AUDITOR LOPEZ EMPLOYS A CONVICTED CRIMINAL AND A DISHONEST, UNETHICAL APPRAISER TO HEAD HER REAL ESTATE AND PROPERTY APPRAISAL DEPARTMENTS

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Ms. Lopez has publicly stated she does not employ criminals; however, court and state records prove this to be FALSE. With taxpayers' money, Ms. Lopez pays convicted criminal Cynthia Arredondo Geronimo $86,000 a year as her Director of Real Estate and pays her lead property appraiser Emmanuel Yakumithis $76,000 a year - even though the State of Ohio investigated him for criminal-like behavior and refuses to grant him an appraiser's license. Ms. Lopez continues to employ him despite the fact that the Ohio Department of Commerce refuses to reinstate his license stating he is not "honest, truthful, and of good reputation."

Ms. Lopez hired Mr. Yakumithis and Ms. Geronimo to run two major departments at the Auditor's office and entrusted them with her duty to appraise property values of over 130,000 homeowners. Ms. Lopez has violated public trust by hiring people who are untrustworthy to hold key positions of trust and integrity at her office.

Ms. Lopez has stated numerous times that she stands behind the qualifications of her staff and that she does not hire criminals with taxpayer money. Most recently, at the League of Women Voter's Candidate Forum, Ms. Lopez said she did not employ anyone with a criminal background. As shown by court records, Ms. Lopez's Director of Real Estate, Cynthia Arredondo Geronimo, was charged with theft, and later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. Ms. Lopez is well aware of her close and longtime friend Ms. Geronimo's criminal record. Ms. Lopez's former husband was even Ms. Geronimo's criminal defense attorney. Ms. Lopez even allowed Ms. Geronimo to use professional credentials she did not earn but took from a former employee of the Kaczala administration.

When asked about Mr. Yakumithis' lack of license due to the State's appraisal fraud investigation, Ms. Lopez was not truthful to the public when she defended Mr. Yakumithis stating "...he could not renew his license because of new state requirements that candidates hold a bachelor's degree. She said Mr. Yakumithis is now enrolled in the University of Toledo and plans to complete this requirement." - The Blade, Oct.14, 2010.

As records obtained from the State of Ohio, Ms. Lopez's lead property appraiser - Mr. Yakumithis- let his license lapse in 2005 when he was being investigated by the State of Ohio for falsifying property appraisals.[1] When Mr. Yakumithis tried to regain his license to work for Ms. Lopez in 2007, the Ohio Department of Commerce refused to reinstate his appraiser's license stating that he isnot "honest, truthful, and of good reputation." Ms. Lopez has not been honest and truthful as she has repeatedly lied to the public about Mr. Yakumithis' and Ms. Geronimo's records.

According to a September 2010 Report issued by the State of Ohio Department of Taxation[2], Ms. Lopez has overvalued the property values in Lucas County. Because Ms. Lopez and her hires lack the qualifications needed to appraise properties correctly, Ms. Lopez has appraised property values above the market value causing property owners to pay more taxes than they should be. Note that the Report (Appendix C, page 14) shows that Ms. Lopez's values have been higher than sales prices and still are to this day. As this report proves, property values were not over-valued under the Kaczala administration.

Yesterday, one last attempt to retrieve public records from Ms. Lopez's office, but she refuses to provide them in direct violation of Ohio Law. Although these public records have been requested since September 13^th, Ms. Lopez's office refused to provide them again. Ms. Lope was nowhere to be found, and her Human Resources Executive Director stated that all employees who could provide the public access to records at the office are out sick for the week and to come back next week (after the election). Specifically, a request was made to speak to Ms. Lopez's employees Cynthia Savage, Emmanuel Yakumithis, Lori Lamb, and Angela Carlozzi. Later that same afternoon, at 2:00 p.m., Mr. Yakumithis and another person were then seen campaigning for Ms. Lopez at Democratic headquarters and did not appear to be "sick."

Although Ms. Lopez campaigns on fair and transparent government and claims to have cut jobs in her office, this couldn't be further from the truth. Documentation shows that Ms. Lopez hired at least 30 people to complete the countywide property valuation, as early as August of this year, paying them $7.50 per parcel to snap a picture and record a few notes. How did these new hires find out about employment opportunities at the Auditor's office when it was not advertised to the public? These job opportunities should have been made public, instead of hidden from the public.

"As County Auditor, I will bring to the office a staff that is experienced and qualified, both professionally and ethically," says Mrs. Kaczala. "There are over 100,000 homeowners that are paying higher property taxes due to Ms. Lopez's inaccurate appraisals, and I will correct Ms. Lopez's errors."

"Ms. Lopez has wrongly denied seniors their 2-1/2% property tax reduction and I will correct Ms. Lopez's tragic mistake," says Mrs. Kaczala. "There are hundreds of thousands of dollars being outsourced outside of Lucas County. Mrs. Kaczala will stop Ms. Lopez's outsourcing practices. I will be the financial watchdog for the citizens of Lucas County."