Wapakoneta Mayor Tom Stinebaugh is scheduled to take the stand in his own defense when testimony in his jury trial resumes Friday morning. Stinebaugh is charged with theft in office, having an unlawful interest in a public contract and conflict of interest.
J Swygart | The Lima News
WAPAKONETA — Thomas Stinebaugh, the embattled mayor of Wapakoneta charged with felony counts of theft in office and having an unlawful interest in public contracts, will take the witness stand when testimony in his trial opens Friday morning.
The mayor, who was suspended from performing city duties following his indictment in August of 2021, will be the final witness in the week-long trial in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court. The jury is expected to begin deliberations by noon.
Jurors heard testimony from 10 defense witnesses Thursday, all of whom said Stinebaugh to the best of their knowledge neither broke any laws nor violated city policies to benefit himself or family members as the state of Ohio alleges.
Prosecutors claim in their 11-count indictment that the mayor engaged in nepotism when he appointed his brother as acting chief of the Wapakoneta Fire Department and assisted a business owned by his sister in receiving contract work for the city.
Another allegation claims Stinebaugh entered into a contract through his private business to do work for a company who had been lured through a financial incentive package to locate in Ohio. Prosecutors claim the mayor used his position to gain that contract, although testimony on Thursday suggested otherwise.
Similarly Stinebaugh is said to have benefited when the City of Wapakoneta, at his instruction, installed a sewer line at city expense to service a home he was constructing on Fairfield Drive in 2018.
A parade of fire chiefs
Morning testimony revolved around the state’s allegation that Stinebaugh illegally appointed his brother, Anthony, as acting chief of the Wapakoneta Fire Department.
The appointment occurred just days after Tom Stinebaugh took office as mayor and came at a time when neither a full-time fire chief nor a safety-service director was in place in the City of Wapakoneta.
Current and former fire chiefs for the City of Wapakoneta — Eric Sammetinger and Steve McClintock, respectively — testified that the appointment of Tony Stinebaugh as acting fire chief in early 2016 was in keeping with longstanding departmental policies.
Sammetinger said it was “no surprise” that Stinebaugh, who had the longest tenure as captain in the department, would be named acting chief.
“If there was any concern the union would have filed a grievance,” he said. “Everybody at the department expected it because that’s the way is should have been.”
McClintock said the appointment of Stinebaugh as acting chief was in keeping with “generally accepted practices” spelled out by the Professional Firefighters Association.
The former chief said the fact that Tom Stinebaugh released a memo naming his brother as acting chief did not seem inappropriate, given that the city’s safety-service director had departed and former chief Kendall Krites did not appoint an acting chief prior to his departure.
“In my opinion is was important to appoint an acting chief as quickly as possible,” he said.
Tony Stinebaugh took the witness stand and told jurors that during his 30 years with the department the ascension of the highest-ranking captain to the position of acting fire chief was “automatic.”
Stinebaugh said that technically he was the second-ranked captain at the time, but added that Captain Alan McClintock was on administrative leave for medical reasons and was not expected to return.
“Had Alan been there he would have been named acting chief.”
Conflicts of interest denied
Also testifying on Thursday was Greg Myers, former executive director of the Wapakoneta Area Economic Development Council. The WAEDC was the public/private partnership group that assembled an economic incentive package in attempts to lure Canada-based Golden Fresh Farms to locate a greenhouse operation in Wapakoneta.
Prosecutors allege that Stinebaugh used his position as mayor to forge a relationship with owners of the business that resulted in the mayor’s private contracting company being hired to perform work at the site.
Myers testified that Stinebaugh played no role in negotiating an incentive package for the company, a sentiment echoed by John Courtney, who served as the utility consultant for the City of Wapakoneta throughout the negotiations.
Stinebaugh is also said to have aided his sister in obtaining a contract for signage purchased by the city in anticipation of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Apollo 11 lunar landing and hometown son Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon in 2019.
Auglaize Embroidery, owned by Judy DuBois — the mayor’s sister — ultimately was awarded contracts for a miniature billboard, five signs placed at entry points to the city and approximately 16 “wayfinding” signs to help visitors find their away around town during the celebration.
DuBois testified on Thursday that she donated the wayfinding signs and produced the remaining signage “at cost” with no outside help from her brother.
As a member of the celebration committee, DuBois said she offered to provide the historical markers at cost “because I’ve made my living here for a long time and I feel I owe the people something. I love this town.”
