Village Of Valleyview

Why Only Before 2002?

Ms. White wrote:
I Goofed! I meant to ask, Where did the money go before 2002?

- Why are you only concerned about the time before 2002? I believe there were some problems during 2002 as well. The auditors are looking into 2002, 2003 and the years prior to investigate the allegations made by you Ms. White. We will have to wait and see what the Auditors have to report.

Ms. White wrote:
Mr.Parrish said on October 13, 2004, ''The Village is in the best Financial Shape it has ever been in.''

- Yes I did write that statement and I stand by it. There are no unknown large bills for the Village and there is money in the bank and we have begun building back up the savings accounts that were closed in 2002. The Village has made great strides to address the financial situation in the Village and I would hope that you would acknowledge that fact Ms. White. You would have to agree that the Village is in much better financial shape than it was in the years prior to 2004?

Ms. White wrote:
Michael Russolillo said on December 12, 2000, ''We're still in the best financial shape we've been in years.''

- Former Mayor Russolillo will have to answer why he believed the Village was in good financial shape.

Ms. White wrote:
How come the Village was ''broke''? It owed IRS, sheriff housing since 1998, pension funds, workman's comp. Whose finances was Russolillo speaking?

- Yes those bills were out there looming and being ignored by the Clerk/Treasurers and Council. Would you agree Ms. White that the Mayor by law cannot write checks out of the funds of the Village? Would you also agree that the checks from the Village must be written by the Clerk/Treasurer and signed by a member of Council?

Ms. White wrote:
Petro, ''the state questioned some financial procedures for 1998 and 1999.'' ''Checks were not accuratly recorded in the village computer records.'' ... The records show an unreconciled cash balance and unexplained adjustments.''

- So, would you not agree Ms. White that the Council and Clerk/Treasurer failed to act on the recommendations made by then State Auditor, Jim Petro? If the Council had taken action some of the problems from the 1998-99 audit might have been corrected instead of continuing on in to the following years. It is my hope that the coming audit will show that the Village Council has taken steps to address the findings from previous audits and that the Village Council is playing a larger role in overseeing the finances of the Village.

I have to ask Ms. White are you willing to accept the findings of the State Auditor's Office or will you claim they are trying to cover up something?

The Audit soon to be completed will address many of your allegations. I hope that we can put this to rest and move on to the more important issues that face our little Village. I ask for your patience Ms. White until that report is released to the public. At that time we can have a full discussion about the report and allow everyone to see what has been found.

You Asked,''Why before 2002?''

I was not on council before 2002. There was not the money that Russolillo said was there in January 2002.

There were problems during 2002 and 2003. As I remember, none of you on council would address these problems. As I remember, council voted to pay the bills accumulated for the hearing of Mark Consolo, even though Raylene Graves had not gotten the vote of council for the hearing. As I remember, the fraudulant insurance claim issue was not settled and the money was used for something else. You stated, yourself, ''There is no money to do the repairs to the Hall.''

Michael Russolillo will ''never'' explain why he ''believed the Village was in good financial shape.'' If you had been attending meetings before you decided to get a council seat, you would have heard Debbie Cain say when I ask why the fire contract hadn't been paid, ''I only pay what Mike tells me to.''

If the auditors were ''checking '' into my allegations and were concerned about the taxpayer as you say, they would have done something from theirs findings. They told me this had been going on for 20 years. Do you really think they are going to say, ''Oops, we screwed up.'' The government does not admit mistakes. Look how long it took Jim Petro to shut down New Rome. They knew for years from their audits. They only pushed for it before of the outcry of so many citizens and Jamie Mueller's influence. There is no such outcry in Valleyview. Their cover-up of their mistakes have cost the taxpayers of Ohio at least $200,000.

In some areas, failure to pay the IRS and pension funds is income tax evasion and fraud. Why were Laura Hunt, Debbie Cain and Mike Russolillo, exempt?

Ohio Public Works Commission sent a letter stating the Village was not using grant money for what it was intended. Brad Smith of Pomeroy and Russolillo stated at the special August 17, 2000 council meeting, ''We have done it before, but no one complained.'' This is fraud, the auditor knew but did nothing.

When I moved, I kept the letters and documents sent to the Village and me.

You ask me to accept the findings of the State Auditor. ''WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER!''