Village Of Valleyview

Trust is earned. The ''honorable'' Tom Watkins can't be trusted.

You always cite the auditors as being trustworthy. Don't you believe that they sent letters and left messages?

Don't you believe that Internal Revenue Service sent 20 letter about employee withholding taxes?

Don't you believe Ohio Police and Fire and P.E.R.S sent letters?

It appears the ''party that sent the letters,'' did follow up.

You all say blame the person responsible. Are you blaming the agencies or the postal service?

Heaven forbid that the the person responsible, pay for their fraud.

It was proven that the mayor or clerk, took council's Management Letters. Could all of them been ''lost?'' One or the other opened the mail. My bet is on Russolillo. If they had had the letters, Russolillo could not have done what he did.

If council had been given the true facts about what went to M.O.R.P.C and O.P.W.C., taxpayers would not have been defrauded into paying twice.

Taking money on false pretentious is fraud.

So again,are laws for a selected few?

To Address Them All

-Trust is earned. The ''honorable'' Tom Watkins can't be trusted.

*Mayor Watkins was not in office during the troubles of past adminstrations and I believe that he is earning the trust of those in the current administration.

-You always cite the auditors as being trustworthy. Don't you believe that they sent letters and left messages?

*Yes I believe that they sent the letters and left the messages. All I have stated is that the those letters did not seem to get to the right parties until after January 2004.

-Don't you believe that Internal Revenue Service sent 20 letter about employee withholding taxes?

*Yes I believe that they sent the notices. There would be no excuse in my mind that would be acceptable for ignoring those letters and not relating the information to the Council.

-Don't you believe Ohio Police and Fire and P.E.R.S sent letters?

*See response above.

-It appears the ''party that sent the letters,'' did follow up.

*As they should have and unfortunatly most of those problems were being addressed well after the fact and by parties that were not involved in the original problems.

-You all say blame the person responsible. Are you blaming the agencies or the postal service?

*Why would they be blamed if they did their jobs. The others that need to be blamed are the members of Council who blindly passed resolutions and ordinances and DID NOT provide the oversight that is required of them to make sure that the bills are paid. The Checks and Balances failed because those responsible did not do their jobs.

-Heaven forbid that the the person responsible, pay for their fraud.

*That would be why individuals were bonded so that those costs could be recovered by the Village and the individual would pay when the Bonding company went to recover their costs. Those actions are taken by the Bonding Company, not the Village. The Village is not involved in making the individual pay, but seeing that the Bonding Company reimburses the Village. After that it is up to the Bonding Company how they want to pursue the matter.

-It was proven that the mayor or clerk, took council's Management Letters. Could all of them been ''lost?'' One or the other opened the mail. My bet is on Russolillo. If they had had the letters, Russolillo could not have done what he did.

*You have no proof but want to single out one person. It would appear that both should be held responsible but you only focus on one person. Council could have done their jobs without that letter or report. If they had been more actively involved they would have been seeking more information and provided the oversight that they should have. Where were the Finance Committee meetings? Why did they not legislate what reports sould be provided and when they should be provided? There is a lot that Council should have done.

-If council had been given the true facts about what went to M.O.R.P.C and O.P.W.C., taxpayers would not have been defrauded into paying twice.

*I have not seen your evidence of how the taxpayers were alledgly defrauded. If there was evidence of wrong doing I am sure that OPWC would have taken action.

-Taking money on false pretentious is fraud.

*No disputing that statement

-So again,are laws for a selected few?

*No the laws apply to everyone equally. The facts are presented and the decisions are made. I have a feeling that should all of your claims had been taken to court and proven false again that you would say that the Courts were lying or got the law wrong.

None Are So Blind

as those who cannot or will not see.

Why, when Laura Hunt was leaving, did she make ''adjustments '' not authorized by the auditor and erase things from the computer? Did she and Russolillo tell council for their approval? NO! It was discovered by the auditor. It is stated in the work product from the auditor.

The records are always in such a mess, they didn't know what she did. They didn't bother to check. Some of it was the 4 months of Mayor's court fines.

Why do some want to Forgive and Forget? This is money owed to the taxpayers.

Watkins may have not been mayor during that time. I am not talking about his honesty at that time in Valleyview and you know it.

Why don't you find out what happened to the employee's taxes not paid to the I.R.S.? That was money in the bank from wages. Pension funds, money in the bank.
This money was stolen from employees, then the taxpayers were paid to reimburse the village to pay again.

Laura Hunt and Debbie Cain should be punished and made to pay it back.You wanted to make a deal them at the taxpayers expense. The taxpayers are having to pay an attorney to defend the Village. Isn't this ironic?

Since some are so forgiving of lawbreakers, I will have to do something about that when I get there.

How many times did I hear you all say, ''It is in the past.'' This is a good thing to say to the residents of Valleyview and the taxpayers of Ohio.

If you don't initiate it, the auditor and attorney general are not going to do anything. That is why my one voice has not worked.

There are some things in the past that can not be corrected, like who was in office. But what they did in office to the taxpayers, CAN!

Hypothical Questions

How should the Village proceed if it is found that no money was stolen and used for personal gain, but because of bookkeeping errors the money that should have been used to pay the IRS and PERS debts was used to provide Police Protection or other needed services to the taxpayers?

If it is shown that the taxpayers money never left the coffers of the Village what then?

What proof does anyone have to show that the Money that was to have been given to the IRS and PERS was taken from the Village and spent for personal gain?

If the taxpayers recieved a benefit from the use of that money then how were the taxpayers of the Village harmed?

It would have been very easy for the auditors to show if money was STOLEN from the Village. Clerks would have had to written checks to themselves other than their paychecks. They did not find anything like that. There have been reports over the past few years of clerks that have gone to jail because of stealing money. Because of the systems in place they may get away with it in between audits, but once an audit starts they cannot hide the facts and they get caught. If the past clerks had personally gained from the money for the IRS and PERS they would have been caught, charges would have been filed and they would be in jail right now. That has not happened because the clerks DID NOT Steal the money.

Money from Mayor's Court is written from a separate account and the checks are written to the Village of Valleyview. Those checks can only be deposited, not cashed so that money cannot be taken. The Auditors have always found the Mayor's Court accounts and books up to date and correct. Yes it was proven that deposits from the Mayor's Court to the Village were not made in a timely manner, but that meant those checks sat around when they should have been deposited. NO ONE could have used that money for anything as there would be no way to cash the checks.

Blame the persons for what they did, not what you believe they did. Poorly trained clerks made book keeping errors but they never personally gained from the money.

There are no excuses for ignoring warning letters. There are no excuses for not getting the proper training so that they could do their job. There is no excuse for not providing the proper oversight to see that the bills were paid. There are no excuses for listening to the wrong person as to what bill does or does not get paid.

People made errors in judgement but they never stole from the taxpayers of the Village.