Horner is accusing the City of Portsmouth and Mayor David Malone with creating an imminent risk of serious harm to employees, officers, the public, and Horner himself, over the dangers reportedly existing in the basement of City Hall, where the Police Department had been headquartered.
“I filed a formal complaint with them, and I received a letter (from OSHA) indicating that public buildings are not within their jurisdiction, and they directed me to the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation,” Horner said Monday. “And I have not filed that complaint yet. But I am in the process.”
The accusations were shared in a letter to Malone and obtained Monday by the Daily Times through an open records request.
“Let me begin by saying, it is with deepest regret I submit this letter,” Horner begins. “I am exercising my rights under the United States Occupational Safety and Health Act, which states in part: ‘Each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.” He also cited the Ohio Revised Code’s “Whistleblower” law.
Horner said he was asked by Malone on Aug. 11 to oversee the removal of the contents of the Police Department. Those items were to be moved to the Martings Building for storage.
Horner said he asked for a delay until the following Monday to develop a plan. He said he copied City Solicitor Mike Jones and County Prosecutor Mark Kuhn.
On Friday, Aug. 12, however, Horner said he received a call from the Police Department indicating a police officer was called to the Police Department to oversee the move.
Horner said he called Malone expressing his concerns about logistics, evidence integrity, property preservation, records preservation and integrity as well as health and safety issues.
Horner said soon after sending the email, he received a response from Malone that read, “You are hereby ordered to send an officer to the Portsmouth City Municipal Building to oversee the removal of Police Department equipment immediately. Any action that does not cooperate with this order will be regarded as insubordination.”
Because of what Horner said was the threat of intimidation and to avoid being charged with insubordination, he decided to personally oversee the move.
He said he was at the police department office in the city building from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., dressed in personal protection gear, with the exception of a lunch break, and shortly after lunch began to experience eye, nasal and throat irritation.
Horner said he had repeatedly attempted to ensure that guidelines for the mold remediation were being followed, after concerns about the failure of Servpro to follow proper remediation guidelines and their conduct (resulting in significantly greater contamination of mold and asbestos disturbance), the recommendations of another remediation company, the recommendations of the engineer hired by the City of Portsmouth to analyze and make recommendations on the mold and asbestos contamination, and the failure of the City of Portsmouth to take adequate environmental precautions, and protection of employees, including considering allowing officers to sign waivers so they could work out of the contaminated Police Department, that he believes the conduct of the city constitutes a serious clear and present danger to employees of the building as well as the public entering the building.
“I am notifying you (Malone) that the conduct of the City of Portsmouth and your order, in my opinion, has created an imminent risk of serious physical harm to employees, officers, the public, and me,” Horner wrote. “I am forwarding a copy of this correspondence to Solicitor Jones, Scioto County Prosecutor Mark Kuhn, Ohio Attorney General, the Inspector General of the State of Ohio, and the United States Attorney’s Office. I have filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. I will be investigating the procedure for the filing of a complaint with the Bureau of Worker’s Compensation. Additionally, I will be seeking legal advice.”
Malone said he is not going to respond to Horner’s actions.
“I hadn’t responded at all,” Malone said. “I’m just going to let him do what he’s going to do and I’m going to continue to move on the process of clearing the building until OSHA or anybody else tells us that we’re not doing the right process, and to stop. Until then we’re going to keep on moving.”
FRANK LEWIS may be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 232, or flewis@heartlandpublications.com.
Gentlemen start you engines.
This is all out war with the city coming under the State of Ohio supervision, per the rumors? No reliable sources yet.
OSHA, the Fed's and the City Council with 6 or more years of DEFICIT's or more, and the last 3 years in Millions of DEFICIT's and guess what the Top Cop does not know how the law is enforced?
So, it's the Fed's no, "not our job man." It's the Chief and the City Council and the PPD, and the Mayor, or is this a decoy to get the levee approved?
Oh, Oh, Asbestos.....................The "A" Word that's like invoking a "hostile" workplace?
Murray had the contract under control and it' looks like the PPD was in the severance of the contract and now filing the complaint? Is that A conflict of interest and who will Solicitor Jones represent, The Mayor, the City Council, or the PPD.
Don't you just love it, "not under our jurisdiction." The city gets their own medicine they give the general public, tax payers and home owners.
Citing the ORC's getting down and dirty? cc'ing the Solicitors, County and the City, that's a wide net.....
In-subornation, hey that's what Murray had to do. Is Malone building a case that Kalb could not?
The PPD can't delegate has to be hands on?
PTC, dun't the officers rollcall where ever they are parking the vehicles, not the ciy building.
All these armchair, keyboard city leaders cause they got a vote or address?
Because your city Goverment instead of putting a roof on the building when it was leaking and needed they let it leak on purpose. So the building could fill up with mold and they could move out. Then they hoped you the taxpayer would pass 2 different levies to fix their Martings Building up, which you did not pass, now it has all back fired on them.
So what it amounts to is they bought a $2 million dollar Martings building (appraised for only $400,000) and spent $9 Million dollars on water meters because they dont know how to spend money wisely, instead of replacing a meter as it breaks down.
Now they are stuck in their moldy building. It wasnt until the Murray became Mayor she finally put a roof on the building.
The city has an empty fire station let them move in their, they also own the Adelphia Bldg, another under the table deal with their buddy friends, they can use that building. Oh is it full of mold also ?
The Police Chief looks to be contacting everyone, is he going to contact Fidel Castro also ? At least Castro knows to replace a leaky roof on his building before it fills up with rain.
You people in all City Departments are a big joke and a bunch of cry babies who have no clue on how to run a city government or a budget or recruit industry.
If the Chief (and Mayor) spent as much time recruiting some industries to locate here instead of everyone else he is calling on his list in the article above, maybe their would be some industry in this city, people would have some jobs, then their would be some tax revenue and then when people work their is less crime.
Fight all your problems at the source. NO INDUSTRY = NO JOBS = NO TAX REVENUE= CITY CANT PAY BILLS. (With the incompetent bunch running the city, they wouldnt be ablve to pay the bills no matter how much tax revenue they had).
The Fire Department has SCBA and extra bottles that I am sure will fit Chief Horner.
Don't you have the right as Mayor to releave him of his duties.???? Poor guy is just unable to do anything the City ask without some type of trouble or he files some thing against the City. Just glad to see someone down their step up to the plate and try to move forward.
The Fire Chief has shut down the hilltop station why don't we use that building to house all of the Police Department?
Better yet.. the PDT reported on this story. The PDT should create a news story with front page pictures.
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Secondly, if the Police Chief seeks legal advice, will the city have to pay for those type legal services?
The City of Portsmouth has claimed "HOME RULE" by putting itself under a Charter. Surely the city can home rule itself through this.
Get them (police dept.) moved to a better home before bad weather sets in. You owe this to Portsmouth, the people who live here and to the men and women who serve and protect us.