ATHENS, Ohio — Athens City Council member Michael Wood, 3rd Ward, said Monday night that he does not support renewing the city’s contract with consulting and lobbying firm Sunday Creek Horizons.
Wood cited concerns over Sunday Creek Horizons’ political giving to Republicans and its role in turmoil at the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia, the council of governments that has overseen the development of the Baileys Trail System.
Other council members joined Wood in supporting a competitive request for proposals.
Concerns over political giving
Wood expressed concern Monday, Nov. 9, that Sunday Creek Horizons donated $20,000 to the campaign of Vivek Ramaswamy for Ohio governor — without giving at least a “token” donation to Governor-elect Amy Acton. The firm made numerous campaign donations to candidates across the state during the recent midterm election cycle, directing more contributions to Ramaswamy than any other candidate.
Wood, who spoke on the matter during the Committee of the Whole, said he is adamantly opposed to the council giving the firm a new one-year contract in 2027.
Through its 2026 contract with the city, Sunday Creek Horizons receives $120,000, paid at $10,000 per month, to provide consulting and lobbying services for the city.
“I have become increasingly opposed to being involved with Sunday Creek Horizons for a number of reasons, the most relevant one that came up this week being their donation history,” Wood said, adding, “And notably, they gave nothing to Amy Acton.”
Wood noted that Sunday Creek gave significantly smaller donations to political candidates from both major parties, including contributions Space gave to Democratic Senator-elect Sherrod Brown. However, Sunday Creek Horizons donated mostly to Republican candidates.
Contributions to Democrats associated with the firm’s employees were largely directed by the firm’s president, former Democratic 18th Congressional District Rep. Zack Space.
Space previously told the Independent his giving was largely personal and not directed by the firm. In a statement for the Independent, Space said he and his wife have supported “dozens of Democrats at every level of government.”
“I’ve been a Democrat all my life and always will be,” he added.
Most giving by Sunday Creek Horizons co-founder Will Drabold was largely at the firm’s direction, Space previously told the Independent. Drabold’s giving in the midterm cycle went to Republicans or affiliated committees.
Space told the Independent in his statement that the firm does:
… what smart advocates do: we support people in a position to help our region, regardless of party. Our company’s giving is strategic, not ideological. Sometimes that means supporting candidates I wouldn’t personally vote for. Sometimes we misread the tea leaves. But our north star doesn’t change: we support candidates who can win and who will stand up for Appalachia.
“I wish we had a better system,” Space said. “We don’t.”
The firm’s giving to Republicans included a total of $20,000 to the Ramaswamy campaign, via $5,000 on Oct. 8, and $15,000 in June of 2025. Ramaswamy’s campaign drew more donations from the firm than any other candidate in the recent mid-term cycle.
Wood said at the meeting that the firm’s support for Ramaswamy “stands out, particularly, not just because of how egregious it is, but because if you were going to have a sort of plausible deniability of working with both sides, wouldn’t you at least give a token donation to the Governor-elect of our state?”
Space said in his statement that he and his wife personally supported Acton in the midterms with financial contributions. Those gifts were under his wife’s name and were not affiliated with the firm, per Ohio Secretary of State records.
Sunday Creek Horizons’ role in turmoil at Baileys Trail org
Wood also said he could not support a new contract for Sunday Creek Horizons due to the firm’s connection to turmoil earlier this year at the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia, which manages the recently completed 88-mile Baileys Trail System.
Legislators attempted to divert the second installment of the $1.5 million that had been allocated to ORCA in the 2025 biennium budget bill. At the last minute, Gov. Mike DeWine issued a line-item veto to nix the funding cut.
Earlier this year, the Independent published an investigative series on what happened behind the scenes at ORCA in the run-up to its near-loss of funding. The series focused in part on turmoil at ORCA related to its relationship with Sunday Creek Horizons.
ORCA spent months in late 2025 and early 2026 debating its relationship with Sunday Creek Horizons. Patterson, who was at that time the chair of ORCA’s board, supported maintaining a contract with the firm, citing its involvement in securing state funding for ORCA.
Staff and other board members complained, however, about the firm’s communication and the cost of the contract compared to what the firm was providing. Sunday Creek Horizons pinned the blame for communication challenges on ORCA’s director.
On March 31, Patterson removed the city of Athens — a founding member — from ORCA, where he served as Athens’ rep on the board. The removal went into effect June 28.
Patterson, who had proposed that short-term cabin rentals be built near the Baileys Trail System — a proposal ORCA leadership said would take time to evaluate — cited strategic differences as his reasons for removing the city from the organization.
Patterson announced his resignation from the ORCA board just hours after Sunday Creek Horizons declined to continue any contracting relationship with ORCA. Patterson and Sunday Creek Horizons maintained they’d made separate decisions on the subject.
Patterson and Sunday Creek Horizons denied at the time any involvement with ORCA’s near-loss of state funding.
However, the Independent previously reported that Patterson and Drabold separately communicated concerns with alleged mismanagement at ORCA with 94th District Ohio House Rep. Kevin Ritter (R-Marietta). Those communications came in the two days immediately following decisions by Patterson and Sunday Creek Horizons to part ways with the council of governments.
Ritter moved forward with a proposed cut to ORCA’s state funding without consulting ORCA’s attorney, staff, or new board chair.
The line-item that cut funding from ORCA would have redirected the slashed funds to Marietta College, a private institution, “to establish curricula and programs to train high demand professions in healthcare.” DeWine’s veto preserved $550,000 for the college.
Wood said at Monday’s meeting, “I see no reason why we should fund somebody or support somebody that is actively moving money from one county to another.”
In his statement for this story, Space continued to deny the firm had any involvement in the near-loss of state funding via House Bill 479.
“As for the suggestion that we worked to steer state money away from ORCA and the Baileys Trail System, that simply isn’t true,” Space said in his statement. “ORCA is an important organization for this region, and the Baileys is one of the most promising things to happen in Southeast Ohio in a long time. It brings visitors, dollars and pride to communities that have waited a long time for all three. We want ORCA to succeed.”
Council members support competitive call for proposals
Wood also said another yearly consulting contract does not appear legal under the Ohio Revised Code, which limits contracts without competitive bidding to just over $79,000. He asked for clarification from Law Director Lisa Eliason, who did not attend Monday’s meeting, and requested that the contract be tabled.
Eliason informed Wood via an email on Tuesday, a copy of which she provided to the Independent, that contracts involving “the performance of personal services of a specialized nature requiring the exercise of peculiar skill or aptitude” are exempt from the state requirement.
“Some examples of personal services requiring the exercise of peculiar skill or aptitude include management, fiscal, specialized consulting, legal, accounting, and engineering,” Eliason added. “A personal services contract is one in which the person or firm has discretion in accomplishing the assigned tasks because their skill, knowledge, experience, and expertise are unique to the area and cannot be duplicated by others not similarly qualified.”
Eliason cited a 2015 memo she’d written on the topic.
At Monday’s meeting, Wood said he believes the city could find a better firm to handle its consulting and supports a competitive bidding process moving forward.
Fellow council members joined Wood in his support for a competitive bidding process for city consulting and lobbying services.
Council member Paul Isherwood, At Large, said he felt uncomfortable discussing a new Sunday Creek Horizons contract without it in front of him. Beth Clodfelter, At Large, also said she did not feel comfortable voting on a contract without seeing it first, which would occur during a regular city council meeting.
Council President Micah McCarey provided copies of the city’s current contract with Sunday Creek Horizons, which states it can be canceled by either party with 60 days prior notice.
Isherwood noted that Sunday Creek Horizons did not send a representative to Monday’s meeting.
“And so, we don’t really know, month-by-month, what that $120,000 is getting us,” Isherwood said, adding that he supported tabling the matter.
Council member Jessica Thomas, At Large, said she would like to see how far Sunday Creek Horizons has progressed on developing an Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan for the city. She also said she would like to see a return-on-investment report from the firm, adding she also feels a competitive bidding process for consulting services, or a formal request for proposals, is a good idea.
Mayor Steve Patterson told the Committee of the Whole he supports work Sunday Creek Horizons has performed for the city, including its advocacy for funding from the Appalachian Community Grant Program that was used to remodel and reopen the Athens Armory.
Patterson said more recently, Sunday Creek Horizons assisted in funding efforts for the Athens Farmers Market Community Pavilion.
Council members Alan Swank, 4th Ward, and John Staser, 2nd Ward, were absent Monday.
Athens City Council’s next meeting will be held 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, at Athens City Hall, Council Chambers, third floor, 8 E. Washington St. Meetings are also streamed online.
Regular sessions are on the first and third Mondays of the month; committee meetings are on the second and fourth Mondays.
