UNION TWP. – When officials in this Clermont County community wanted to show how much they cared, they said it with flowers. Taxpayers picked up the tab, including $1,640 that went to a floral shop owned by the daughter of Trustee Barb Wiedebieinv, Mariemont Florist, which is owned by Summer Wiedenbein, charged $64.95 for a fresh arrangement for Gina DiMario, the township’s communications director.

The card for the flowers, delivered to DiMario in May 2007, read: "Please Take Your Time to Heal, No Rush! Best Wishes, Barb, Bob, Matt, And Doug."

Those are the first names of Trustees Barb Wiedenbein, Bob McGee and Matt Beamer, who last month fired the other well-wisher, Township Administrator Doug Walker, amid a state audit that recommended he be investigated by the Ohio Ethics Commission.

The audit for the years 2005-06 faulted the way township officials managed taxpayer money, but it made no mention of flowers.

The payments to the company owned by Summer Wiedenbein were made from December 2006 through November 2007.

Barb Wiedenbein and other trustees signed off on the payments during public meetings, according to township records.

Paul Nick, chief investigative attorney for the Ohio Ethics Commission, said he couldn’t comment on the specifics of the Union Township matter.
However, in general, state "law prohibits public officials from using their public authority to benefit themselves or family members or business associates," Nick said.

Penalties for anyone found guilty could include up to 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $5,000, Nick said.

Clermont County Prosecutor Don White said he had met with Judge William Walker of Common Pleas Court on Tuesday and requested that a special prosecutor be appointed to look into the Wiedenbein matter.

White said he didn’t think Wiedenbein had committed a crime, but it would be a conflict of interest for him to handle the case because she is also the county’s elected clerk of Common Pleas Court.

The judge appointed Lynn Alan Grimshaw, who is also the special prosecutor handling the Ethics Commission investigation of County Commissioner Mary Walker, the wife of Doug Walker. The judge and the Walkers are unrelated.

Among things the state audit of Union Township questioned were payments that Doug Walker had approved in 2005, as a trustee, to a company run by his son, Mark Walker.
Wiedenbein said she had told the township’s administrative staff that her daughter had bought Mariemont Florist in October 2006, but she never instructed anyone to buy flowers from the shop.

"I never signed a (purchase order) or gave orders that anybody do that," Wiedenbein said. "I didn’t award any contracts."

The biggest purchase – for $1,225.95 – included a $9.95 charge for delivery on Nov. 21, 2006, according to invoices.

Mariemont Florist provided Christmas wreathes that time, Barb Wiedenbein said. Six went up in the Civic Center on Aicholtz Road, and two were hung in the nearby police headquarters.

"I really did not know that they were ordering flowers from Mariemont Florist," Wiedenbein said. "And when I did realize it, I just said, ‘Stop doing it.’ It wasn’t right. … I didn’t realize that there was any wrongdoing. I never meant for it to be any wrongdoing."

Wiedenbein said Tuesday she had not reimbursed the township.
"I didn’t think about it, but I will most gladly write a check," Wiedenbein said. "I’ll gladly pay them back."

In September 2007, Mariemont Florist issued an invoice for another $600 for flowers provided to the office of Clerk of Common Pleas Court.

In December 2007, the county was reimbursed for the $600, which covered 14 arrangements and two high pieces for the end of a head table for a dinner at the Receptions banquet hall in Union Township, according to public records.

The money was repaid through a check bearing the names of Barb and Summer Wiedenbein, which listed an address of 4619 Tealtown Road. Barb Wiedenbein signed it. The memo line read: "Flowers Clerk Assoc. Dinner 10-9-2007."

It was Clermont County’s turn to host the district dinner of an Ohio Clerk of Courts Association conference, Wiedenbein said.

"It was more or less just a socializing thing," Wiedenbein said. The county and its Convention & Visitors Bureau picked up most of the $2,925 bill – which included about $1,669 for dinner and $400 for live music – but "I wanted to pay for the flowers" to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

Gregg Conrad, the Pierce Township Democrat running against Barb Wiedenbein in the Nov. 4 election for clerk of court, said his Republican opponent should not have used a county procurement card to buy flowers from her daughter’s company – regardless of whether the money was repaid.

"The core issue is ethics," Conrad said. As an elected official, "you just don’t give business to family members. … It’s not about the amount. … It’s about keeping everything aboveboard."

Cliff Johnson, a Union Township resident who is campaign director for the Clermont County Democratic Party, said it was outrageous that taxpayer money was spent on flowers for a Union Township employee and others – especially since the florist was related to a trustee.

"I believe if an elected official votes on approving bills to a relative’s business that is something the Ethics Commission should look into," said Johnson, who plans to run for trustee next year.

Barb Wiedenbein was appointed to the Board of Trustees in July 2004 by McGee and Doug Walker, who was then a trustee. She filled the unexpired term of her late husband, Art Wiedenbein.

She managed accounting for the former family business, Wiedenbein Truck and Auto Parts, according to her township biography.

The address listed with the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office for Wiedenbein Auto and Truck Parts – 4619 Tealtown Road – is the same as that on file with Union Township for Eastgate Distributing.

Barb Wiedenbein said she owned Eastgate Distributing from 2003 to about April 2005, and that her husband had no role in it.

The township paid about $28,051 to Eastgate Distributing from February to October 2004 for work on vehicles and equipment or parts, according to public records. Art Wiedenbein was among trustees who signed off of several of those payments, including one for about $20,018 in May 2004.

After she became a trustee, Barb Wiedenbein signed off on a payment of $39 for Eastgate Distributing in September 2004 and a payment of $24 to the firm in November 2004, according to public records.

"I had no idea" those items were among the payments trustees voted to approve, Wiedenbein said. "No one said a word to me that that was against any policy anywhere."