|
Maletta said he knew nothing about city property used for his re -
election efforts. PORTAGE -- Mayor Sammie Maletta was scrambling Friday
to explain what three employees of the Water Reclamation Department were
doing the day before when constructing one of his re-election signs on
city property and on a city-owned trailer. The group was caught on
videotape just before 4 p.m. Thursday outside the city sewer department
by local cable television show host Gordon Bloyer and City Council
candidate Lee McGill, who said they were tipped off by a city
employee."That was done without my knowledge," Maletta said of the sign
construction. Shedding light on the happenings was Hartzell Scofield, a
City Council candidate and member of Maletta's re-election committee,
who works as a supervisor at the Water Reclamation Department. What he
knew is that the three employees, identified as Keith Elliott, Willie
Urquidi and Wes Simon, had intended to use a private truck to pick up
the Maletta sign from the local RI-CO Signs company after they punched
out of work at 3 p.m. Thursday. After Scofield went home, the group
picked up the sign and returned to the sewer department building just
east of Hamstrom Road.The men then attached the sign to a wooden
structure they had built at the sewer department that day and the entire
structure was atop a small, two-wheel trailer that is owned by the city,
Scofield said. They had intended to transport the sign to the entrance
of the Portage Mall, where it was to point out Maletta's campaign
office. While the sign structure was built on city property, Scofield
said that it was constructed on the men's off time and with their own
wood. "These guys volunteered to do that on their own time because they
support the mayor," Scofield said. As far as the trailer goes, Scofield
said that it was a piece of junk that was rebuilt and used by everyone
at the department. "It is technically a piece of city equipment," he
said. The effort to move the sign to the mall was stopped when Bloyer
and McGill pulled up after receiving a call from someone concerned about
the activities. Bloyer and McGill shot some video and then returned 15
minutes later to find the trailer empty. City Council member Donna
Pappas visited the building later that evening with Scofield, out of
concern that the signs were being made on site by city employees. She
could not be reached Friday, but Scofield said that she was satisfied
that no such work was under way. Maletta said that he knew that a sign
was to be installed at the entrance of the mall, yet had no idea it was
being built on city property and hauled on a city-owned trailer. Neither
did he realize the large size of the sign, which he said could not have
legally been posted at the mall. "I really don't condone that kind of
stuff," he said of the events of the day before. While Scofield expected
some backlash as the supervisor of the employees, Maletta did not say
specifically how he planned to respond. "I'll take care of it," he said. |
