This isn't a 'big win' - this is a grudging step forward. Until she has the keys to document storage, the Mayor is still locked out of anything actually important. They've had months to hide any evidence of wrongdoing, and even now are *still* stonewalling. The window to catch this 'fiscal officer' and his daughter in the act is shrinking. The auditor needs to put a freeze on this village's finances until a complete audit is done and - if necessary (and they almost certainly are) - criminal charges are filed.
> The window to catch this 'fiscal officer' and his daughter in the act is shrinking They can still go to the bank to get all the transaction records. This is how they catch internal accounting thieves who cook the books. Then, they will file embezzlement charges, and the perp will go to jail. Just let it play out. It may take another 3-4 years, but the process has started.
Right? They probably looked through everything in there to remove anything incriminating, or to make false books so they don't get in trouble.. No matter what happens, it looks very suspicious..
She could have, but it was the blatant disregard for the rules of law that she was fighting. Having her locked out only helped more people see the basic problem, without needing to understand the accounting side of the embezzlement.
I say keep her and her years of experience. Find the average pay for a city that size and add a little extra for 20 years work. That way they are getting paid fair wages and can't say how unfair it is.
@@countbenjamin1442 You must be out of your mind. There isn't no way in hell that the village should keep her. There are plenty of people capable of doing her job right there in the village.
@@countbenjamin1442 73K for 120 days of work each year. That comes out to 158K if they actually worked 52 weeks a year. Pretty good pay for a tiny town. Sounds like Daddy and daughter have been ripping off the town, and are now trying to keep from going to jail where they belong.
Amazing how once the news gets involved... this father and daughter give the mayor the keys. I'll bet you there is all kinds of crap that is going to come out of this town now.
According to Ohio Laws & Administrative Rules Section 733.262, the village fiscal officer may be removed without cause either by the mayor with the consent of a majority of the members of the village legislative authority or by a three-fourths vote of the village legislative authority with or without the consent of the mayor.
Yeah I am so happy for the mayor's small victory. The feds should be called in and a MAJOR audit be done. The administration person should be fired as well as her father A small village should not be held hostage like this.
Why is the state not stepping in? Have the townspeople or the new mayor filed a lawsuit or requested an investigation? If not, why? And if so, why are law enforcement sitting on their hands? I don't understand this. It is obvious that there's malfeasance here. The public and the town government shouldn't be barred from viewing public accounts and records. Does the state - or county - not have subpoena power? Will no judge approve a warrant to search those records? Someone much higher up is being paid off to keep a lid on this.
I dont know how the village is constituted, but i would have thought there would be facility for recall or oversight, which could be easily executed in a village of 400. And yes, i would have got in locksmiths and lawyers earlier in the process.
recently alot of corruption in small towns has been uncovered and it is shocking just how much money and destruction that a few people acting out of line can cost a town of 2-6000 people can get millions of dollars extracted out of it year after year. makes you wonder what percentage of your overall tax dollars is lost to corruption nationally. its almost certainly a lot more than anyone would of guessed
First thing to do is see if there was a paper shredder purchased in the last few weeks. I bet there was. And that even the bank account was changed too, to try to cover up
It sounds as if the State needs to send in an auditor team to review that villages books. The woman they mentioned is effectively being paid $75/hour. That village does not seem affluent enough to justify that wage.
He didn't have the keys, he handed over a key to the front door. One that should have been given at day one. He has all the other keys to the important stuff that he alone controls. Namely all the financial records. Him and his daughter have been using the town funds as their own expense account. The daughters work contract is outrageous. She probably wrote it herself and her father signed off on it.
Both of these thieves need to go to jail, and provide compensation back to the village for there thefts. The stupidity of such behavior is really profound. The real likelihood of hiding something like this in a tiny village is really vanishingly small. The moment they decided to grift the town, they were going get caught. Such arrogant greedy behavior needs to be severely punished. I wonder how town took care of this stuff back in the 1800's...
