First Published: July 26, 2007
Mahoning County commissioners did not break the law when making the deal to buy Oakhill Renaissance place last year.
That's the ruling by visiting judge Richard Markus Thursday afternoon in the taxpayer lawsuit against the county. Marcus ruled that there were no secret meetings, just loose talk regarding a claim that leaders did not hold public meetings over the purchase of Oakhill. T
he rest of the claims went much the same way. Attorneys for the Cafaro family tried to prove that the auditor did have the power to withhold the $75,000 payment for the purchase of Oakhill but the judge ruled that the auditor cannot seal the deal.
Markus said it's obvious there are strong feelings amongst leaders in this community, but he felt it was desirable to have a trial rather than decide the case on motions. The judge did not rule on all of the motions.
