Fallout continued Friday from the Jefferson County Commissioners' Thursday decision to cut off funding for the Community Improvement Corporation and its development wing Progress Alliance.

In a statement read during Thursday's meeting, Commissioner Thomas Graham claimed "unethical decisions" prompted his decision to end the commission's $75,000 annual contribution to the CIC and instead channel $100,000 to the newly formedJefferson County Port Authority.

Graham cited recent tensions between the commissioners and some members of the CIC board because of decisions the commissioners didn't like, and the unwillingness of some board members to "give up turf."

Graham specifically called out CIC board member Jim Emmerling and Emmerling's advertising agency EM-Media.

Emmerling's agency produced the "Burb   of the Burgh" campaign that promoted Steubenville throughout the Pittsburgh area.

In his statement, Graham claimed that Emmerling was awarded advertising contracts with the CIC and Progress Alliance because he was a member.

"The jobs he (Emmerling) received were seldom, if ever, put out to bid to get competitive pricing," said Graham. "Because he (Emmerling) was a member, he got a deal. But that is not fair or ethical to the taxpayers or other companies who might want to bid on the job."

Emmerling called the remarks untrue and "defamatory," saying the $297,000 the CIC spent with his firm were spent over the course of 20 years and that most of that money went into making media buys for the campaign.

"These county commissioners and previous county commissioners voted and approved every ad campaign ever run," Emmerling told NEWS9. "All you have to do is check the minutes of every meeting. You will find they did not dispute or abstain from them. They all voted in favor of (those contracts). Why it's an issue now, why I'm the scapegoat, I'm not quite sure. Not very happy."

Graham also claimed that similar "fast deals" surrounded bids for work on the new Riley Building at the Jefferson County Industrial park.

"What we didn't like was the latest project, the Riley Building at the Industrial Park," said Graham after Thursday's meeting. "They (the CIC) contacted four contractors regarding quotes on the building. This increases costs significantly. When you're talking about a million dollar project, it should be bid out and we expect it to be bid out."

CIC board president Robert Chapman said Thursday that he would immediately begin executing an "exit plan," essentially disbanding the organization. Chapman said the commissioners' comments gave the county a "black eye."

Graham said he and his colleagues felt that the Jefferson County Port Authority was better equipped to help foster economic development in the county.

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