CANTON: Jeffrey Yoder’s life ended June 13.
A Canton man ran a red light and collided with Yoder’s motorcycle.
The driver of the car, Jason E. Henderhan, 32, should not have been behind the wheel that day, Yoder’s relatives said in an interview at a family home. Two weeks before the crash, Henderhan had been released from the Stark County Jail because of crowding. He was awaiting trial on a cocaine possession charge.
“This was an on-purpose, ‘I didn’t want my car to stall so I’m going to run the red light’ [decision]. He didn’t want his car to stall, so he didn’t stop,” said Yoder’s younger sister, Leanne Harman of Sugarcreek.
In August, Henderhan, who ran from the crash, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor vehicular homicide and failure to stop after an accident, a felony. Stark Common Pleas Judge Charles E. Brown Jr. sentenced him to three years in prison for leaving the scene, 180 days for killing Yoder and 11 months for the drug charge. The following day, Brown sentenced Henderhan to 17 months for burglary and 11 months for domestic violence in a separate case before the court.
He is serving all five sentences concurrently at the Lorain Correctional Institution.
In November, Stark County voters will be asked to approve an eight-year, 0.5 percent sales tax. The money would support the county’s criminal justice system. It the issue fails, authorities say, residents can expect more incidents like the kind involving Yoder.
The Stark County Sheriff’s Office estimates about 80 percent of the people released from the jail commit new offenses.
Of Ohio’s 88 counties, only Stark does not collect a sales tax to support operations.
Without new funding, authorities say, the county’s criminal justice system and its administration, which includes the jail, the sheriff’s office and the courts, will face additional budget reductions of 40 percent because there isn’t enough money in all the other county departments combined to make up the funds that have diminished over the past three years. If the proposal passes, sheriff’s office funding would be restored to 2010 levels.
“People say to us, ‘Instead of cutting the sheriff 40 percent, why don’t you cut everybody else?’ ” said County Commissioner Thomas Bernabei.
The county’s general fund revenue has dropped from $58 million in 2009 to just over $31 million to be collected in 2012, excluding any carryover. In 2012, more than $12 million of that money must be spent on obligations mandated by law or contract.
The general fund is also reeling from the June 30 expiration of a 0.25 percent sales tax passed in 2003 and the theft of $2.9 million from the county treasurer’s office.
If voters approve the sales tax, all other departments, which have already reduced budgets by an average 14.4 percent in two years, still would face an additional 23 percent in cuts. If the ballot issue fails, most departments would face additional funding cuts of 40 percent.
Because of previous cuts, the number of employees paid through the general fund has dipped from 630 in 2009 to 515, and many of those remaining must take 26 furlough days each year.
Officials estimate that shoppers from outside the county would pay more than 20 percent of the proposed tax. The new tax would cost the approximately 290,000 adult residents of the county about 16 cents a day, local officials estimate.
Jail beds reduced
Of the revenue that would be raised by the tax, $2.6 million would go to the sheriff’s office to make 400 beds available at the jail for criminals. In December, beds were reduced from 501 to about 320. The number would drop to 122 if voters defeat the proposal, Bernabei said, and booking of prisoners for 22 police agencies across the county would be eliminated, except for prisoners remanded to the jail by the courts.
“Effectively, anybody but the worst of the worst — and that would be the 122 people — will be released. Some of them won’t even be brought in,” Bernabei said.
“It means that every day there will be 379 people walking the streets that a year ago were in jail that should be in jail that aren’t in jail,” he said.
County Auditor Alan Harold said repeat offenders, even if caught burglarizing a home, won’t be booked in the county jail but merely would be given a summons to appear in court.
“Somebody who is arrested on their 15th burglary — guess what? You can’t even take them down there [to the jail] because they are not being booked. What are they going to do? Give that 15-time burglar a desk summons,” Harold said.
Currently, there are two or three patrol units on duty at any time to protect more than 90,000 county residents, he said.
There were twice as many guards and 200 more prisoners at the jail before budget cuts forced Sheriff Timothy Swanson to lay off 41 members of his 229-person staff in December. Attrition has further reduced the staff to 179 people for patrol, corrections, investigations, administration and other functions.
Between 2009 and 2011, the sheriff’s budget was cut from $16.4 million to $13.8 million. An additional 40 percent drop would mean pulling all patrols from the street, said Chief Deputy Michael McDonald, the jail commander.
“This is going to create a severe safety issue in terms of the appropriate people are not going to be in jail,” McDonald said.
“We’re releasing burglars. I just can’t imagine, you know, in my 30 years as a police officer, watching a burglar walk out the back door, but we’re doing that.’’
Theft hurts trust
Commissioner Peter Ferguson said people are upset and don’t trust government, whether it is in Washington, D.C., or Stark County.
“The economy is still bad, people don’t have jobs and the crime rate is up — I think we had 13 homicides in Canton this year. We have to bring back the trust in government,” he said.
Ferguson said people told him they would not support the tax as long as Treasurer Gary Zeigler remained in office.
Ferguson and two former commissioners fired Zeigler in 2010, holding him responsible for the theft of almost $3 million from the treasurer’s office. Zeigler’s former chief deputy, Vincent Frustaci, is serving a 10-year federal sentence after admitting to the theft of $2.46 million from the office.
The county has recovered $1.27 million from bonding companies and a bank.
As many as eight lawsuits have been filed by and against the county, Zeigler and various bond agencies over the theft and issues arising from it.
In February, the 5th District Court of Appeals ruled the county must pay Zeigler’s legal fees. In June, the Ohio Supreme Court said Zeigler was improperly fired and ordered his reinstatement.
In September, a visiting judge ordered Zeigler to pay the county the remaining money stolen under his watch plus 10 percent interest — for a total of about $1.86 million.
On Wednesday, Zeigler resigned as treasurer after reaching an agreement with commissioners that releases him from most of the judgment against him and gives him back wages and a portion of his legal fees.
Commissioners then reinstated Republican Alex Zumbar as interim treasurer. He was elected treasurer in November but was removed from office when Zeigler was reinstated.
The theft and Zeigler’s return to office were particularly galling, said Commissioner Janet Weir Creighton, who, along with other officials, has spent the past seven months trying to educate voters about the sales tax proposal. She holds Zeigler responsible for the loss of credibility of county officeholders.
“He should have done the honorable thing and resigned on Day One,” she said.
Zeigler’s attorney, Matthew Nakon, did not return phone messages seeking comment.
Attorney Craig Conley, who considers himself a government watchdog, said he doesn’t expect the sales tax proposal to pass, in large part because of the theft under Zeigler’s watch.
“ ‘Zeiglergate’ is the gift that keeps on giving. That alone may be enough to defeat it,” he said.
Conley said he is against giving the county more money until it gets union contracts, particularly in the sheriff’s office, in line with private-sector wages and benefits.
“If [the tax request] goes down, it will force them to negotiate new wage packages and fringe benefits,” he said.
Officials explain
Earlier this year, commissioners and other government officials embarked on a 22-community “listening tour.” They spoke with residents about their concerns.
Creighton said few people showed up.
“We have done a horrible job of educating people as to what county government really provides. How I explain it to people is: ‘County government is with you from the day you are born until the day you die,’ ” she said.
The county is responsible for birth certificates, death certificates, buying property, transferring property, buying cars, selling cars, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, adoptions, sewer inspections, mental-health facilities, county health and detention centers, and “safety, safety, safety,” Creighton said.
“At the end of the day, county government provides the safety services that have a direct relationship or direct connection to every part of this county in 17 townships, six cities and 13 villages,” she said.
Commissioners have agreed — with the contentious history of the county’s sales taxes and voter referendums to repeal them — that they will not impose the tax if it fails at the polls.
“We aren’t trying to scare anyone and we will not impose. ... I think the basic credibility of government is doing what we said we would do,” Bernabei said.
“The taxpayers are entitled to the level of government that they are willing to pay for.”
Family grieves
Jeffrey Yoder, who was engaged to be married, was a son, brother and grandfather, as well as the victim of a broken criminal justice system that allowed a criminal to carelessly and intentionally run a red light and take a life, his family said.
“I lost a son the way it was. It was bad. It’s going to get worse. I can’t imagine that,” said Avery Yoder of Sugarcreek.
His son, who enjoyed deer and mushroom hunting, was killed while riding his 2002 Harley-Davidson motorcycle home from A.R.E. Accessories in Massillon, where he was employed for 20 years.
Seven members of Yoder’s family said they agreed to speak out if it would help keep repeat offenders off the streets and in jail where they belong.
“That’s not the place to make cuts,’’ Harman said.
“Those people are there for a reason. They shouldn’t be allowed out to hurt other people.”
Kathy Antoniotti can be reached at 330-996-3565 or kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com.