Knoble says what could be last goodbye to employees
By Jennifer Mitchell
Rocky River
Published May 10, 2006

Mayor William Knoble

An arraignment of Mayor William Knoble for two misdemeanor counts of alleged improper use of a public office is slated for tomorrow. Under an agreement with the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, Knoble will leave office. He took the opportunity Thursday, at the groundbreaking of an $8 million addition to city recreation facilities, to say goodbye and thank city staff and elected officials for all they have done.

“I do want to get just a little personal for a moment,” Knoble said. “As you know, I will be resigning.”

When that happens, president and at-large Councilwoman Pamela Bobst will serve as interim mayor, under the city charter, for up to 60 days. In that time, City Council may appoint her or another candidate to permanently fill the mayoral vacancy. Knoble’s two-year term began in January.

“I know as Pam comes in, she’s not going to miss a beat,” Knoble said.

He then reminded those who were gathered at the Don Umerley Civic Center that it was the residents and volunteers who made the city great and said he had no doubt that such service would continue in his absence.

   “Whatever success I have had as mayor has been because of you all,” Knoble said.

    Assistant County Prosecutor Paul Soucie said charges against the mayor were recommended by the Ohio Ethics Commission after a Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office investigation into Knoble and Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough. Both men serve on the management board of the Rocky River wastewater treatment plant and have relatives employed there.

Knoble, who is in charge of hiring, employed his son, Garrett, and brother, Kurt. Clough has five relatives at the plant, all of whom were hired after he became mayor in 1986. At least Knoble’s hires amount to state ethics law violations, according to the prosecutor’s office,

Concerning employment of his family, Knoble said both men are college graduates, both live in the community, and both have the skills necessary to do the jobs for which they were hired.

Though Knoble is charged with misdemeanor offenses, each a penalty of up to a $1,000 fine and/or six months in jail, he could have faced felony charges, Soucie said.

Besides resigning, Soucie said Knoble will use his efforts to remove both his son and his brother from the plant and to continue with the prosecutor’s office in an “ongoing investigation into Mayor Clough and to provide information and documents that he may have the ability to assist us with.”

A court date is expected to be set tomorrow. Knoble said at that future date he would enter a guilty plea. However, he said, he never meant to do anything wrong.

“I have consistently maintained that I have not knowingly violated any laws,” Knoble said.

But whether he knew what he was doing was illegal is irrelevant in the eyes of the court, he added.

“The laws are there — whether you knew about them or not is your problem,” Knoble said.

Knoble discussed the media’s coverage of the ethics investigation and lightened the mood with a joke.

Quoting a former president, he said, “In the immortal words of Richard Nixon, ‘I am not a crook.’”

He also referenced coverage of his upcoming departure, saying that the only time the media says something nice about politicians is if they die or retire.

“I am happy to take the lesser of two evils,” he said.

The hardest part about leaving office, Knoble said, will be maintaining the friendships he’s made.

“It’s been the people — the relationships that I’ve built up with the other council people, the administrations and the residents of the community over the years,” Knoble said. “There’s been some irritating situations, but you certainly forget about them.”

The longtime councilman was appointed by fellow council members as mayor when his predecessor, Don Umerley, died in 2001. Residents voted at the term’s expiration to put Knoble back into the city’s top seat.

“I have enjoyed my 30-odd years of service to the city,” Knoble said. “I am not going to stop just because I am no longer mayor.”

The 40-year Rotarian said he plans to become much more involved in projects through The Rotary Club of Lakewood/ Rocky River.

“I am going to be looking for other things, but it will be that type of community service situation,” he added.

No longer seeing people daily in his office means the mayor will have to work at maintaining friendships with residents and elected officials, and Knoble says he will.

The community has been incredibly supportive during what is a tumultuous time, Knoble said.

It’s been a difficult few years for the mayor, and he said he’s grateful to those who have helped him get through it. This latest obstacle he calls “just another bump in the road.”

In 2003, Knoble was diagnosed with skin cancer. His father died in August 2004 and his wife in December 2004.

  “I have gotten an awful lot of e-mail, calls and cards,” Knoble said of his recent ordeal. “It’s reminiscent to a certain extent to when my wife passed.”

When asked if he had any words for residents before he left office, Knoble said: “to thank you for the confidence you’ve placed in me. Being elected to 15 straight two-year terms was, I believe, unprecedented.”

Knoble said he would officially announce his retirement the day he gets the call to do so from his lawyer, Michael Murman. Until then, he added, it’s business as usual.