When you start saying, "he stole my ideas, I said it first!" you are being childish. Should a child be a common pleas judge? Well, that is what someone who knows Bruce Wallace sent me in an email detailing several sordid things regarding Mr. Wallace and his work as part of the Mt. Orab Port Authority, and an insider's view of his work as a member of the Western Brown Board of Education. Let's look at the whining comments made against his opponent, Scott Gusweiler:
Republican Scott Gusweiler of Pleasant Township and Democrat Bruce Wallace of Scott Township are challenging each other in the race for Brown County Common Pleas Court judge to succeed Democrat Alan Corbin, who opted not to run for re-election.
Gusweiler told his forum listeners he is proud of his performance as an attorney and of the people he has been able to help.
He mentioned it is the Brown County Common Pleas Court judge's job to run the docket and something has to be done to get cases heard faster.
Gusweiler said some suspects in criminal cases have sat in jail for 16 months before going to trial. Using a rape suspect as an example, Gusweiler said that would be a long time for both an innocent accused suspect to be waiting for trial and also for an actual victim to wait to have her case go to court and be able to start putting that crime behind her.
He also asked his listeners if someone brought a civil case against Lake Waynoka if they would like to wait four to six years to have it heard.
"Basically I want to create a court that moves cases along," Gusweiler said.
Wallace mentioned how Gusweiler basically agrees with some of his own ideas, reporting how he spoke first and was followed by Gusweiler at a candidates' forum held Sept. 20 in Russellville.
He said he has practiced law for 25 years and has been with the Kelly and Wallace Law Firm in Mt. Orab since 1993. He also mentioned how he is finishing his 25th year as a member of the Western Brown Local School District Board of Education.
"I think my record as an attorney speaks for itself," he said. "I think my record of involvement in the community speaks for itself."
Mr. Wallace, I myself have talked to Scott Gusweiler about these subjects extensively, as my family has several cases that should have already been heard, but are dragging. These conversations took place over a year ago, so please don't engage in the childishness of saying, "wah, I said it first." However, the whining doesn't stop there.
Also, Mr. Wallace, if you are for quicker courts, why did you support former judge Alan Corbin, who held up much of the cases to take time off and do other things?
The Brown County Democrat party decided to whine about someone who doesn't care for Mr. Wallace to the Cincinnati news:
in Brown County the two men running for Common Pleas Judge, Bruce Wallace and Scott Gusweiler, want this to be an honorable campaign for an honorable position.
There is one person, however, not involved with the agreement.
His name is Michael P. Daly. He's a businessman who doesn't have a candidate in this race. And it appears he does not want Bruce Wallace to be elected to the bench, or any other office.
He started an outreach campaign to "Oppose Bruce Wallace For Any Public Office."
Now, let's look at some of Mr. Daly's complaints. Bruce Wallace thinks it is just about a baseball game, but it is more than that. It has to do with shady business deals and failure to follow through by Mr. Wallace. Here is what Mr. Daly has to say in his posts about Wallace:
I am invested in the success of Brown County. I am the owner/founder of Hawkline LLC and currently own the Brown County Industrial Park in Mt. Orab. Hawkline leased the former Trinity Plant in Mt. Orab from the Mt. Orab Port Authority in 2002. The Port Authority promised construction that was not delivered by the due date. They told us that if we would pay for the work, they would reimburse us by a certain date. It involved hundreds of thousands of dollars. The date for the reimbursement passed. Bruce Wallace was on the Port Authority as a director. Our agreement called for exhaustive efforts on their part to get the funds. It never happened. I then arranged for a friend, one of Cincinnati's most successful entrepeneurs, to loan the Port Authority the money to pay us ($359,000), and they were to pay him by a certain date. it never happened, either. Lawsuits were filed in teh Court of Common Pleas (case #s 20030817 and 20030816)--the court where Bruce now wants to sit as judge. During the entire process there was no sense of urgency or remorse from Bruce, no sense of urgency about repaying the money that was owed. We could hardly get a return phone call. The entrepeneur from Cincinnati no longe has a desire to invest in Mt. Orab, due mostly to Wallace. The mayor of Mt. Orab finally stepped in and negotiated a settlement.
OK, now what is this about some ball game? Daly goes on:
We used to sponsor Bruce Wallace's baseball team, and Wallace is the district 26 knothole supervisor. After the lawsuits, I saw an animosity toward me and some of the kids on other teams we sponsor. Here is what happened in 2006 where the arrogance and self centeredness of Wallace showed, and he scarred some kids who were wanting to play a game, and set a horrible example. Bruce's team was the Mt. Orab Mavericks,and my team was the Hmaersville Flash. Each of the two teams had defeated the other team in teh district tournament. The tiebreaker game was scheduled by the tournament director for Monday August 7 @ 6:30pm. On Saturday, 8/5 at ten pm, the Flash had just completed a doubleheader sweep from Blanchester and the Mavericks. The tournament director came over and said see you Monday at 6. Then, after conferring with Wallace, the coach of the Mavericks AND the District Supervisor, the tournament director said the game should be played the next day. This was highly desirable for Bruce and his team as 3 of the 4 Flash pitchers would be out due to the knothole rule on needing two nights rest. We offered to play on the spot rather than Sunday, or any other day between 8 am and midnight, but were not going to handicap ourselves with pitching. It wasn't fair to the kids.
Bruce ushered the tournament director away, and they came back and said that they were going to go ahead and play the game Sunday instead of the original scheduled time. The Monday schedule was done in part because we had already informed the powers that be that our annual Flash outing was going on Sunday, where we had a pool party/BBQ and go to a Reds game. We had been assured by the tournament director and the Mavericks that this was no problem. Once Bruce Wallace saw a chance to win without effort, he changed his tune. I asked my team what they wanted to do, and they voted to go ahead with our outing, since so many were looking forward to it. Bruce Wallace was so driven by his own arrogance and self importance that he would rather win on a technicality and scar some children rather than take a chance and play a fair game. Does this sound like a person with the temperment to be a judge?
Now, my emailer goes on to highlight some other items that appeared in this week's Brown County press. The emailer said,
"the two letters of support regarding Bruce Wallace by a Ms. Black and Jeff Herrmann were fluff pieces by associates and subordinates. Ms. Black hangs in the same social circle as Mr. Wallace and Herrmann benefitted from Wallace being on the school board with Mr. Herrmann's daddy. Jeff Herrmann was basically given a job because he was friends with Bruce, and Bruce was friends with Jim Herrmann, who was also on the school board at the time. Wallace and Herrmann rushed through the younger Herrmann's application, to where they approved the hire less than two weeks after the open position had been posted. Wallace has a history of currying favor with teachers and workers here by rushing through and hiring children and friends of teachers and staff at Western Brown. If you were to do a family tree here, it wouldn't have very many branches.
Bruce has also engaged in talk with some teachers referring to female students and their appearances that are not dignified for a 50 year old man. Bruce also makes political statements that are pro-democrat when he is supposed to present a non-partisan light, and he has encouraged Mr. Herrmann in his government classes to take the same tact.
Wallace has also worked to get rid of political enemies. He has seen to it that some teachers are not renewed or are encouraged to seek work elsewhere when they do not kowtow to him. He also has been known to try to blacklist people he disagreed with, making it hard for them to get jobs elsewhere.
These are startling charges, but my source has been with the district for at least two decades. My source tells me they have personally witnessed these things.
Whining about who has an idea, complaining because someone doesn't like you, engaging in nepotism and cronyism, and using positions in government to punish and profit....and being angry and bitter...is this the type of mind we want to make judgements based on evidence, as opposed to who your daddy is?
Even fellow members of the board I have talked to privately have expressed doubts about Mr. Wallace. Two members of the board I talked to on condition of annonymity both said Mr. Wallace was arrogant, condescending, ambitious to a fault, and self important. Both said that although they thought Mr. Gusweiler would be the better judge and was more suited for the job, they were going to vote for Wallace because they had served with him on the board. One member replied that he had friends who worked in the district, and if it got out that he voted against Bruce, those people would be made to suffer.
Engaging in intimidation because you played for another baseball team, or because you are from another town....Twisting rules and abusing power so you can win at a BASEBALL game, A KIDS BASEBALL GAME? Engaging in cronyism to enhance your own standing and get loyalty points....Do these sound like qualities of someone who can rationally sit on the bench and make decisions based on just evidence, as opposed to your personal pedigree?
