It must be the season of failed LG candidate choices here in Ohio. First, we had Ed Fitzgerald’s complete meltdown when he chose Eric Kearney to share his ticket. Now, it appears that tea party challenger Ted Stevenot has shown the same type of judgment with his LG choice.
According to the Mahoning County Clerk of Courts website, Brenda Mack owes tens of thousands of dollars in tax judgments to the State of Ohio.
There are five separate judgments against Mack filed by the Ohio Department of Taxation. The most recent one was rendered just two years ago in December of 2011 for $20,833. The court dockets show that garnishment orders were sent to various bank where Mack may have funds.
The other judgements go back as far as 1999. All together, the judgments add up to $22,300 owed to the Department of Taxation. All of these judgment entries are listed as “open”. I am not a legal expert, but I believe that to mean that the cases are not closed, meaning that the judgments have never been paid.
In addition, in 2000, there is a judgment against Mack for $1695 owed to the Bureau of Worker’s Compensation.
The legal troubles don’t end with back taxes and BWC payments, however.
In 2002, Ms. Mack was found guilty of passing bad checks. She received a sentence of 180 days in jail, which was suspended, and 1 year of probation. She was also ordered to pay restitution to Sam’s Club.
Court records also indicate that Ms. Mack was arrested three different times for driving under suspension in 2004, 2008 and 2011.
The bad news still doesn’t end there. A search in the Youngstown Municipal Court system shows several civil lawsuits against Mack.
There are two small claims suits filed against her by a Josephine Hulett in 2001. Mack settled one case for $2190. In the other, the court ruled for the plaintiff and ordered Mack to pay Hulett $250 plus return a computer.
Also in 2001, Mack was sued by the city of Youngstown. The court ruled in favor of the city and Mack was ordered to pay $4932 plus interest. The court docket shows that this was paid as of September, 2004.
Finally, in 2006, Mack was sued by a Thomas Fulton. Mack never appeared and the court found for Fulton in the amount of $664.
This is starting to look like deja vu all over again. You would think that if the tea party was going to take on the challenge of primarying a sitting governor, they would choose the best candidates that exemplify the ultimate in personal responsibility. Running a candidate with so many legal and tax issues doesn’t seem like a smart move to me.
