By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FLORENCE - Mayor Diane Whalen on Tuesday fired Ronald J. Epling, the man who until recently had managed this city's finances.

The firing comes as public outcry increases with every new allegation involving how the city's finance director reportedly embezzled $1.2 million to support a former Newport stripper, his estranged wife and two stepdaughters.

"Now that we know he has admitted to stealing to police, there was nothing else to do except terminate him," Ms. Whalen said Tuesday. "He told police he opened a dummy Florence Capital Improvements account in 1988 for the sole purpose of embezzling money from Florence."

Boone Commonwealth's Attorney Linda Tally Smith said some of the missing money has gone toward a $650,000 home in the golf course community of Triple Crown, where his estranged wife lives.

Ms. Smith said Mr. Epling also supported his girlfriend, a former stripper, by providing her with a $200,000 home in Delhi Township.

"Aren't they supposed to audit the books?" Florence resident Willy Edwards said while doing some last-minute shopping near Mall Road. "I don't understand how this wasn't caught.

"My money used to buy a swanky home in Triple Crown ... give me a break!"

Mr. Epling had been suspended from his $69,000 per year job as the Florence finance director since Dec. 16 after Rankin, Rankin and Co. of Fort Wright found irregularities in the city books.

The 51-year-old Delhi Township man is charged with 18 counts of felony theft. The charges stem from $1,204,280 he allegedly diverted from the city's general fund to accounts under his control at Fifth Third Bank during a 19-month period ending in August 2002, according to Boone District Court records.

Mr. Epling is being held in lieu of $1 million bond at the Boone County jail.

Ms. Smith now must present the case to a grand jury within 60 days.

"I hope they send him to prison because I'm sure they will never find all the missing money," said Jennie Lange, a receptionist at the J.C. Penney hair salon at Florence Mall. "I don't think it's right - what he did. I don't like it."

In a move to bolster public support and get the finances in order, Florence has hired retired Cincinnati Director of Finance Frank Dawson. He was Cincinnati's chief financial officer for 21 years and briefly served as the city's acting city manger in 1993.

Mr. Dawson will assist Acting Finance Director Valerie Bowman to manage the city's $18 million annual budget.

"Florence has always been a small town, but now we are getting bigger," said Bill Mattingly of Florence. "I guess when you get bigger you get bigger problems, too. And this sure sounds like a real big problem. I don't remember anything like this happening here before."

The city, one of the first to experience rapid commercial growth in Northern Kentucky in the 1980s, grew 26 percent in population between 1990 and 2000, to just under 24,000 residents, according to census figures. Its median housing value went up 47.4 percent in that time, from $69,200 to $102,000. And its households with incomes of $150,000 or more increased from 15 to 169.

"It's pretty amazing," said Mr. Mattingly, a Northern Kentucky native who has lived in Florence for 10 years. "I wonder why someone didn't blow the whistle sooner. You would think someone, somewhere, would have noticed something strange about Mr. Epling."

E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com