By Kim Griner
I attended a Sagamore Hills Trustee meeting in January 2017, in which Sagamore Hills Fiscal Officer Scott Gale REFUSED TO PAY certain gas bills and invoices that didn’t have documentation, or made after Fire District 27 disbanded. Center Trustee Richard Reville also included Speedway as the fire district’s only credit card. 22 months later, the residents know one thing. District 27 Fiscal Officer made personal, unauthorized purchases with numerous District 27 credit cards. The initial amount has risen from $10,000, to now $25,000 according to Auditor Dave Yost. I was recently advised by an official who has not been interviewed for the investigation, that figure pales in comparison to what the real figure is. The one constant in this debacle is no one knew or said anything during Ms. Barrett’s reign of larceny. Invoices and bills were blindly approved and paid for by Trustees whose job was to oversee. The excuse we didn’t have the time or didn’t know is not a reason for the lack of checks and balances. According to the state auditor’s press release, credit card charges made by Barrett “covered the cost of gas, meals, garden supplies, a camera, gift cards, a hotel stay and college tuition for a family member.” The Sagamore Voice came out today with some quotes from certain officials that should be noted. See the article here.
Attorney Jeff Snell said the sheriff’s department and Northfield Center Township officials “literally did not give us any information. We asked that our police department be involved when this initially broke. They literally would share no information, including to the point that they did not interview anyone from Sagamore Hills Township. They refused to talk to anyone from Sagamore Hills or share any information about their investigation. Township officials maintain they were kept in the dark throughout the Summit County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation that led to Barrett’s arrest.
“This [forensic audit] doesn’t end this investigation, necessarily,” Snell said.
“Schweikert said the Sagamore police investigation is still open and encouraged anyone who has more information to contact police.”
“Apparently this woman got extra credit cards without us knowing about. It was never discussed at the fire board meetings. Nobody knew about it. Nobody saw any bills. She was making charges on credit cards we didn’t know exist.”
“If any of the former fire department personnel want to come forward and offer any information, that they think that Rosemary Barrett is being thrown under the bus, that it wasn’t just her, and they want to offer information, our investigation is still open. The police are still keeping that open for several more months. If someone … wants to come forward, certainly, we would take that information to the [police] chief to forward to the attorney general or whoever.”
In an email I received 10/18/2018, Sagamore Hills Police Chief David Hayes told me to contact other agencies (Auditor David Yost, Summit County Sheriff and Attorney General’s office) on the Rosemary Barrett issue.
“We cannot prosecute Ms. Barrett any further. Her investigation was conducted by the Sheriff’s Office and Summit County Prosecutor. Sagamore Hills was shut out of the investigation by them. If you have information pertinent to her prosecution, please contact these agencies.”
-David E. Hayes — Police Chief/Township Administrator
Summit County Sheriff officials indicate a different scenario that indicated they were asked to allow Sagamore Hills to conduct the investigation, and the Sheriff need not be involved. Northfield Center Trustee Paul Buescher has maintained that he was the one who “dropped a dime” to the Summit County Sheriff when he heard of the fiscal discrepancies by Rosemary Barrett.
Sagamore Hills Finance Director Scott Gale, nor Northfield Center Fiscal Officer Andy LaGuardia have never been interviewed by any agency concerning their knowledge of the fiscal chaos that involves Sagamore Hills. Ms. Barrett’s assistant J. Honsperger, a CPA, was never interviewed. What was former Fire District 27 Fire Chief Frank Risko’s involvement in this sordid affair?
“Amidst the myriad of he-said-she-said commentary, it appears there is much more than meets the eye in this situation. People who should have been investigated initially WERE NOT. Sagamore Hills and Northfield Center seem to be pointing fingers and blaming each other and the Summit County Sheriff. Cries of “cover up” have been made by myself. When Sagamore Hills Police Chief Hayes says in one breath, “case closed” and the Trustees refute that saying “case open, contact us,” there lies a contradiction. This is just one of many lies in this unsavory event. This is just the beginning to what will be an unhappy ending for certain parties involved.”
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