Roberts, Schrimpf are outta here

Three weeks before David Pepper becomes Hamilton County’s newest commissioner, two county employees closely affiliated with Pepper’s vanquished opponent are leaving.

Deputy county administrator Ron Roberts (pictured) and county policy analyst Michael Schrimpf – both of whom aligned themselves with Republican incumbent Phil Heimlich and criticized Pepper – are quitting before Pepper takes office Jan. 2.

“They have both notified me of their intent to resign at the end of the year,” County Administrator Patrick Thompson said Thursday.

Those changes come as the makeup of the three-member board of commission changes.

When Pepper, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Heimlich, it created a Democratic majority on the Hamilton County for the first time since 1962.

Roberts, who hung up when called Thursday, is a long-time player in the Cincinnati political scene, having served as chief of staff and campaign manager for former Republican Rep, Bill Gradison and later serving as director of the Cincinnati Business Committee consisting of the area’s leading business leaders.

Roberts was hired as a consultant by commissioners more than 18 months ago. In that capacity, he was credited with behind-the-scenes work on several issues. Most prominently was Hamilton County announcing what later proved to be a failed attempt to hire a company to develop The Banks, a proposed $600 million commercial, retail and residential neighborhood.

When Thompson was hired last year, Roberts also was hired as a full-time employee, making an annual salary of $162,500.

Heimlich, who said Roberts played no role in his campaign, knew nothing about the resignations.
“Ron’s given a lot of advice over the years on a lot of things,” Heimlich said.

Roberts and Schrimpf were specifically named by Pepper during the campaign as examples of Heimlich hiring his friends and confidants instead of having a transparent government.

Schrimpf was a $36,000-per-year policy analyst for Hamilton County.

But after Roberts took him under his wing, Schrimpf became, during much of the election, Heimlich’s administrative aide.

After Pepper criticized Schrimpf in the election, Schrimpf responded, "Unlike David, I haven’t taken a check from my parents in a long time."

Schrimpf didn’t return calls.