Should sheriff's employee keep job after admitting theft?
An arbitrator says yes, the sheriff says no and the county pays her $47,500 to leave.
Click-2-Listen
By Kelli Wynn
Staff Writer
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Stacie Williams said every time she glanced at Alyssa "Lisa" Ridgeway during the 2005 spaghetti dinner fundraiser for the West Carrollton Pirate Competitive Cheer Association, Ridgeway "had wads of money."
That's why Williams, a coach with the recreational cheer team, said she found it odd when she and another coach approached Ridgeway, then director of the cheer team, about how much money they had raised, Ridgeway's response was, "I don't know. I didn't count it." Ridgeway also declined to let them help her count the money right then. Instead, she opted to take the money to a friend's house to count and report the total later.
Taking fundraiser money would soon become a habit for Ridgeway, according to West Carrollton police reports.
On June 28, 2006, the Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office admitted Ridgeway, 37, into the diversion program after West Carrollton provided evidence that she stole money from the cheer team.
"I presented (Ridgeway's case) to Montgomery County Assistant Prosecutor George Patricoff. After review, Patricoff approved charges of theft under $5,000 to be presented to grand jury with the request of diversion in lieu of conviction," said West Carrollton Detective Robert Bell in a police narrative report.
Ridgeway's diversion agreement with the prosecutor's office says Ridgeway agreed to repay $2,250 in restitution and write a letter of apology to her 38 victims, as well as the West Carrollton Recreation Association.
Ridgeway declined to comment for this report. However, in a statement dated May 1, 2006, attached with the diversion agreement, she wrote: "Between August 2005 and October 2005, I had used approximately $1,854. I used $800 to pay my Vectren bill, approximately $714 to cover checks in my personal account and approximately $301 for miscellaneous things" and "I have since paid back $1,553 of the money."
Ridgeway also wrote, "I admit I used money that I collected for competitive cheer for personal use without authorization ... This incident is something I never want to experience again. I have learned a lesson the hard way and have lost people's trust and respect and also my dignity. I am truly sorry for the bad choices I made. I want to take this negative incident and turn it into a positive learning experience. Hopefully, I can regain the trust and respect that I lost. I had since made a budget for myself to turn my financial situation around."
In another statement dated May 30, 2006, Ridgeway wrote: "During the months of August through October we still had a lot of parents that had not finished paying for their uniforms and we still had parents that needed to turn in fundraiser money. I had parents dropping off money periodically. During this time I did not get to the bank for deposits as often as I had been. It was easier for me to borrow the money at the house for personal use than to go to the bank. I did not keep track of the money. I would guess that I used approximately $3,000 total, to which I have paid back $1,854 of that total. I know what I did was not the right thing to do and I should not have done it. I thought I could get it all paid and reconcile the account. Instead it just had a snowball effect until I had no more control. I am so very sorry for the mess I have caused and regret having done the things I did."
Diversion Officer Constance Rogacki wrote in the victim restitution agreement with Ridgeway that her projected final payment date would be Sept. 30 of this year.
Williams said she and the cheer team's leadership were disappointed when they were told that it would take Ridgeway two years to pay back $75 to each of the victims.
"So you're telling me it's going to take two years for the parents to get back their money?" Williams said, recalling what she said to diversion officials at the time. "Well, it didn't take her two years to steal the ... money. It didn't take her two years to pay her (bills). It took two minutes."
Williams said Ridgeway paid back the money she owed at the end of 2006.
Williams said unfortunately, the situation created some distrust in the competitive cheer program.
Besides being director of the recreational association, Ridgeway was also the coach of the sixth-grade students. Last year, some of the sixth-graders left, and those who remained had to join the fifth-grade students in order to compete, Williams said.
"You have one person who abuses their position and does something they shouldn't do and the whole entire group gets penalized," Williams said.
The arbitration
In a April 4, 2006, letter, Montgomery County Sheriff's Maj. Glen McIntosh told Sheriff's Chief Deputy Phil Plummer, "To my knowledge Ridgeway never informed any of her supervisors of the charges brought against her" and goes on to say that she may have violated some of the sheriff's office rules, which have to do with compliance with laws, payment of debts and ethical conduct.
Ridgeway was terminated from her corrections officer's position at the county jail on Sept. 20, 2006.
"You have to be able to trust the individual who is taking that gold necklace" from an incoming prisoner, Sheriff Dave Vore said.
Ridgeway filed a grievance protesting her removal and sought reinstatement with back pay. An arbitration hearing was held Feb. 6, according to the opinion and award statement filed May 2 by Margaret Nancy Johnson, an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association. The Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association represented Ridgeway in the hearing.
Johnson said "monies (Ridgeway) misappropriated from the cheer squad were used to pay a utility bill three months in arrears as well as groceries for her family. Motivated by Dickensian desperation and not by criminal intent, (Ridgeway) was a casualty of her own mismanagement."
"Gimme a break. This is comical," Vore said Wednesday as he reviewed Johnson's opinion. "What person who steals wouldn't hold this up as an eloquent argument for their case."
The 2005 combined gross salary of Ridgeway and her husband, Gary, who also works at the sheriff's office, was at least $101,000, according to county records. In 2006, the couple's combined gross salary was at least $92,000.
Johnson concluded in her arbitration statement that the removal of Ridgeway's job affected her ability to comply with the terms of the diversion program.
Vore agreed that a job would help Ridgeway complete her diversion program, but didn't agree that the job had to be at the sheriff's office.
Ridgeway collected unemployment pay after she was terminated in September 2006, Vore said. However, she did not receive it in April, May, and June.
Off-duty conduct
Johnson also wrote in her opinion statement, "Since the off-duty conduct in question has no relationship to the ability of (Ridgeway) to perform her job duties as a corrections officer, the grievance should be sustained."
Johnson stated the OPBA's position was, "unless the behavior in question has some nexus to the employment relationship, then such activity ought not to be subject to managerial authority. In this instance the record establishes there was absolutely no media coverage of the incident, no adverse impact upon the (sheriff's) office, no conclusive testimony as to unwillingness of employees to work with (Ridgeway), no public knowledge of the occurrence. There simply is no indication of any effect on the ability of the (sheriff's office) to fulfill its mission. Indeed, throughout the investigation into the allegations, (Ridgeway) continued to perform her duties without any incident."
Johnson stated the sheriff's position was, "since the off-duty conduct in question involved a criminal act against a youth group sponsored by the community, there is a clear relationship between the behavior of (Ridgeway) and her job. Even though she was not a Deputy Sheriff, as a Corrections Officer, (Ridgeway) was committed to compliance with ethical and moral expectations. The very function of the sheriff's office and (its employees) is to uphold and enforce the law."
"When I look at her, I think of her as someone who upholds the law," Williams said of Ridgeway. She added that leaders and parents associated with the cheer team were aware that Ridgeway was a corrections officer and that her husband is a deputy sheriff.
Ridgeway at one time was a deputy sheriff, but she was demoted to corrections officer in 2003 after an administrative investigation revealed she falsified compensation time request forms.
In a Feb. 5 discipline recommendation letter, McIntosh told Plummer that Ridgeway had received a letter of reprimand in July 2006 for "calling in sick for a trade and going to a little league baseball game."
After arbitration
Vore said once the news spread that the arbitrator said Ridgeway should get her job back, "I had employees telling me they weren't going to work with her. I wasn't going to put other employees at risk."
Vore said he was also concerned about what the public would think if Ridgeway returned.
"(The public) will not tolerate police corruption, nor will the 99 percent within the police profession," he said.
Vore also stressed "criminal behavior by Montgomery County Sheriff's Office employees is extremely rare. It's not indicative of the hardworking employees that serve the citizens of MontgomeryCounty everyday."
Williams said for Vore to allow Ridgeway to return to the sheriff's office would represent his condoning of her actions.
Vore said he contacted Deborah Feldman, county administrator, and received approval to have an assistant prosecuting attorney begin negotiations with the OPBA's attorney to settle the matter financially.
Montgomery County Commissioners Dan Foley and Debbie Lieberman voted May 29 to adopt a resolution granting Ridgeway a lump-sum payment of $47,500 in exchange for her resignation. Commissioner Judy Dodge was absent.
The commissioners could not be reached for comment Friday.
Vore said the $47,500 came from the litigation fund in the auditor's budget and was significantly less than what Ridgeway originally sought.
Ridgeway signed a receipt and release of all claims June 1, the same day she submitted her letter of resignation. The receipt, release and resignation letter said Ridgeway's resignation was effective retroactively to Sept. 20.
What is Ridgeway doing now?
In November, Shannon Walker, president of the Moraine-West Carrollton Little League, appointed Ridgeway as the association's game scheduler, which Walker said is an auxiliary position.
Ridgeway's husband is the association's executive vice president.
Walker said she is aware of Ridgeway's past and pointed out that, "She doesn't have any financial dealings with the organization."