Lake County commissioners are sharply divided about whether the front entrance to the county courthouse should be reopened this year.
The division spilled out into public view during the commissioners June 5 meeting after Commissioner Daniel P. Troy again expressed his support for the issue.
He initially brought it up during a Feb. 13 meeting.
Troy said the facility ‘is the people’s building’ and the south entrance facing Veterans Park in Painesville needs to be reopened to the public now that the county’s budget has become more stable.
‘People should not be going into their county courthouse through a rear entrance that feels like they’re entering a jail,’ Troy said June 5. ‘We are not in the budget crisis that we were in 2007 and 2008. We are in a situation where I think we can do this and it certainly reflects on the fact we have a wonderful beautiful building.’
The south entrance was closed to the public in January 2010 as a tight fiscal climate forced county officials to cut costs wherever possible.
The public now enters through courthouse security at the smaller rear entrance that faces the north. People who park in the square around Veterans Park need to walk around to the back to gain entrance to the courthouse.
Sheriff Daniel A. Dunlap made the decision to close the front entrance because it was a matter of budget priorities for his office.
He was unavailable for comment June 5, but previously said he agrees that the front entrance should be reopened. However, the sheriff said the decision is a question of budget priorities and his office’s funding is set by county commissioners with dollars from the county’s General Fund.
Commissioners Robert E. Aufuldish and Judy Moran didn’t object publicly during the Feb. 13 meeting to Troy’s suggestion to reopen the front entrance to the courthouse, but they strongly disagreed during the June 5 meeting.
Aufuldish and Moran individually said now isn’t the time to reopen the entrance as each cited the estimated $100,000 to $110,000 annually it would cost, but they would be willing to consider allocating the money to the Sheriff’s Office during budget hearings next year.
‘The sheriff is an individually elected official and decided the $100,000 it takes to run security out of the front of the courthouse, he could use by hiring a new patrol officer and that’s what he’s been using the money for,’ Aufuldish said. ‘I agree with the sheriff because I believe officers on the road to me are more important than the front of the courthouse being open.’
Moran said commissioners have a great relationship with the judges and she has spoken with several of them on the issue as well as with Dunlap.
‘I think there are more pressing needs in this county at this time to spend $110,000 on,’ Moran said. ‘I’m not opposed to revisiting it at budget time, but it is the sheriff’s call and I think he’s got more pressing things happening. I will wait until budget time to reassess this.’
Troy discussed a letter to commissioners signed May 20 by Common Pleas Judges Richard L. Collins, Vincent A. Culotta, Joseph Gibson and Eugene A. Lucci; and Domestic Relations Judge Colleen A. Falkowski requesting the entrance be reopened.
In the judges’ letter to commissioners, they cited several reasons for their request to reopen the courthouse front entrance.
They wrote the courthouse represents ‘the majesty and dignity of the law’; ‘the public has been greatly inconvenienced, especially in harsh weather’; along with enhanced security with deputies located at both entrances; and easier evacuation and re-entry if an alarm or calamity occurred.
Troy said if Moran and Aufuldish disagreed that the front entrance should remain closed for now, then they can respond to the judges’ letter.
‘I would respectfully ask that you folks proceed with communication to them,’ Troy said.
Aufuldish and Moran also questioned why reopening wasn’t brought up during budget hearings earlier this year for the county’s 2014 General Fund Budget.
Troy said budget hearing were not conducted with the judges this year. The commissioners’ policy this year was only to conduct a budget hearing if an elected official or department head disagreed with a proposed allocation or asked for a hearing.
Troy said he found it hard to believe Aufuldish and Moran are unwilling to spend the money to reopen the entrance when all the commissioners are considering and potentially willing to support spending $60 million on a new jail facility.
‘We’re going to sit here and say we don’t want to spend $80,000 to $100,000 a year to allow a beautiful historic facility – a monument, a monument to the people of this county – to have that front door open,’ he said. ‘We’re just going to have a sign sitting out there that says sorry we’re closed, go to the back door.’
