The chief operations officer at the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority accepted a reprimand from the Ohio Ethics Commission in January 2018 for renting a home to a subordinate at the RTA.
According to the settlement agreement, James Napier in 2014 began renting out a home that he owns in Moraine to Barbara Brookshire, RTA’s transportation manager of revenue service operations. While Brookshire was Napier’s tenant, he approved her annual raise and restructured leadership roles at the agency to put her in her current position, according to the agreement. The position change didn’t come with a raise.
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The settlement agreement says RTA CEO Mark Donaghy knew about the rental relationship. He declined to answer any questions about the ethics case submitted from the Dayton Daily News.
Donaghy told the ethics commission “that Brookshire was an excellent employee and there is no evidence that Napier gave her preferential treatment,” according to the settlement agreement.
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Napier also didn’t list the rental relationship on conflict of interest forms he had to fill out annually since 2013, which required him to disclose his business interests, according to copies of those forms obtained by the Dayton Daily News. Donaghy wouldn’t say why he didn’t require the rental agreement to be disclosed.
Napier retired in 2017, and was paid $117,744 that year, according to the Dayton Daily News' searchable database of public employee pay. He couldn't be reached for comment.
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