Environmental group's financial records sought
BY Robert Wang
The Canton Repository
BOLIVAR - Stark County Health Commissioner Bill Franks wants Club 3000's financial records.
He wants to know how much money the environmental activist group has received since 2002. He wants to know the names of all the people who gave the group money. And if anyone made a noncash donation, he'd like to know about that, too.
But Franks, who is set to recommend whether to shut down the Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility, won't say why he wants this information. Nor will he say whether this inquiry has anything to do with his investigation of Countywide, which has had a chronic odor problem, apparently due to chemical reactions involving aluminum waste. Club 3000 has sought to curtail Countywide's operations since it opened in 1991 in Pike Township.
"At this point, I'm not giving a reason," Franks said. "I asked for public documents."
Franks made a request for the financial records in a March 19 letter to one of Club 3000's board of directors, Richard Harvey of Bolivar. The letter is on official Stark County Health Department letterhead.
Club 3000's attorney Bob Rubin said his client is not subject to regulation by the Stark County Health Department.
"It makes no sense," he said. "I can't think of any appropriate reason for asking for that information."
Kerry Metzger is the Tuscarawas County commissioner who chairs the board of the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District. At the district's monthly meeting Friday, he asked Deborah Dawson, the attorney for the Stark County Health Department, if Franks had the authority to ask for Club 3000's information.
"It appears there's been an attempt to use the authority of the board of health to request this private information," said Metzger in a testy exchange.
"I don't believe Mr. Franks was abusing his authority," said Dawson. "You'll have to ask Mr. Franks why he sent that letter. ... it's not fair for you to ask me to read Mr. Franks' mind."
Harvey said the group hasn't decided how to respond to Franks' letter.
And it's unclear if Club 3000 is required to turn over its records.
Most nonprofit groups that aren't churches have to allow the public to inspect annual financial reports submitted to the IRS. But organizations that take in less than $25,000 a year generally don't have to file such returns. Harvey said Club 3000 falls into that category.
Separately, Franks said he met with Countywide officials on March 22 as part of his investigation.
If he recommends yanking the landfill's operating license, he expects the Stark County Board of Health to hold a public hearing on the matter in early May.
The Canton Repository
BOLIVAR - Stark County Health Commissioner Bill Franks wants Club 3000's financial records.
He wants to know how much money the environmental activist group has received since 2002. He wants to know the names of all the people who gave the group money. And if anyone made a noncash donation, he'd like to know about that, too.
But Franks, who is set to recommend whether to shut down the Countywide Recycling and Disposal Facility, won't say why he wants this information. Nor will he say whether this inquiry has anything to do with his investigation of Countywide, which has had a chronic odor problem, apparently due to chemical reactions involving aluminum waste. Club 3000 has sought to curtail Countywide's operations since it opened in 1991 in Pike Township.
"At this point, I'm not giving a reason," Franks said. "I asked for public documents."
Franks made a request for the financial records in a March 19 letter to one of Club 3000's board of directors, Richard Harvey of Bolivar. The letter is on official Stark County Health Department letterhead.
Club 3000's attorney Bob Rubin said his client is not subject to regulation by the Stark County Health Department.
"It makes no sense," he said. "I can't think of any appropriate reason for asking for that information."
Kerry Metzger is the Tuscarawas County commissioner who chairs the board of the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District. At the district's monthly meeting Friday, he asked Deborah Dawson, the attorney for the Stark County Health Department, if Franks had the authority to ask for Club 3000's information.
"It appears there's been an attempt to use the authority of the board of health to request this private information," said Metzger in a testy exchange.
"I don't believe Mr. Franks was abusing his authority," said Dawson. "You'll have to ask Mr. Franks why he sent that letter. ... it's not fair for you to ask me to read Mr. Franks' mind."
Harvey said the group hasn't decided how to respond to Franks' letter.
And it's unclear if Club 3000 is required to turn over its records.
Most nonprofit groups that aren't churches have to allow the public to inspect annual financial reports submitted to the IRS. But organizations that take in less than $25,000 a year generally don't have to file such returns. Harvey said Club 3000 falls into that category.
Separately, Franks said he met with Countywide officials on March 22 as part of his investigation.
If he recommends yanking the landfill's operating license, he expects the Stark County Board of Health to hold a public hearing on the matter in early May.
