Ohio EPA mum on anti-Semitism

The Ohio EPA isn't releasing records it has related to the safety and security of its employees and the public after concerns were raised about racism and anti-Semitic behavior at public meetings hosted by the agency. The concerns coincided with the unrelenting verbal attacks on Ohio's public health director, Dr. Amy Acton, a Jewish woman. In 2020, some targeted her with anti-Semitic rhetoric and protestors gathered outside her home. Protesters raged over "freedoms" they claimed were stolen from them by Acton, at the start of the pandemic, when the state health department issued orders limiting crowd sizes, mandating masks and other safety precautions meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. For Kristopher Weiss, a 20-year state employee who worked as a reporter at the Sandusky Register in the mid-1990s, it all became too much. It wasn't always that way for Weiss, but ratcheted up to a new level around 2016, around the time of former president Donald Trump's rise to power, when openly racist behavior appeared to become more commonplace. The racism, the anti-Semitism and the agency's refusal to address the concerns led him to fear his own safety while on the job. That was enough to make him consider quitting his job, much sooner than he ever planned. In October 2021, Weiss resigned. He thought it best to leave on his own terms. "I decided to just retire early so I didn't get killed at a public meeting," Weiss told the Register. EPA stays stone silent Earlier this year, the Register sent a records request to Ohio EPA for email exchanges in reference to concerns raised over employee safety and anti-Semitism. But almost four months later, no records have been provided. The request asked for email exchanges between Weiss and 21 other employees between June 1, 2021, and March 28, 2022. "We are requesting emails relating to the Ohio EPA Public Involvement team raising concerns about safety issues at public meetings," the request said. "We also request all emails pertaining to concerns about internal and external anti-Semitism addressed in email exchanges." In April, Ohio EPA public records manager Richard Bouder said the agency was working on the request. The Register sent Ohio EPA the same request again in June 2022 after receiving no records or correspondence from the office for about three months. On June 28, Bouder replied by email to the request. "Thanks for the email. We are continuing to process your records request and anticipate getting back to you this next week," he said. As of today, the agency still hasn't provided the requested records. The Register last heard from Bouder on Monday, July 11. "Our apologies for the delay in processing your request. The records responsive to your request have been gathered and are in the final stages of review prior to release," Bouder wrote. "Thank you again for your patience and understanding." Concerns and threats Weiss said since starting to work for the Ohio EPA, he's received anti-Semitic comments from the public or during public meetings. Those meetings, in which Weiss was often asked to handle large crowds alone in unfamiliar venues, were often contentious like issuing permits to regulate industries that pollute, like wastewater discharge or air emissions. Permits include requirements for operating, monitoring and reporting compliance. "Under the best of circumstances, you're there by yourself with 400 angry people angry at the situation," Weiss said. "Starting in about 2016, I would have people tell me things like 'We don't want a Jew in our community running these meetings' (and) 'Hitler used fluoride to get the Jews to march into the ovens.'" While it's been a concern of his in the past, these fears were heightened after Dr. Amy Acton, Ohio's previous director of health faced armed protesters, and anti-Jewish slurs after supporting stay-at-home orders. His fears felt solidified again after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol building in Washington D.C., and mass shootings in public places increased. Weiss said the Ohio EPA had refused to provide security at public hearings, despite multiple requests for police protection. Requests to move meetings from remote locations across the state — often lacking security measures like metal detectors or reliable cell service, Weiss said — to the more secure Ohio EPA central office in Columbus were also declined. Ohio EPA structure Ohio's EPA has five district offices managing programs. The agency also investigates citizen complaints, provides assistance to help regulated facilities, takes action against facilities violating laws or permits, and provides clean-up assistance, pollution prevention and environmental education. The agency also hosts public information sessions and public hearings in various communities around Ohio for upcoming projects. These public hearings were a major concern for Weiss. While still working for Ohio EPA, Weiss expressed concerns to his superiors, from the hateful comments made to him to the possibility of a shooting. "Even a citizen with whom I'd dealt for a decade … who called on Holocaust Remembrance Day 2020 specifically to ask if I was aware if Josef Mengele experimented on any of my relatives," Weiss said. Mengele was a Nazi physician known as the "Angel of Death" for conducting human experimentation on concentration camp prisoners. He said he also had experienced inappropriate or anti-Semitic comments from staff and co-workers, who he had to continue being around afterward. Weiss told deputy director of communication Heidi Griesmer in an email from June 2021, "There is nowhere to run or hide at such functions and fighting is impossible as we don't have access to any of the tools, such as a fire extinguisher, for use against an attacker inside a random, unfamiliar, building." Weiss said buildings used for public meetings are usually unfamiliar to Ohio EPA employees and EPA staff usually sets up forum venues that leave them a far distance from exits or an escape route. "We don't have this luxury in an unfamiliar building into which we are inviting strangers to attend an Ohio EPA meeting hosted, in my case, by someone with an obviously Jewish name that will be included in the meeting announcement," Weiss said in the email. "Ohio EPA is clearly aware of the danger in the office, hence the training, and I would submit the danger is more acute in an off-site meeting environment where emotions are running high and only a few agency employees are facing an audience that can range from the dozens to the hundreds." A public information officer with Ohio EPA sent an email to Ohio EPA leadership in support of Weiss' claims. "Concerns were renewed when we saw what Dr. Amy Acton endured, specific instances of anti-Semitism — inside and outside Ohio EPA — directed at Kristopher Weiss. Additional concerns were raised after (the) January 6 (insurrection)," the public information officer said in the email. The public information officer continued: "I am begging you to stop looking at this like a fight with staff and consider the real possibility that the State of Ohio cannot reasonably assure the health and safety of the public, its contractors, or staff at these meetings as long as they are conducted as the agency has directed." Seeking more help After Weiss resigned from the Ohio EPA, he contacted Rep. Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, with his concerns. Russo's staff told Weiss they would attempt to meet with the agency about his efforts for security at public meetings. Earlier this year, Russo's legislative aide received the Ohio EPA's security protocol for public meetings, dated effective Sept. 3, 2021. Strangely, when Weiss received the same document after his departure from the agency, the effective date was Sept. 17, 2021. Weiss provided both documents to the Register. They do not appear to have any major differences in content, but it's not clear why the same document bore different effective dates. The protocol asserts that contentious public meetings are rare, but states that EPA public outreach staff may request security ahead of time in writing. Management would then review the request and decide whether or not to grant it. The legislative aide was also told by the Ohio EPA they would not meet with the representative or discuss specific cases of concern. "I informed them that we are able to communicate constituent concerns regarding security at these meetings in general terms, rather than discussing a specific case," the aide said in an email from April 2022. "We've pushed again for a meeting and are waiting for a response." Russo had a phone conversation with the director of the Ohio EPA, Laurie A. Stevenson, in May 2022. "The call apparently did not go well. She said the director was very defensive during the conversation and it's clear there are issues. She also said that the department is at least on notice that the legislature is interested in this matter," the legislative aide wrote to Weiss. "They mentioned that there's ongoing litigation with this situation and were very reluctant to have this call to begin with." Weiss said he did not file suit against the EPA, and it's not clear what litigation the agency was referring to when speaking to the aide. A request for an interview Friday with Ohio EPA director Laurie Stevenson was denied, and the Register was instead directed to contact an agency spokesperson. Agency spokeswoman Heidi Griesmer said the agency would respond to questions next week.