Village Of Valleyview

Mayor's Sister in Law Paid To Do Minutes

Sep 25, 2002

Mayor Graves hired her sister in law Kathy Graves to transcribe to meeting minutes which our the responsibility of the fiscal officer/clerk treasurer. Shelley Cosgrove as Village Fiscal Officer was responsible for completing the meeting minutes for the meetings conducted in May, June and July. As of September 25, 2002 Ms. Cosgrove has not completed the minutes.

Mayor Graves hired her sister in law without notifying members of council that she was hiring her to transcibe the audio tapes of the meetings conducted in May, June and July. At the August Council Meeting Mayor Graves submitted a bil for $216 for transcription services. The minutes provided for the meetings of May 6th and May 29th were inaccurate and incomplete.

The Village would be paying twice for the same services. The Fiscal Officer is responsible for preparing the meeting minutes and presenting them to council and is paid at a rate of $10,020.00 per year for their duties. If the fiscal officer would like to reimburse the Village for the costs incurred for having the meeting audio tapes transcribed that would be acceptable, but that is not what is happening. Councilmembers Jack Morgan, Steve Williams and Bob Graves all voted to approve payment to Kathy Graves. They approved spending money that did not have to be spent. Can the village survive under the fiscal watch of those councilmembers. Expenses should be watch closely.