ROCK CREEK — Emotions were running high at Monday’s regular council meeting, and it seemed no one could agree on anything.
Council member Paul Benak sparked a heated argument when he questioned Village Administrator John Casalina about alleged improper use of a village truck. Benak said some residents confronted him about seeing a village-owned truck backed up in Casalina’s driveway and Casalina and a village employee were seen unloading things from the truck into one of Casalina’s private vehicles.
Casalina told Benak he attended an auction at Geneva-on-the-Lake, where he purchased some items for the village but also for himself. He could not move one of the large items himself and asked the village employee for help. Casalina said he frequently attends auctions in Cleveland or goes to surplus stores to purchase equipment for the village on his own time, using his vehicle, so he didn’t feel it would be a problem to use the village truck this one time.
“If that’s a problem for council, I will stop buying things for the village on my own personal time and will only go when I’m on village time,” Casalina said.
Benak said he thought that would be a good idea; however, other council members did not agree.
“John has saved us thousands of dollars by going to these auctions,” said Councilwoman Kathy Takacs.
Benak shot back at Takacs, saying attending the auctions is part of Casalina’s job.
“We are penny-poor, and he’s trying hard to save the village money,” Takacs said. “You seem to be jealous of every penny he makes. You don’t pay attention to how much he saves the village.”
Village Solicitor Jamie Callender said a lot of public entities have policies in place to set guidelines for officials using government vehicles. Callender said he will do some research and draw up a policy for the village to consider adopting.
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