Recordpub.com - Mantua ex-clerk accused of theft: Allegedly stole village funds

ElectHeadshot101807RAV_15 Betsy M. Woolf

By Dave O’Brien

Record-Courier staff writer

A Mantua woman who for 10 years was the elected clerk/treasurer of the village of Mantua was indicted Tuesday by a Portage County grand jury on a total of six felonies and misdemeanors for allegedly stealing village funds while in office.

Betsy M. Woolf, 60, of 4755 Glenwood St., was arrested Tuesday night and booked into the Portage County jail, accused of felony theft and tampering with records.

Two counts of the six-count indictment allege that on or about Jan. 4, 2008 and Feb. 22, 2008, Woolf used her position as clerk/treasurer to commit a theft. Both are fifth-degree felonies. The second count of the indictment, a fourth-degree felony, alleges the theft was in excess of $500 but less than $5,000.

The three counts of tampering with records, all misdemeanors, accuse Woolf of trying to cover up the alleged thefts by manipulating or destroying records.

Woolf was the elected clerk/treasurer of Mantua from 1998 until April 2008 after being defeated in the November 2007 election by current officeholder Jenny August.

At a March 18, 2008, meeting, while Woolf was still clerk/treasurer, Mantua Mayor Donna Hawkins read a proclamation in Woolf’s honor and presented her with an engraved clock “for her dedicated service to the village,” according to minutes of the meeting on the village Web site.

In a statement released Wednesday, Hawkins said the village found some funds were unaccounted for while going over its books last year. Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor’s office was contacted to go over the village’s financial records and the village “turned over all available information to them,” according to Hawkins.

“The state auditor’s office has not provided us with the results of their audit as of yet, therefore we do not know what their findings will be,” Hawkins said.

Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci would not say how much money Woolf is accused of stealing, saying those facts would be presented at trial. His office will prosecute the charges based on the initial investigation by the state auditors, he said.

Mantua currently is in “fiscal watch,” according to Taylor’s office. Another audit is scheduled to take place soon, Hawkins said.

“I’m confident we’ll come out of that” with positive news, she said when reached by phone Wednesday.

Woolf also is the former clerk/treasurer for the Mantua-Shalersville Fire District, which serves the village of Mantua and Mantua and Shalersville townships, but was replaced this summer, Fire Chief Joseph Stoneberg said.

The theft accusations are not related to the operations of the fire department, he said,

Woolf posted a $20,000 personal recognizance bond Wednesday. She is scheduled to be arraigned at 11 a.m. Nov. 9 by Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman.

She is represented by Cleveland attorney Stuart Lippe, according to court records.

Stoneberg said he and other fire department personnel have worked with Woolf “for a long time” and “wish her the best.”

“Everyone is innocent until proven guilty,” he said.

22.	Posted by thinblueline November 1, 2009
	To mygirl & dp, This is scary but I agree with allot mygirl says about more controls should be in place for elected officials. I'm wondering what controls could be in place and who would implement them. I agree that the mayor and council should have "watched" what was going on more than they did. (Claude Hopkins?) Yeah right. Unfortunetly, as it stands, "checking out" another elected official like Betsy is not part of their duties. Like I said, Betsy's business went to hell and she lost it. I'm guessing here, because she is innocent until proven guilty even though she has been "convicted" by public opinion already. Where I have a problem with some of your points is that you are comparing the private to the corporate world. Like it or not, they are two completely different animals in the way they have been set up and the way they are run. Bottom line is the word "profit." Villages aren't set up to make a profit, as you know, so their attitude about expenditures and managing finances is different. Employees, for the most part, have no incentive to protect taxpayer money compared to the private sector. Also, when we talk about how village governments are run, we are dealing with amatures that are elected to do this. No offense to them, but having a desire to serve in no way qualifies them to "run government." Trust me, I've seen it a thousand times. And so have you. So, what do we get at election time? More of the same. I don't have allot of the answers to solve this. Betsy's dilemma is an illustration of life. There are no quarentees in this world and sometimes we take chances in our choices, both good and bad.

21.	Posted by Mr. Destiny November 1, 2009
	DP Regarding the world being like it is: No doubt about it. I know it. And I have quite a bit of knowledge of the poor planning, administration and vison of the good ole Village of Mantua. Dosen't it kind of speak for itself?? If that place isn't broke (no pun intened) no where is. Prople blame it on the economy and loss of Eaton. ETC... Ok, I stand corrected on the "charter". I am of the opinion that the law in the ORC is a baseline. There is no reason that the more enhanced controls cannot be put in place. If this statement you made is true: "preemptive mitigation' (prevention,blocking; partly to excuse a crime, lessen something)is built into the Oath of Office every elected official takes" Then can you answer how she and many other politicians are able to get thier hands into the taxpayers pockets? I believe the mayor is ultimately responsible to answer for that now in Mantua. Thanks for the definition of "egregious" and "preemptive mitigation." I guess my 25+ years of experience as a professional manager and corporate risk executive makes me too dumb to figure that out. In the end I believe I am right. We agree to disagree. In regard to thinblueline being a cop. I said I "believed" they were. I did not say I know. I have no problem with that person. In fact I have read many of their posts and find them to be very intellegent. I just didnt agreee with all the content intaht one. As I do not agree with yours.

20.	Posted by dp November 1, 2009
	thinblueline - EXCELLENT summary. MyGirl - with all due respect to you and your opinion, you are wrong on several counts. Mantua VILLAGE does not have a charter; standards are found in the 700 section of the ORC - they do not have to be made up by those who are elected; 'preemptive mitigation' (prevention,blocking; partly to excuse a crime, lessen something)is built into the Oath of Office every elected official takes; Do you know or were you told half the world wakes up every day trying to rip off the other half? If you find it that egregious (outrageously bad, blatant, ridiculous to an extraordinary degree) are you working to correct that or just making statements with little background that increase the drama and cause confusion? It's often a good idea to learn how something functions before trying to 'fix' the wheel that might not be broken. . . thinblueline is a cop?!?!?!?

19.	Posted by Mr. Destiny October 31, 2009
	Thinblueline, Not sure I 100% agree with you on this one. I know there are probably no standards for holding that office as it is elected and surely the Mantua "leadership" has no real vison of how to premptively mitigate this kind of thing in thier charter. They have an ongoing patter of less than stellar leadership, planning, strategy and vison in my opinion. I work in an industry where if you have poor credit history you cannot hold the job I perform. I agree that poor credit does not show criminal intent. However it indicates an elevated propensity of risk. I believe that the risk to the public's greater good is bigger than the individuals right to hold a position of responsibility. I and many risk assesment professionals see this the same. It is really an industry standard in my business. The same goes for most higher level government security clearances. I looked at the PC record for Woolf and all of her problems spring up after she was already in office. So I do agree that the background check in this case would not have stopped this from happening. I think the real issue here is a poor oversight by the mayor and a failue to ensure proper checks and balances were in place to reduce the risk of theft. I know a simple truth: Half the world gets up every morning to figre out how to rip the other half off. There needs to be verified checks and controls to keep people like Betsy woolf from ripping off those she has sworn to represent. I disagree that poor credit should not prevent a person from holding public office. If I wrote all the reasons here this would end up being 20 paragraphs long. I believe you are a police officer. How many checks and balances are in place to keep you honest? Many, many right? Some of them probably "handcuff" you from being able to do your job effectively. They should be there for the peorson who controls the finances of an entire town. That's all I am trying to state here. I agree with almost all of your posts on this site just not this one. Its not an attack against you. Just my opinion.