Shoddy record keeping at the two city-owned golf courses has prompted a joint investigation by the Summit County sheriff and prosecutor.
The investigation was initiated last week after questions raised by political foes about the expenses for his annual golf outings, always held at the city courses, Good Park and Mud Run, turned up the fact that the courses kept no records for such events.
The problem, the mayor said, is that veteran golf course manager Larry Zimmerman didn't keep written records.
''We made an attempt to put the pieces together based on the information we had from the golf course manager's memory,'' the mayor said Wednesday. But when no records could be located to back up the manager's memory, Plusquellic asked the sheriff and prosecutor to investigate further.
Investigators from the sheriff's office already have gotten started -- pulling campaign finance documents from the Summit County Board of Elections.
A spokeswoman for Sheriff Drew Alexander referred a call about the investigation to the Akron Law Department. Chief Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Mary Ann Kovach said Thursday that her office most likely wouldn't get involved until the Sheriff's Department completes its work.
''They will let us know what they find,'' Kovach said.
Plusquellic said he sought the county agencies' help -- rather than using investigators from the Akron Police Department -- to avoid any appearance of conflict that might stem from city employees investigating the actions of other city employees.
In a Thursday release announcing the investigation, Plusquellic said he told his staff members to turn over all the records they compiled while trying to piece together the financial information from his annual golf outing fund-raiser.
''Among the documents that are being provided to the sheriff are copies of all checks made payable to Good Park and Mud Run golf courses by individuals who participated in the golf outing conducted by my campaign committee in June 2003,'' Plusquellic said in the statement. ''As I have stated previously, I have never asked for nor have I received any special considerations in the use of the city's golf courses; nor to my knowledge, has my committee.
''In fact, in its 2003 campaign filings with the Board of Elections, the Don Plusquellic Committee listed every such payment made for golf at Good Park and Mud Run... ''
The problem came to light in May when the mayor's political enemies alleged that the mayor had paid little or nothing for the outings, which he has held since 1987.
That set Plusquellic's staff in motion -- they hurried to gather records to prove his detractors wrong.
But in doing so, what they found was that longtime golf course manager Zimmerman, a civil servant who has worked at Good Park Golf Course for 29 years and managed it for 15, required no contracts for outings and kept no records about them.
Zimmerman said he kept track of all the bills on a legal tablet and threw away the pages when he determined that everything was paid.
City officials were able to piece together enough documents to account for a large part of the money involved in Plusquellic's 2003 outing, which was split between the Good Park and Mud Run golf courses.
But there are no records showing the payment or the costs of the mayor's outing in 2002. And for 2001, the city has only a spreadsheet list with the golfer's name, the amount paid to Good Park and the amount donated to the campaign. Again, there are no records at the golf course showing that the outing's expenses were paid.
Part of the problems stems from the mayor's method of paying for the event.
Beginning in 2001, in an attempt to provide a clearer picture of the amount of money he raised, Plusquellic required golfers to write two checks -- one to his campaign as a contribution and a second one made out to the golf course to pay for their green fees and food.
But that method resulted in his campaign staff delivering bundles of $100 checks to Zimmerman -- checks that Zimmerman said he deposited into the city account after handing enough over to Crocker's at Good Park to pay for the food that was served.
Plusquellic said his staff has been unable to track those deposits to confirm the money made it into the city account.
''To date, the city has been unable to locate these documents,'' he said.
City officials said Zimmerman violated a city policy by giving the checks to Crocker's rather than depositing them and then writing a separate check to Crocker for the food. He was not disciplined but still could be if the sheriff's department finds any wrongdoing.
''In the event that the sheriff and prosecutor discover in their review that there are grounds for such procedures, appropriate discipline will be taken,'' Plusquellic said.
Source: Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio)