termination. They said Hung had made a public admission "of a more significant and intimate relationship between herself and Director Williamson" to them and that "an intimate relationship involving a superior and subordinate requires immediate action." Williamson was hired for the $77,000 top job at Lorain County 911 by Hung and Moore in a vote on Jan. 4. Lundy voted against hiring Williamson. It remains unclear if Hung and Williamson were in a relationship prior to his hiring or if the relationship began after Williamson was hired to lead Lorain County 911. In their statement, Lundy and Moore said the county personnel manual "states that county employees are 'expected to maintain the highest possible ethical and moral standards'" and that "'conduct that interferes with normal business operations, brings discredit to the office or county.'" "Following a legal review and consultation, we felt termination was warranted and acted immediately," Lundy and Moore said. Hung and Moore defeated incumbent commissioners Sharon Sweda and Lori Kokoski in the November 2020 election to become the first Republican majority on the county commission in decades. Moore said Tuesday he thought Hung might resign on her own after being in the spotlight for a week. "This is not easy," he said. "I thought I gave her ample time to review her options. ... That's not the person I ran with, I'll tell you that." Without a county charter with provisions for a recall, there is "no real opportunity" for one, he said. Hung "is a poster child for why you need a seven-district county council," Moore said. "One person off the reservation shows why this is needed. This kind of abuse in office, that's why I like a charter form of government. And it's a prime example from our own party. "This is an embarrassment to the Republican Party, to me and to the board of commissioners," Moore said. While Lundy joined Moore on the Aug. 5 statement about the termination of Williamson, he did not join Moore's call for Hung's resignation on Tuesday. Lundy said Hung will ultimately need to be accountable to the voters who elected her. "I believe I acted immediately and responsibly by taking actions regarding the inappropriate workplace relationship," he said. "I did not vote for Commissioner Hung, so she'll need to be responsive to the people who elected her and put her in office. It will be her decision." Lundy said he didn't expect to have any more to add about the situation at this morning's commission meeting, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. today in the fourth floor conference room of the County Administration Building at 226 Middle Ave. in Elyria. David Arredondo, chair of the Lorain County GOP, said a decision to resign needs to be made by Hung, not her party. That's not to say there aren't Republicans who would like to see her step down, he said — there's been a great deal of conversation and debate about how the situation should be handled. "Overall, there's not an outcry," Arredondo said. "It seems to be, 'Let's see if there's anything further.'" But, Arredondo acknowledged, Hung's relationship with an employee has caused "irreparable damage to the relationship" she has with Moore. And Arredondo said he would not be shocked if Hung did announce her resignation today at the commissioners' weekly meeting. Nor would he be surprised if she refused to relinquish her role. Either way, he said it's unlikely the scandal will cause lasting damage to the county Republican party's reputation. "I think people are able to see there's a difference between our leadership in our party and an individual," Arredondo said. Hung is not a member of the Lorain County Democratic Party, so Chairman Anthony Giardini said the organization is not taking a position on whether she should resign. For now, the scandal is "a purely internal issue" for the Lorain County GOP to handle, he said. However, local Democrats reserve the right to change course as more facts come to light, he said. Giardini also said he believes county Republicans would "immediately and unequivocally" call for resignations "and proclaim the sky is falling" if the situation were reversed. Recall the case of former Commissioner Sharon Sweda, he said. She used her government email account to discussion her re-election campaign, and was defeated at the polls; then Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, barred her from taking a seat on the Lorain County Board of Elections. Democrats have not been immune to scandal and wrongdoing, Giardini conceded. But when accused, former U.S. Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota and New York Rep. Anthony Weiner agreed to leave office. And on Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation following allegations of sexual harassment, he said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him @daveobrienCT on Twitter. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.