He has resigned as mayor....an implicit admission of the seriousness of the charges against him.
https://www.cleveland.com/open/2019/02/highland-heights-mayor-scott-coleman-resigns-after-campaign-embezzlement-allegation.html
The Council President---in this case Mayfield City Service/Parks Department employee Chuck Brunello---will serve in Coleman's stead until a new mayor is elected in November.
Various council members, quoted in the press, have indicated that they don't think any city financial shenanigans have gone on under Coleman's watch.....but I think they need to prove that to residents by obtaining an independent audit of the city's books, going back several years.
I do wonder what would cause Coleman, if true, to engage in the alleged behavior.
Why would a well-paid, well-respected member of this community do something so stupid and so ruinous?
Speculation abounds....was there a problem with drugs? gambling? blackmail? Or was it just plain old greed? We may never know.
What I do know is that Coleman is now a ruined man.
No company likes the kind of publicity that Coleman's behavior has engendered. My best guess, given the seriousness of the allegations, is that on top of everything else he will lose his accounting/tax manager job with Progressive Insurance (if he hasn't already).
Anyone who reads this blog knows that I have never been a big fan of Scott Coleman, the mayor, but I can say quite honestly that I have never wished Scott Coleman, the person, ill.
I am truly sorry for the agony his family must be experiencing.
It is a very sad end to a long political career.
