Citizens For A Better Norwood

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Former Norwood official Gary Hubbard fired for deceitful and dishonest conduct

Admits he fixed own parking tickets

Gary Hubbard, one of former Mayor Joe Hochbein’s top appointees and now an ex-employee of the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, may face felony charges for getting three of own parking tickets dismissed. According to what Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters told the Enquirer, tampering with government records is a felony, which Hubbard apparently did when he used fake names and fake excuses he knew would get his tickets dismissed. In a moment of honesty, Hubbard and co-scammer Connie Lintz admitted their deceit when confronted with proof from an internal audit.

Mr. Hubbard’s behavior during his tenure on Norwood’s payroll was at the center of a lawsuit filed by a former Norwood employee several years ago. The employee prevailed in the suit, and the City was forced to pay a hefty sum in damages.

4/25/07 UPDATE: Our thanks to the reader who just sent us this 4/18/00 Enquirer article and this one from 7/10/01 to jog our memories about Gary Hubbard’s checkered past as part of the Hochbein administration. Hubbard served as Norwood’s Service Director and was fired along with Safety Director Cliff Miller as part of a “cleaning house” effort by Hochbein in 2001. Former Law Director Bob Kelly provided a colorful quote at the time when he told the Enquirer, “the current Norwood administration is “a pile of manure and Joe (Hochbein) sits on top of it.” These two articles are must-reads for history buffs who’d like to take a stroll down Norwood's rich political memory lane.