On April 6 Valleyview police chief Mark Consolo received a call from one of his officers notifying him that the village was changing locks at the administrative office. Having no prior knowledge of the change, Consolo went to the office.
Outside stood recently appointed mayor Raylene Graves. She handed Consolo a letter that stated, “Mark Consolo is guilty of insubordination, incompetence, inefficiency, neglect of duty, and acts on nonfeasance in the performance of his official duties as the Chief of Police.”
Graves’ letter claimed that Consolo has questioned and debated higher authority, failed to patrol the village, improperly conducted investigations, and mismanaged the police department.
Graves’ letter stated, “I am terminating Mark Consolo as Valleyview Chief of Police for all the reasons set forth above, and request that council uphold the decision.”
According to Consolo, Graves told Consolo to turn in his keys and other property the following Monday, April 8. Graves denies the claim. Consolo turned in items that day, for which the clerk signed.
On April 7 Valleyview officially posted a special meeting for the night of April 8 to appoint an acting police chief. The meeting was scheduled for 7pm.
Several dozen residents, including former council members and acting police officers, showed up. But there was no meeting. Graves had simply decided that there was no need to have a meeting, though many anxious residents said they suspected cowardice. There was no sign at the administrative doors stating that the meeting was canceled.
Mayor Graves’ husband, Valleyview councilman Robert Graves, drove by to simply tell the would-be audience that the meeting was canceled. Then he abruptly left.
Frank Schwarz, a resident wanting to know what was going on, said, “I feel it’s ridiculous because we don’t have any answers.”
“It’s just a total crock,” said former councilman Larry Blake. “I think Mrs. Graves is in over her head.”
When asked his opinion of the situation, former councilman Nick Quelette said, “What is going on?” He expressed indignation that the council and mayor would leave the residents in the dark.
A rumor had floated that several of the Valleyview police officers were going to walk off their jobs because of the fiasco.
Officer John Chapman corroborated the rumor. He said, “Considering what was said and what was going on, most of the police department would have walked off.”
Chapman said, “It ain’t right what they’re doing. It’s shady.”
Former officer Bryan Alcorn said, “I think they need to start doing things legally. I think they want to change this from Valleyview to Gravesville.”
Officer Dennie Hall said, “The man for the job is Mark Consolo. I stand behind him one hundred percent, all the way.”
Eventually the crowd outside the administrative office marched the neighborhood in search of council members.
When asked what grounds the village has to fire Consolo, Mayor Graves said, “That’s for reasons I’m not willing to go into right now.” She said the issue will be brought to light at the May 6 meeting.
Graves simply said, “I’ve served him with a letter.”
When asked why the special meeting had been canceled, Graves said, “We were giving him time to cool off and see if he’d come back.”
Graves said she had not fired Consolo, and that she had not asked him to turn in his keys.
Graves said, “I think people are being misinformed.”
But Consolo brings up a key question when addressing Graves’ denial. Consolo said, “If I wasn’t fired, why would they post a special meeting to appoint an active chief of police?”
Graves claims she called the special meeting because she feared that Consolo would not show up for work; she insinuated that she anticipated Consolo would not be into work that Monday, and she did not want to leave the village unprotected during his shift.
But she later made a contradictory claim by saying that residents were partially paranoid about the village going unprotected, since Franklin Township and other departments would come to Valleyview aid if necessary. Graves said, “The village is not unprotected.”
Irene White, current council president, feels differently. She said, “The village has no police protection.” That seems like an extreme statement for a village having seven employed police officers. The statement seems to add credence to Larry Blake’s assessment of White. Blake said, “Ms. White is little more than a Chicken Little running around yelling that the sky is falling.”
Consolo did not show up to work April 8-9. On April 9 he met with his attorney and an FOP attorney, after which Consolo was advised that Graves had no authority to fire him. Consolo returned to his duties on April 10.
White knew that the mayor couldn’t fire Consolo. She said, “The mayor cannot fire him.” She said that this fact alone validated canceling the special meeting, since Consolo had not been legally axed.
White said, “There was no need to have the meeting.”
Neither White not Graves explained why they neglected to post the cancellation. White sides with Graves on Consolo’s alleged misconduct. White said, “He’s negligent.”
But when asked for specific details on Consolo’s alleged misconduct, White referred to the letter Graves had submitted. She could not give a solid account of Consolo’s misconduct.
White said, “He doesn’t know the law. There’s too many people that have complained about him.”
The only detail she could give was of an incident where a Valleyview cruiser had been submitted for work at the dealership. White said that Consolo sent the vehicle for repairs without proper permission from the council, and she feels that Consolo has obstructed investigation into the issue.
Consolo said he has turned the issue over to the Franklin County Sheriffs Office for investigation.
Regarding the mayor’s attempt to oust him, Consolo said it’s a personal vendetta. He said he’s a witness in a civil suit against her husband that could have financial repercussions for the Graves’.
Consolo said, “As far as I know, I have no disciplinary actions against me in my file. I was aware of no charges whatsoever.”
Consolo said he loves the Valleyview community, and wants to continue serving the community—so long as the atmosphere of personal backbiting and childlike jealousy and revenge dissipates.
One thing is certain. He’s not happy with the current leadership. “They have no knowledge, no foresight about how a police department is supposed to be run.”
White seemed to shrug the department aside as a bunch of boys ignorantly following their leader. That’s how she characterized the department’s backing of Consolo.
What will council do if the officers walk off their jobs? White said, “Then we will get other people.”
How will the village attract officers with a pay rate of $8.50 an hour? White said, “We don’t have any crime here, and all they do is cruise around.” The implication was that the job is easy enough that the village could get some officers. The unintended admission was, though, that White’s earlier claim about the village in jeopardy because it lacked protection was a smokescreen.
Although White later said she doesn’t want to see the department leave, she showed little regard for the men in uniform when she said that the officers cannot complain about their low pay rate because they knew the rates when they were hired. “So if they didn’t want a boring job, they shouldn’t have taken it.”
White said, “If they want to quit, then I’m fine.”
White said she was not to blame for the village going unprotected. “It’s strictly the policemen doing it to themselves.”
Since Consolo has come back to his position, it’s hard to say what the future holds for the Valleyview police department. Consolo seems to have the backing of the department. Consolo intends on staying, and he will fight attempts to boot him.
Consolo said, “It will be going to court.”
Still, the entire ordeal has left a bad taste in many Valleyview residents regarding their local leaders. None seem more disgusted than former mayor Mike Russolillo. Russolillo was on hand at the administrative office for the meeting that never happened. His comment echoed that of almost everyone present.
Russolillo said, “People took their time to try and learn what’s going on, and they didn’t get any answers.”
Valleyview police chief Mark Consolo