Wood County Recorder James Matuszak has been cautioned by the Ohio Auditor of State about possible inappropriate election activities in his office.
Correspondence dated Sept. 27 from the Auditor of State Keith Faber’s office, stated that it had been reported to the state that Matuszak may have used public letterhead from his office to support a candidate for county recorder. The candidate he endorsed, Jeremy Schroeder, is running against the candidate Matuszak lost to in the primary election, Connor Rose.
“Information we have been provided suggests that you are utilizing Wood County Recorder’s Office letterhead in support of Jeremy Schroeder, which was posted on Facebook. This activity appears to be intended to influence the outcome of the upcoming election,” stated the correspondence from Faber’s office.
Further information received by Faber’s office stated that Schroeder met with staff of the Wood County Recorder’s Office, and it appears that this meeting could have taken place during hours when the office was open and employees being paid.
According to the state auditor’s office, this meeting could be interpreted as influencing the outcome of the election among the staff or to gain information that could be used by Schroeder to influence the outcome of the election.
“We have not confirmed the accuracy of these allegations,” the letter from the state auditor continued. “Please be aware that if they are true, the activity needs to cease and desist immediately; we request that you take immediate steps to examine these and any ongoing practices and ensure all activities are in full compliance with Ohio law.”
Faber then stated in the letter that all information regarding this matter is being forwarded to the Auditor of State’s regional staff for review in the next regular audit of the county.
In the complaint filed with the state auditor’s office, it was noted that Matuszak, a Republican, lost his primary election bid to retain his seat as county recorder to Republican Connor Rose. The complaint accused Matuszak of engaging in personal revenge against Rose by endorsing the Democratic candidate in the general election.
The Republican primary race for the county recorder’s seat was very close, with the initial results from election night showing Rose and Matuszak in a tie with both getting 6,189 votes. After the provisional and absentee ballots were added in, the official vote count was 6,233 for Rose, and 6,224 for Matuszak.
Last month, Matuszak issued an endorsement for Schroeder to replace him in the recorder’s office.
“In April of this year, I invited both candidates for Recorder to tour the office and ask questions,” Matuszak said. “Only Mr. Schroeder accepted the offer.”
“I hoped each of the candidates would take advantage of the opportunity to learn about the office they seek to manage, with the complexities of title fraud and foreclosure it is important to have a smooth transition,” Matuszak continued.
“To be clear,” Matuszak said, “I believe that it would be appropriate for all voters to support Mr. Schroeder.”
A phone call to Matuszak’s office from BG Independent News this week was not returned.
