I am still waiting to hear back from Mills. Council has had more than enough time to start taking action to hold the involved individuals accountable. That hasn’t happened.
It’s time to let you know what’s going on.
City financial records show that two heads of the city’s Park & Recreation Commission, Tony Valentino and Rocco Dolciato, have been doing business with the city for several years, through businesses that Valentino and Dolciato either own or are affiliated with (W.F. Hann & Sons and Utilities Construction Co., dba Utilities Equipment and Supply Company).
Highland Heights’ ethics ordinances closely resemble state ethics laws. Those laws apply to both elected and appointed city officials and generally bar such officials from doing business with the cities that they serve.
Those laws and ethical restrictions apply to Mayor Scott Coleman, Tony Valentino and Rocco Dolciato.
In addition, Highland Height financial ordinances specifically require that council pass a motion, resolution or ordinance at a regular council meeting formally approving all business transactions that involve purchasing of, or paying for, goods and services provided by “any elected or appointed official....or business entity in which (they have) a direct or beneficial interest” .
That approval must be obtained before the transaction is entered into, and the law states that no”payments shall be made from City funds” unless council’s prior approval has been obtained.
The minutes are the official record of council meetings held in the city. I have read all of the minutes for the regular council meetings that took place between January 2005 and December 2009. Those minutes show that council never passed a resolution, ordinance or motion authorizing the business transactions involving Valentino, Dolciato and the city.
You can read the minutes for yourself. They are posted online:
http://www.highlandhts.com/city-council/agendas-minutes.php
In the absence of proper prior authorization by council, the city was legally barred from purchasing services from the Valentino and Dolciato-affiliated companies and from using public funds to pay for those services. Yet the purchases were made, and public money was spent, anyway.
You might wonder how this could occur. How could taxpayer money be spent, in violation of local and state law? I can’t say for sure, but this is my best guess:
Under normal circumstances---when a business transaction does not involve an elected or appointed city official---Mayor Scott Coleman has sole authority to authorize the payment of bills totalling $ 3,000 or less. Coleman isn’t even required to notify council about those bills or his approval of them.
It appears that the transactions between the city and the companies with which Valentino and Dolciato are affiliated were treated as falling with the mayor’s general authorizing authority---even though, by law, they did not.
Finance Director Anthony Ianiro (the brother of Recreation Director David Ianiro) is supposed to be the city’s financial cop. It’s his job to make sure that all requisitions and vouchers are properly approved, in compliance with our financial ordinances, before he uses any public funds to pay for those bills. (Read my “Financial Primer” blog posting for more information on how that works.) Ianiro apparently paid W.F. Hann & Sons and Utilities Construction Co, even though the business transactions with those companies had not been pre-approved by council, as required by law.
The details:
City records show that W.F. Hann & Sons was the exclusive provider for HVAC services to the city for three years, beginning in May 2006. Some of the services were provided in the park and were paid with Park & Rec funds---payments which, by law, had to be authorized by Mayor Coleman and Tony Valentino. All but two of the checks issued to W.F. Hann & Sons were for $ 3,000 or less, which means that under normal circumstances they would fall within Mayor Scott Coleman’s exclusive authorizing authority. With regard to the two bills above $ 3,000, a long-time member of council’s Legislative & Finance Committee told me that Valentino’s connection to the company was never disclosed to L&F, when Finance Director Tony Ianiro presented those two bills to L&F for approval.
By law, of course, neither Mayor Coleman nor L&F had the authority to approve payment of the bills. To be authorized, council had to pass an authorizing resolution, motion or ordinance before the services were rendered, which (council minutes show) never occurred.
I have not seen records pertaining to the payments made to Utilities Construction Company. But at the April 27th meeting of council’s Safety Service Committee, Service Director Thom Evans indicated that the city has paid the company to accept the city’s leaves and brush since 2004.
I have a copy of the proposal that was submitted to the city by Dolciato on March 10, 2010 on that company’s behalf. The proposal asks for payment of an initial flat fee of $ 2,400, with additional an additional sum to be determined at a later date based on “space and economic factor’s”. Thus, the proposal divided up the payments from the city into several separate payments, rather one large payment, with the initial payment ($2,400) falling within Mayor Coleman’s normal exclusive spending authority.
The News Herald has published a story in today’s paper about this:
http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2010/05/01/news/doc4bdb216141a40071599098.txt
And again, read my “Financial Primer” blog posting to learn more about our laws and how financial matters are supposed to be handled in the city.
It is beyond my comprehension that Mayor Scott Coleman, who has served as an elected Highland Heights official for over a decade, would so blatantly ignore Highland Heights’ financial ordinances and state and local ethics laws by entering into business transactions with two appointed Park & Recreation Commission officials.
By going public with my concerns, I hope to spur council to undertake a prompt and adequate investigation of the situation. And, if any money has been paid out illegally, council should take whatever steps are necessary to return those funds to the city treasury.
This situation did not occur because of bad or confusing laws. Our laws are clear and straight forward.
No one is above the law. Not me, not you, and certainly not the mayor and his appointed officials. It is up to council to hold Mayor Coleman and the involved individuals accountable for their actions.
