Editor:
Over the past couple of years, I had inquired into the status of missing property and missing money from the evidence room of the Kirkersville Police Department. The village had to reimburse one person about $63 that had been confiscated during an arrest and was determined to be missing from the evidence room when it came time to give it back! Another $600+ was also found to be missing from the room.
At that time there were four police officers on the department under the regime of former Chief Bob Chamberlain II. I was told that it was announced in the January 6th council meeting that three of those former police officers took polygraph tests regarding the missing money. The solicitor commented that no one is being accused of a crime, but the results of those polygraph tests were one officer passed; one officer failed; and one officer quit in the middle of the test. Apparently the solicitor will be investigating this information and I will share the results of those records when they become available.
It is refreshing to be able to get records from Kirkersville now without any type of hassle but there are still other public officials who aren’t so compliant. It has been my experience, and it is my opinion, that whenever a public official doesn’t want me to look at public records…and gives me a hassle over getting them…that’s a pretty good indicator that they have something to hide.
In late August, I made a public records request to Jon Luzio, the Director of the Licking County Animal Shelter (aka dog pound), asking to see surveillance videos taken inside the pound. He made me jump through hoops and it ended up costing me $65 to VIEW the tapes and another $65+ to get copies of the tapes. You can view some of the surveillance on the Internet by typing in http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=a6ON2zGnirU&NR=1, or go to YouTube.com and search for Licking County Dog Pound. You’ll see why I think he didn’t want me to see them. You may find it disturbing, but it shows the actions of our county dog warden (who makes almost $60,000 per year). Also disturbing is that most of what he is doing can be seen if you are driving down SR 13 at the right (or wrong) time! Our county commissioners have heard complaint after complaint over the years and STILL nothing is done.
In an investigative report regarding a dog possibly being put in the freezer alive after allegedly euthanizing the dog by injection, Jon Luzio stated that they (pound employees) don’t use a stethoscope to determine death because it can cause a false positive.
I wouldn’t tell you these disturbing facts without giving you a way to help. Please call or write the Licking County Commissioners (tbubb@lcounty.com; dsmith@lcounty.com; bfeightner@lcounty.com) and tell them we want humane and respectful treatment of the animals in Licking County. Remember the names of these politicians (Tim Bubb, Doug Smith and Brad Feightner) when you go to vote. I believe Doug Smith will be asking for your vote this year! I am asking you to tell him, “No!”
“You can tell about the people of a country by the way they treat their animals.” -Mahatma Gandhi
Bonnie Mansfield
Buckeye Lake
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