Cuyahoga County opens its new Administrative Headquarters

Andrea Nelson Moore, the deputy inspector general for Cuyahoga County who is running for judge, was placed on unpaid leave Friday, following an investigation into complaints that she campaigned for county judge while on county time. (Thomas Ondrey/The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Andrea Nelson Moore, the deputy inspector general for Cuyahoga County, was placed on unpaid leave Friday, following an investigation into complaints made in June and July that she campaigned for county judge while on county time.

The move, ordered by county Inspector General Mark Griffin, came two days after cleveland.com learned about the investigation into Moore's activities and asked the county for a status report. The county released the investigators' findings late Friday afternoon.

"The fact that she serves Cuyahoga County as a Deputy Inspector General required her to adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct, integrity and transparency," the investigative report states. "Ms. Moore failed in this regard by utilizing county property and equipment when distributing her fundraising flyer on Feb. 12, 2016, at the Justice Center and by utilizing endorsements in her campaign literature from County Council persons."

Griffin explained his decision to place his deputy on leave as a consequence of her actions.

"It is critically important that my office be separate from partisan politics," he said in an interview.

Moore, who makes $83,000 a year, described the issue as minor compared to her record.

"For fourteen years now, I have dutifully served this county without so much of a written reprimand or my character questioned until I ran for this seat ," she said in an email response after the story was published online. " I will acknowledge in regards to the flyer, I made an error and stepped outside of the boundaries but the social norms regarding flyers placed in judge's mailboxes were consistent with what I did. In the grand scheme of things, though, this is a small infraction. That said, it is apparent the political machine is at work here. This is why I must continue running in the fall."

Who blew the whistle?

The investigation was triggered by written complaints sent to County Executive Armond Budish's office in June and July by a private investigator. The investigator charged that Moore violated restrictions Griffin put on Moore after she sought an opinion on whether she could run for office while working in the inspector general's office.

Weeks later, the county hired the law firm Giffen & Kaminski to investigate the claims. The law firm's report was completed Monday. It did not substantiate several of the private investigator's claims but did find Moore violated ethics rules in two cases.

What did county investigators find?

On Feb. 12, 2016, Moore used her county-issued identification card to enter the Justice Center and placed campaign flyers advertising a fundraiser in the mailboxes on the 11th floor of the Common Pleas Court's offices. Moore ignored signs on the mailboxes that read, "If you are not a court employee, please see Kathleen or Kelly to deliver mail to these boxes."

Moore's time sheet for that day indicates she was not off the clock when she distributed her campaign literature

"Ms. Moore's election-related activity of placing her fundraising flyer into the county mailboxes ... is a violation of [Griffin's] Ethics Opinion issued on 12/11/15," the investigative report states.

Now you see endorsements, now you don't

The county investigation also concluded that Moore violated her boss' ethics opinion by accepting and promoting the endorsement of four County Council members: Pernel Jones Jr., Yvonne Conwell, Shontel Brown and Sunny Simon.

The office of Inspector General is charged with overseeing and investigating complaints about possible criminal and ethical violation of county employees, including members of the County Council.

Moore initially promoted the endorsement on her campaign's website, but the endorsements were removed this week.

"The appearance of impropriety and conflict of interest is apparent by listing County Council persons as individuals from whom she has received endorsements for her campaign for judge," the investigative report states.

Corruption legacy key to creating Inspector General's office

In 2010, voters backed an initiative to blow up a county government structure dating back 200 years and replace it with one they believed would be more efficient, accountable and transparent.

Outrage over public corruption largely drove the change, which resulted in the creation of a charter government, one led by an elected executive checked by an elected 11-member council. Together, they created the Inspector General's office, the first one at a local level anywhere in the state of Ohio in part to safeguard against future corruption.

When did Moore arrive?

Moore was hired in 2013 as an assistant inspector general and promoted in April 2014 to deputy. Last November, she asked her boss for an opinion on whether she would be prohibited from running for judge. Moore, a Democrat, is seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Common Pleas Court Judge Joan Synenberg.

Griffin wrote in memorandum that Moore could run so long as she obeyed the obvious laws prohibiting county employees from campaigning on taxpayers' time or using county resources for any political purpose. But Griffin also said that Moore needed to follow other guidelines to "protect the efficiency and integrity of the agency." Among the limitations was the directive to specifically document the time she takes off for campaign-related business.

"Accurately and carefully document the use of the lunch hour, personal leave, compensatory time, or vacation leave when used for any permissible election-related activities," Griffin wrote.

Private investigator's take

The private investigator, Tom Pavlish, examined Moore's time sheets and identification card information -- obtained through public records requests -- and reviewed Moore's Facebook posts and campaign website. He argued that Moore was not following the law or Griffin's directives.

Pavlish -- who has worked with many Cleveland defense attorneys, including Roger Synenberg, Judge Joan Synenberg's husband -- said in an interview Friday that he was alerted to Moore's activities by a "source."

The law firmed hired by the county to investigate Pavlish's complaints, interviewed Pavlish and Roger Synenberg along with a half dozen other people.

"I was astonished to learn that the person responsible for ethics in the county was working for her campaign while she was on clock and misrepresented her time on time sheets," said Pavlish, who frequently requests documents from the county administration for a variety of clients.

Here are a few examples cited in Pavlish's complaint, which included supporting materials.

"Twinning" with Danita Harris

On June 9, Moore attended the Women of Color Foundation's annual luncheon, which was scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 pm. Channel 5 news anchor Danita Harris hosted the event. The day after the event, Moore posted on her campaign's Facebook page a photo of herself with Harris with the headline, "Danita Harris and I twinning at the Women of Color Speakers Dialogue Event featuring 8th District Court of Appeals Judge Melody Stewart." In the photo, Moore is wearing a large badge promoting her candidacy. Her time sheet for the day does not indicate that she attended the event.

Campaigning with Cory Booker

On June 17, Moore attended a luncheon in Cleveland sponsored by the Ohio Democratic Party featuring U.S. Senator Cory Booker. Moore again posted several pictures of the event on her campaign's Facebook page, including one of herself again wearing a badge promoting her candidacy.

Moore, took three hours of vacation time for "personal" reasons to attend the event, according to her time sheet. Griffin had asked her to specifically note when she was using entitled time off to attend political events.

The law firm's investigation concluded that neither incident constituted a violation since she was on personal time.

But the law firm's report recommended that the county review whether Moore worked the required number of hours at her job since she began her campaign in November 2015.

And, in a letter written today to Moore, Griffin said "there is an ongoing disciplinary process underway that will have to be resolved prior to any return to work."

This story was updated on Aug. 27, 2016, to include a response from Moore.