The Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office will turn over to the Ohio Ethics Commission its findings regarding the employment of relatives of the mayors of Westlake and Rocky River at the Rocky River Wastewater Treatment Plant.

On Sunday, The Plain Dealer Sunday quoted Sheriff’s Inspector Rob Havranek saying the Sheriff’s office will recommend that a special prosecutor be assigned to review the case. However, Havranek told West Life this was incorrect.

“I was misquoted,” Havranek said Monday.

The Sheriff’s office has completed its investigation for all intents and purposes, Havranek said, and is in the process of finalizing its report. The results of the investigation will be forwarded to the Ohio Ethics Commission, which is scheduled to meet in February, he said.

The investigation grew out of an Oct. 13 Plain Dealer story which reported five relatives of Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough and two relatives Rocky River Mayor William Knoble were employed at the Rocky River Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Clough and Knoble serve on the plant’s management board. Employees of the plant are technically employees of the city of Rocky River.

At the time the article was published, Clough was in the middle of a heated campaign for re-election against Westlake school board member Joe O’Malley. The mayor was elected to a sixth consecutive term in the Nov. 8 election, defeating O’Malley 72 to 28 percent.

At the time, Clough told West Life he believed the article was politically motivated. He also said it was not inappropriate for him to be used as a reference for a relative.

After reviewing the Sheriff’s report, the state ethics panel will relay any findings back to the Sheriff, Havranek said. He added the Sheriff’s office still planned to present a report to the county prosecutor for review after the Ohio Ethics Commission has ruled.

A spokesperson for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason told West Life Monday that office has not received a formal recommendation from the Sheriff’s office.

Jamie Dalton, public information officer at the prosecutor’s office, said it was her understanding that the Sheriff’s investigation was still ongoing. The Sheriff’s office has been passing along information related to the case to the prosecutor, Dalton said.

According to an Ohio Ethics Commission publication, Ohio law prohibits officials from hiring family members; however, ethics laws do not prohibit family members from being employed by the same public agency as an official as long as the official has not secured or authorized the job for the relative.

A public official also is not generally prohibited from approving a union contract when a relative is a member of the union, according to the Ohio Ethics Commission.

Clough noted his family members grew up in Rocky River and have the same right to serve the citizens of that city as he does the citizens of Westlake.

“They all went through an interview process, and I didn’t do the hiring,” Clough said in October. “I wouldn’t recommend someone who couldn’t do a job.

“If people can do the job, they ought to have the same consideration and they shouldn’t be excluded.”

Clough did not return calls to West Life earlier this week concerning the Sheriff’s report being forwarded to the Ohio Ethics Commission.

When contacted by West Life Monday, Knoble said he could not comment because the investigation is ongoing. He also said his attorney, Michael Murman has advised him not to comment.

“Hopefully at some point I will be able to issue a statement,” Knoble said. “Obviously I continue to believe I’ve done nothing wrong.”