Judge raps appointed attorney’s lawsuit

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert County Common Pleas Judge Charles D. Steele has made it known that he was not pleased with the initial action of an attorney he appointed to represent the Van Wert County Hospital Commission.

In an email addressed to County Prosecutor Charles F. Kennedy III — who recommended the appointment of Lima attorney William Balyeat to represent the Hospital Commission — Judge Steele indicated his displeasure at what he views as the unauthorized lawsuit filed by Balyeat against the Hospital Association.

“Please advise Mr. Balyeat that the fact that I appointed him to represent the hospital commission does not authorize him to take any legal action, including filing a law suit, without the official authorization of the commission taken in an open meeting,” the judge wrote in the email to Kennedy.

Balyeat had filed the suit, ostensibly on behalf of the Hospital Commission, seeking financial audits and property assessments required as part of the lease agreement between the county and the Hospital Association. The suit also sought to have the lease rescinded if the information is not provided, although the Van Wert independent has already ascertained that the information requested is available in the office of the Van Wert County commissioners. The commissioners’ office is also the legal address for the Hospital Commission.

Hospital officials have also stated that the information was also provided to the Hospital Commission’s representative on the Hospital Association’s Board of Trustees, and that Hospital Commission members should have had access to the information through that person.

Problems with Balyeat’s legal action were discovered the same day it was made public, when both Hospital Commission Chairman Bill Ludwig and Vice Chairman Mark Hartman said they were not aware that a suit was being filed, despite a claim by Balyeat that he sent a letter to Hospital Commission members informing them of his intent to file a lawsuit on their behalf.

Notwithstanding Balyeat’s claim, no authorization was given to him to file the lawsuit by the Hospital Commission, which has not met in months following its approval of the property transfer agreement. The transfer agreement is at the heart of both Balyeat’s lawsuit and a writ of mandamus filed by the Hospital Association earlier this month against both the Hospital Commission and the Van Wert County Board of Commissioners. The latter action seeks to finalize the transfer agreement — which remains incomplete months after its approval last year by both the Hospital Commission and county commissioners.

Judge Steele also was unhappy with Balyeat’s stated hourly fee of $170 an hour. “Also, please advise him (Balyeat) that it is unlikely he will be approved to be paid at the rate of $170 per hour and that he will not be paid at all for any unauthorized service,” the judge told Kennedy and requested the prosecutor forward his email on to the Hospital Commission as well.

The lack of authorization by the Hospital Commission would likely lead to that group’s seeking to be dismissed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the Hospital Association, leaving Hospital Commission member Farrel Krall, who is named individually, as the sole plaintiff in the case.

However, local attorney Charles Koch, who is co-counsel for the Hospital Association related to the hospital property transfer agreement, said he doesn’t feel Krall should be allowed to remain as a plaintiff, either, noting that the removal of the Hospital Commission would, in essence, make the action a taxpayer suit against the Hospital Association, which he believes cannot be done legally without being presented by the prosecuting attorney.

A meeting of the Hospital Commission is expected in the near future to address the lawsuit and related issues, including the writ of mandamus filed against the organization.