Medina County Finance Director Brett Thomas confirms invoices from county auditor's office continue, following correspondence disallowing such expenditures

MEDINA — Medina County Finance Director Brett Thomas recently confirmed that the Medina County Auditor's Office has submitted invoices for consulting services that Thomas previously said he would not approve until full compliance is shown. On Tuesday, Medina County Commissioner Aaron Harrison brought up the invoices for discussion during the weekly Medina County commissioners meeting. Thomas confirmed that he continues to receive payment requests for certain invoices, despite his previous correspondence stating that he wouldn't. On April 1, Thomas sent correspondence that immediately disallowed certain expenditures by the Medina County Auditor's Office until full compliance with the Ohio Revised Code is shown. According to the correspondence, the county auditor's office stated that no personnel or human resources-related legal services were provided by Diamond Point Advisors LLC (Dennis DeCamillo). Thomas wrote that, with documentation in hand, including formal correspondence and employee accounts, it indicated that such services had been performed. The correspondence listed several sections of the Ohio Revised Code, which state that the county prosecuting attorney is the legal adviser to county officers and that engaging outside counsel is permitted only through the statutory process, which includes approval by the county commissioners and the Common Pleas Court. "The use of outside legal counsel in the absence of statutory authorization is not a technical defect," Thomas wrote. "It creates direct exposure to audit findings, findings for recovery and challenges to the legality of expenditures. The inconsistency between the representations made during budget hearings and the documented reality further elevates that risk." During Tuesday's meeting, Thomas said that at least some of the work completed by Diamond Point Advisors LLC was either human resources or legal work conducted for the county auditor's office. Harrison said he wanted to ensure that none of the bills approved this week include any of the requested payments, as there's additional evidence of the human resources function being performed by DeCamillo. "I wanted to just make sure, at least the element that we have control over, we're exerting that control by not paying any more of those invoices," Harrison said. Thomas said he has received multiple invoices for Diamond Point Advisors LLC since the April 1 correspondence was sent, totaling more than $5,000. "We have held firm on that, so that cost was denied," Thomas said. "It was approved by their staff and submitted through our systems and then, subsequently, on my end, was denied." Contact reporter Sara Crawford at (330) 721-4063 or scrawford@medina-gazette.com.