RIDE THE MAGIC JUDGE BARTOLOTTA!
By Honey Badger, Truth Badger News
Updated: April 17, 2025
I attended the April 17, 2025 Work Session of the Board of County Commissioners. These work sessions are held a couple of times a month for the purpose of allowing the citizens of Lake County to peacefully redress their grievances with County government. As a high information voter and citizen of Lake County, I appreciate that given the ORC does not require such interaction with the public. Commissioner Regovich had another engagement to attend, so he was not present for this work session. To their credit, both Commission Plecnik and Commissioner Beverage did engage with me and the other Lake County citizens in attendance.
At the outset of the Commissioners’ meeting today, they passed a resolution recognizing National County Government Month. Commissioner Plecnik gave some history about Lake County’s cessation from Geauga County. So when I began my comments, I mentioned the resolution regarding National County Government Month and the cessation from Geauga County. I also informed Commissioners Plecnik and Beverage that the Geauga County Commissioners are returning money back to the people by reducing inside millage. I stated that I knew that this would be difficult for the Lake County Commissioners to do when they are trying to build a justice center without raising taxes, as they promised, with the loss of the $306,000,000 over 15 years that Lake County was to receive from the opioid settlement.
I asked the Commissioners why, given the commitment to building the justice center without raising taxes and the loss of the opioid settlement money, they are going to spend at least $515,000, plus design and architecture fees, for a 2-car heated and air-conditioned parking garage for Judge Bartolotta. I reminded the Commissioners that People already provide secure parking for the judge with the other Lake County judges. True, Judge Bartolotta has to walk a little further to his office than the other judges, but his walk is through a secure tunnel that connects the courthouse with the court annex, where his office is located. I told the Commissioners that I know that Judge Bartolotta can just court order the expense and force the People to pay for his parking garage but that they need to find their spine and tell the judge NO! I asked them to remember who they work for and thanked them for their time.
The Commissioners asked County Administrator, Jason Boyd, to provide some history on the project as this is not the first time bids have been requested to build Judge Bartolotta’s 2-car parking garage. The first time bids were requested for this project, the Engineering Cost Estimate was only a QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS. Only one bid for $450,000 was received…way over the estimated amount. The ORC does offer the People some protection in that the bid was over the threshold for acceptance. Apparently they went out for bid again in 2023 and received no bids. Mr. Boyd stated that there was still money left in the contract with
Burgess & Niple so this latest round of bids did not cost the taxpayer anything. Mr. Boyd stated that he contacted B&N to let them know that the project likely would not move forward so hopefully the County did not incur any costs associated with the apples-to-apples analysis of the bids received. For the record, Mr. Boyd is a stellar County Administrator. He has always been very transparent with the citizens and was a dream to work with when I was Clerk of Courts. I did make an official records requests with the Prosecutor’s Office for all costs the County has incurred on the project thus far.
Commissioner Plecnik came to the aid of Judge Bartolotta stating that the judge decided to pull the plug on the project after receiving the bids because they were too high…que Bonnie Tyler, Holding Out For A Hero with a minor edit…there is no fiery steed…only a unicorn mobility scooter. Mr. Boyd confirmed this when he reached out to him to discuss the bids received. Commissioner Beverage thanked me for coming in person to address the Commissioners instead of using social media and other forums to spread lies and misinformation. He stated that he would have NEVER voted for this and seemed offended that I “lumped” him in with the other
two commissioners on this matter. I then asked him how he voted on the resolution to go out for bid…did he abstain? Did he vote Nay? Commissioner Beverage stated that he voted YES on the resolution to go out for bid.
I was told that the reason they went out for bid again is that they thought maybe the costs had gone down, but the Estimated Engineering Cost for this round of bidding was $570,880, which again was known at the time the Commissioners voted to go out for bid on the project. So maybe they didn’t believe Burgess & Niple? Is it possible that Judge Bartolotta and the Commissioners actually thought that bids would come in lower than the $450,000 bid that was received the first time around? Did they think the bids would come in at the initial estimated cost of $250,000 (a
quarter of a million dollars)? Commissioner Beverage stated that if the bid came in at $10,000 he would never vote for it. So why did Commissioner Beverage vote YES to go out for bid in the first place?
Folks the Commissioners and Judge Bartolotta cannot have it both ways. If the Parking Garage Project was too expensive at $450K (the only bid received the first time around) it was too expensive at $570,880 (Estimated Engineering Cost for this round). Why in God’s name would they even go out for bid in the first place? It makes no sense. One of two things happened here.
- The Judge Bartolotta Parking Garage project was going to be funded, wasting over half a million dollars of taxpayer money, the People found out; and they are now backtracking because they got caught OR
- The Commissioners spent resources to go out for bid on a project, they knew or should have known, would likely not result in the award of a contract. I’m not a lawyer but that doesn’t sound kosher to me.
Bidders have to spend money to get blueprints and other documents, and these costs are non- refundable. Bidders have to spend money on man hours and other resources to submit a bid package that will be accepted by government. Lake County spent money with Burgess and Niple for design and architect fees as well as management of the bidding process and perhaps some apples-to-apples analysis before Mr. Boyd’s call to Burgess and Niple. Lake County spent money publishing the ad in the newspaper twice, per the ORC. Lake County also spent man hours on this bidding process based on County rules and regulations. Again, ALL partiesinvolved, KNEW the estimated cost of the project at the time the commissioners voted to pass the resolution to go out for bids. Personally, I think it is Option 1.
The good news is that it appears that construction of the parking garage will not go forward…at least for the moment. I did request that this project not ever be resurrected again. Commissioner Plecnik assured Judge Bartolotta that the Commissioners will continue to work with him to ensure he, and his staff, has secure parking. Judge Bartolotta has more than one employee, so unless they are driving a couple of clown cars…I’m not sure what he meant by that. Further, Commissioner Plecnik must not have heard that the People already provide Judge Bartolotta
secure parking with the other judges, and the People do not believe he needs anything more than what we already provide. Commissioner Plecnik, please remember that the People are the boss…not the judges. You, too, can tell a judge NO.
LFC editorial opinion by Brian Massie:
We find it very interesting that voters ousted Commissioner John Hamercheck, a man that permitted not one, but two public speaking sessions allowing the citizens to address their redress of grievances against County government. They voted in Morris Beverage, the Third, shown at the left displaying his rainbow beard, and now have limited chances to address their grievances. Without any shame, Beverage feels emboldened to call citizens liars.
Elections have consequences, and the local Republicans have tarnished their image by supporting a “Republican” that feels he does not need the party. Unfortunately, the Party only reprimanded him rather than censure him at their meeting for supporting a Democrat for the Lakeland Community College board, replacing Nancy Fellows, a Republican.
There appears to be a left-leaning wing in the local Republican Party. I call it an infiltration by Democrats that want an “R” after their name to deceive the unsuspecting voters. I find it very telling that Beverage did not “find the love” to support his local Party, and was A.W.O.L from the recent Lincoln Day dinner. Perhaps he had an appointment to get his beard colored….that is understandable.
Categories: Lake County Politics, Uncategorized