A woman identifying herself as Patty Lesch of Northport approached the board during public comment at its May 21 meeting to call for officials to conduct an “ethical violation investigation” into Joe DeFors, chair of the county’s Energy Futures Task Force, for allegedly “seeking personal gain in his position.”
Lesch was referencing an application for grant dollars to install solar arrays at the government center campus in Suttons Bay, which was prepared for the county by task force members. In the application’s budget narrative, DeFors and task force member Russ Packard are listed as sharing a $45 hourly salary for an estimated three hours of work per week as the project’s “leadership team.”
Citing the county’s conflict of interest policy, Lesch requested the board chairman open an investigation into DeFors. She also accused commissioners Kama Ross and Gwenne Allgaier of being “complicit with the ethical violation” and said they should recuse themselves from the investigation. Ross and Allgaier are members of the task force.
