YOUNGSTOWN — A visiting judge ruled against the Save the Deer of Mill Creek Park group in Mahoning County Probate Court on Friday, the second legal setback for the group in a week.

Judge John Campbell, retired from Carroll County Common Pleas Court, ruled against the removal of the Mill Creek MetroParks commissioners and its executive director, Aaron Young.

“The court finds that the park commission board is a dedicated group of individuals who work well together. The board follows the law; individually the members exercise independent judgment in consideration of issues before them; and as a group they perform their duties in a professional manner,” the ruling states.

Campbell found “no reason … to remove the executive director, Aaron Young, and no grounds to remove any of the park commission board members,” the ruling states.

The deer group argued at an August 2024 hearing that MetroParks leaders should be removed because they were not responsive to the public, including when the deer group gave the board petitions Dec. 11, 2023, asking for Young to be removed.

“There was nothing done with this. We never got a response at that meeting,” Chris Flak, one of the primary presenters at the August 2024 hearing, told Campbell at the hearing. She said MetroParks President Lee Frey orally responded only after Flak stood up at the March 2024 MetroParks meeting and asked for a response.

According to minutes of the March 2024 meeting from the MetroParks website, Frey “indicated that the petitions to remove Mr. Young were received and the board feels that Mr. Young is doing a good job and will not be acting on those petitions.”

When Marc Dann, the attorney for the Save the Deer of Mill Creek Park group, was asked this weekend for a comment on the ruling, he stated in an email: “We obviously think Judge Campbell got it wrong. And (Mahoning County Probate Court Judge Robert Rusu Jr.) got it wrong by bringing in a visiting judge to handle his administrative responsibilities. As the appointing authority, Judge Rusu should have heard directly the concerns about the leadership of the park.”

He said he would have to talk to his clients before he can say whether they will appeal.

When Young was asked to comment on the ruling, he stated in an email: “We are pleased with Judge Campbell’s ruling and remain steadfast in our commitment to the mission of the MetroParks, for the community we serve.”

Flak stated that the ruling made no mention of the “over 2,500 Mahoning County taxpayers who found serious problems with the way the board currently operates.”

She said it appears Campbell disregarded the “many lawsuits against Mill Creek Park due to director Young’s inability to maintain satisfactory public relations.”

During the August 2024 hearing, Flak said the deer group formed as a result of MetroParks officials announcing in early 2023 that they were going to ask the board to approve a deer removal program for that fall. Large numbers of deer supporters flooded MetroParks meetings to argue against the deer-reduction plans, but the board approved it.

The deer group also filed suit in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, arguing that the MetroParks did not have the legal authority to carry out a deer reduction, but Judge Anthony Donofrio and his magistrate ruled against the group, and the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to review the 7th District Court of Appeals ruling that affirmed Donofrio’s ruling.

The group filed a petition with the Mahoning County Probate Court Feb. 5, 2024, after the first year of deer reductions took place. It asked Rusu to remove the MetroParks board members. Rusu makes the appointments to the Mill Creek MetroParks Board. He recused himself from the petition issue and Campbell was appointed.

Campbell’s ruling noted that the group felt the board “dismissed their reasonable safety concerns” about the way the deer reduction was carried out the first year. He added that Flak was allowed to “make a Powerpoint presentation outlining the group’s issues without interruption or objections. The presentation was not limited to the general rules of evidence,” the ruling stated.

Other representatives of the deer group spoke on various issues, and four of the five park commissioners discussed their credentials and their belief that they “adhered to the Mission Statement, the local rules and all Ohio law governing the park district,” the ruling states. The fifth board member was not present.

The ruling states that the MetroParks’ “proposal to provide management of the deer population … in response to the recommendations of the Ohio Division of Natural Resources is responsive to community needs, is environmentally sound, is adaptable and is economically feasible. It meets all the criteria of the mission of the Park Commission.”