Faire Magazine - THE BLOG!

THIS WAS SENT TO THE PUBLISHER OF FAIRE MAGAZINE TODAY:

The following was taken from the owners words and summerized. It has been edited and checked by Larry. This is his story.

Fun Facts about the Legal Issues of
The Trustees of Trumbull Township vs. Lawrence Rickard

Sixteen years ago, Larry Rickard brought the Great Lakes Medieval Faire to its new home in Trumbull Township. The property he began to build on was originally donated to the Girl Scouts, by private citizens who cared about their cause. Some members of the Township were upset when this donated land was sold, as they felt it should belong to the community. In an effort to give something back to the community, Larry offered to aid the Trumbull Township Fire and Ambulance Department. Larry had lived through a traumatic disaster that was much like Hurricane Katrina. The Fire Departments and the Red Cross were the primary organizations that helped him through his grief, and so he cared very much about their cause. Larry offered the Trumbull Township Fire and Ambulance Department the rights to the beer program at the Great Lakes Medieval Faire. The partnership between the Faire and the Fire Department helped supply the Township with an exemplary Fire and Ambulance Department.
However, certain people saw this partnership not as a way of giving back to the community, but as a source of “money”coming in and decided that they wanted a share. Larry graciously offered them options to come work with the Faire. Tambarino turned him down and, instead, expected the Faire to just give him the money with nothing in return for the community or the Faire. This is extortion. When The Faire refused to be apart of this corruption several frivolous lawsuits were brought against the Faire.

The first round of lawsuits were concerned with zoning. The lawsuits questioned whether or not the Faire was allowed to operate on its own property. The property on which the Great Lakes Medieval Faire lies, was originally zoned as a “park”. The Township, not understanding how to define a park, re-zoned the property as a “single-family residence.” This was all done behind closed doors. The Trustees broke the Sunshine laws which state that all regulatory authorities' meetings, decisions and records are to be made available to the public. GLMF was up and running for five years, before the Trustees decided to demand a zoning permit for operation. A permit was promptly filed.
Now zoned as a “single-family residence” the operating procedures of the Faire were put into question. Some of the ridiculous suits put up against the Faire are as follows:
The Jousting Horses vibrate the ground so much that they cause windows to break miles away.
The Tilt-a-Whirl lights shine in peoples windows. (The Faire does not have a Tilt-a-Whirl or any other electronic rides, and closes before dark)
The sound systems are a noise violation.
Dust from the Faire's road gets cars dirty
An archery arrow attempted to kill a neighbors horse
Traffic issues, such as too many fumes

The Township went so far as to force the Faire to remove safety features (i.e. street lamps and traffic control signage) which the Faire put in place to regulate the flow of traffic, and to protect individuals traveling on State Route 534, both those coming to the Faire, and those just passing by. A result of this removal has made the Township liable for accidents.

All of these suits went to court, and, in the end, a 100% victory on all accounts was in favor of the Faire. After our Trial Court victories, and with several trips to Appeals Court, they again ruled in favor of the Faire. Theses cases were then sent to the Supreme Court, but were turned down. These suits sat in Trial Court for over ten years. The Faire had to spend ten years waiting on a ruling, and lost out on over ten years of income and convenience. The Faire was forced to not hold the annual Halloween show, they were not permitted to allow on-site camping, and not permitted to house their own employees, many of who travel some distance.
Twenty-one days after winning the rights to resume Halloween Knights,and to gain back many other rights that were suspended by this long going battle, the Faire was back in court, and again, won in appeals. The Trustees took their case to the Supreme Court, and a ruling is still forthcoming.
Tamborino then turned his attention on destroying the Fire Department that the Faire helped to build. It has been made abundantly clear that certain members of the Township are against the Faire. Despite this aggression, the Faire continued to supplement the Township with the best Fire and Ambulance Department in Ashtabula County with no tax increase. It was the enormous egos, built up by Ron Tamborino's personal vendetta, that caused the Fire Department to go bankrupt. Now, Trumbull Township has a significantly smaller Fire Department and no Ambulance service. People in this Township have died as a result.
When Tamborino forced the Fire and Ambulance Department to go bankrupt as a result of frivolous lawsuits, the Township agreed to absorb all of their assets, and all of their debts. The debts are still outstanding. The Trustees feel that because the Faire allowed the Fire Department to operate out of their pubs, that these pubs belong to the township. Ron Tamborino wants the rights to the beer money, the Pub buildings, and everything else involved with beer at GLMF. Instead of asking the Faire to help rebuild the Fire Department, Ron Tamborino and the Trustees sued the Faire for the right to operate the beer program at an establishment they think should not exist.
The Trustees have spent a full year learning if they even have a case. The Trustees have spent over a $100, 000 to interrogate innocent people in order to gather information on a case they don't even have yet. They are using deposition as a tool to attempt to bankrupt the Faire. The Trustees have spent over a $100,000 in Township funds to obtain beer privileges that they never even asked for, at a Faire that they feel should be shut down. Furthermore, township accounting is public record. By law, Township accounting records must be released to whomever asks for them. Kris and Russ as well as others have requested to see this accounting information and have yet to receive said information.
Ron Tamborino publicly swears to shut down the Faire at all costs. He even went so far as to contact the State of Ohio, and through pulling strings convinced the State to investigate the Faire's charitable contributions. An effort is being made to turn the Faire's charities against it. It is not working.

Below is a list of just a few of the Charities that GLMF supports:
APL
Camp Cammo
Conneut Fish and Game
Lewie and Alissa Wortman - Junior Drag Races
Peaceful Pastures
The Human Society
Red Cross
Joe Kaluza Motorcycle Run - Sponsored with KFC
Rainbow Babies and Children Hospital
RESCU
Food Pantries

Tamborino's current tactic is to harass all of the vendors who make a living selling their wares at the Faire. Over 50 vendors were cited this past weekend for not obtaining a transient vendor license. Such a license clearly is not required by The Ohio Revised Code, which states:

505.94 Registration and regulation of transient vendors.

(A) A board of township trustees may, by resolution, require the registration of all transient vendors within the unincorporated territory of the township and may regulate the time, place, and manner in which these vendors may sell, offer for sale, or solicit orders for future delivery of goods, or the board may, by resolution, prohibit these activities within that territory. If the board requires the registration of all transient vendors, it may establish a reasonable registration fee, not to exceed one hundred fifty dollars for a registration period, and this registration shall be valid for a period of at least ninety days after the date of registration. Any board of township trustees that provides for the registration and regulation, or prohibition, of transient vendors under this section shall notify the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the township is located of its registration and regulatory requirements or prohibition. No transient vendor shall fail to register or to comply with regulations or prohibitions established by a board of township trustees under this division.

This division does not authorize a board of township trustees to apply a resolution it adopts under this division to any person invited by an owner or tenant to visit the owner’s or tenant’s premises to sell, offer for sale, or solicit orders for future delivery of goods

Ron Tamborino has had a personal vendetta to close down the Faire, and anything else the Faire does to create income. Thirteen years later he is still failing. Now, he is trying to infiltrate the Faire take their livelihood, and the livelihood of its employees in other ways: frivolous lawsuits, demanding beer sales, harassing vendors and charities. What will Ron Tamborino and the Trumbull Township Trustees do next? They have already destroyed our Fire Department and Ambulance service, neglected our roads, run local businesses out of town, and spent our Township's funds foolishly to fight Ron Tamborino's personal war. Can we really trust them? Let's remove Ron Tamborino, and restore our Township's safety, dignity, and trust in those elected to lead us! Just Ask him to leave our Township so we can again, live in Peace!