The Delaware County commissioners and county auditor George Kaitsa are being sued for more than $150,000 by a former landlord over a broken lease in the Northpointe Plaza Shopping Center in Lewis Center.

The lawsuit was filed by Tuller Square Northpointe LLC in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, seeking rent through Aug. 31, 2012, the expiration date of the seven-year lease, as well as interest on the delinquent amount.

Former county auditor Todd Hanks signed the lease for the roughly 2,000-square-foot storefront on April 28, 2005 for use as a Bureau of Motor Vehicles office he was opening. Former county commissioners Jim Ward, Glenn Evans and Kris Jordan approved that action but did not sign the lease.

Last spring, Kaitsa announced he was closing the BMV office on June 27 after learning the Ohio Department of Public Safety declined to renew its contract for that location.

The county continued to occupy the space until Aug. 14, Kaitsa said, until the telecommunications equipment that supported both the BMV office and the clerk of court's title office next door could be moved.

At that time, Kaitsa and county prosecutor Dave Yost said they were trying to negotiate a settlement with the landlord.

The lease became a political issue during the summer when Yost said his office did not review the lease and Hanks did not have the authority under Ohio law to enter into the lease.

Hanks, who now is a county commissioner, said he remembers asking the prosecutor's office to review the lease prior to his signing it but has nothing in writing to back up his contention

Yost said he had a copy of the lease, but didn't look at it. He sent a copy in 2006 to county resident Phil Kabealo, who had filed a public records request.

When asked by ThisWeek in August if he reviewed the lease prior to sending it to Kabealo, Yost said, "No. We typically provide documents that are under public records requests that are not privileged. There is no real reason to review them."

Neither Kaitsa nor the current county commissioners would comment on the lawsuit on advice from counsel.

At the Nov. 16 commission meeting, commission vice president Ken O'Brien asked Hanks if was going to recluse himself from any executive session discussions concerning the lawsuit.

"That is to be decided," Hanks said, as he acknowledged that he had already spoken with assistant prosecutor Kyle Rohrer, the board's liaison with the prosecutor's office.

"He (Hanks) is not free to comment on the advice I gave him," Rohrer told O'Brien. He also cautioned O'Brien and the rest of the commissioners about discussing pending litigation in open session.

Under the terms of the seven-year lease, the county paid $4,091 a month for rent, common area maintenance, insurance and trash collection.

They also agreed to pay utilities for the storefront. The lease required the county to pay a 10-percent overhead charge on any delinquent amount owed and interest on the delinquency at a rate of 20 percent a year.