By Janice Morse and Michael D. Clark
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Schiavone

HAMILTON - Middletown Mayor David Schiavone, who works as a Butler County probation department manager, is paid to make sure other people follow rules.

Now he is accused of breaking rules himself.

According to public records obtained by The Cincinnati Enquirer on Friday, Schiavone is accused of being inappropriately absent from his county job 10 times during the past two months. On one occasion, he is accused of drinking alcohol at a Hamilton County tavern on St. Patrick's Day, and on another, giving a mayoral speech after he told supervisors he needed to go home to care for a sick child.

In a list of a dozen departmental violations, Schiavone also is accused of approving time sheets for three subordinates during times when he was "aware that they were not working or sick." Those employees - Rick Baker, William Gray and Ron Wells - resigned this week amid an internal investigation of possible abuses of leave time.

Records state the three men and Schiavone had repeatedly been at Gray's house during workdays between Feb. 7 and March 18. The visits ranged from 90 minutes to 21/2 hours.

According to the documents, the allegations against Schiavone include:

• After requesting sick leave on Feb. 7 to take his child to a doctor appointment, he spent 21/2 hours at Gray's home with Gray and two other probation department employees.

• After requesting sick leave on Feb. 10 to stay home and care for a child, Schiavone "went to a ceremony at the National Guard Armory in Middletown," where he gave a speech in his capacity as mayor.

• On March 6, Schiavone's 47th birthday, Schiavone spent more than two hours with Gray, Baker and Wells at Gray's home.

• On March 17, St. Patrick's Day, Schiavone met Gray and Baker at Moose Malone's Bar in Colerain Township, and Schiavone "remained there consuming alcohol while on county time."

As a result of the investigation, which included surveillance of the men's activities, Gary Yates, chief probation officer and court administrator for the Common Pleas Court's General Division, said he has been auditing 400 case files to ensure that no cases were mishandled.

Baker, Gray and Wells either declined to comment or didn't return telephone messages Friday.Schiavone said: "I'm unable to comment on the pending investigation but will be happy to answer all questions at the end of the investigation." He faces an April 18 predisciplinary hearing.

Schiavone is a 19-year veteran of the county adult probation department, the last two of which have been spent as a manager overseeing 10 employees, including Baker, Gray and Wells. He also is a 10-year member of Middletown City Council and is serving his second consecutive one-year term as the city's mayor. The city's seven council seats, including the mayor's, are not full-time positions and pay $5,000 annually.

Middletown Vice Mayor Nancy Nix said Friday that because the disciplinary charges against Schiavone are not of a criminal nature, and a departmental hearing is pending, "I can't see where it would affect his ability to head the City Council."

"In my opinion, he has done a good job and has served the community well for a decade now," Nix said.

The allegations have, however, affected Schiavone's county job.

Since March 31, he has been under strict orders to remain in his office from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. weekdays, leaving for his lunch hour only at a time that Yates designates, a document says. Offenders under his supervision are supposed to report to him there. He is not allowed to do field visits while the investigation is pending. He also is required to give a detailed activity report to Yates.

A probe of the men's alleged workday activities began as a result of complaints that Butler County Commissioner Chuck Furmon received. He said several of Gray's neighbors had called him to complain that Gray "was spending a lot of time at home each day during work hours."

Furmon said he relayed the allegations to Doug Duckett, county personnel director, who then discussed them with Yates.

Yates said he launched an internal investigation in late 2002 or early 2003. Yates said the investigation continues and could involve several other employees, whom he declined to name while the inquiry goes on.

Duckett said he and Yates did not plan to seek criminal charges.

"But that decision lies with law enforcement officials," Duckett said.

Yates said Prosecutor Robin Piper and Judge H.J. Bressler, the Common Pleas Court's administrative judge, have been informed about the situation. Piper was at an out-of-town conference and could not be reached for comment Friday.

Yates told the 55 employees at Friday's meeting: "As officers of the court, we need to be a step above those we supervise and strive to rehabilitate. "

Furmon said hearing about the allegations was disappointing.

"It looks bad for the county when something like that goes on," Furmon said. "Obviously, we don't want to tolerate that. They're getting paid taxpayer's money. "

Steve Kemme contributed to this report.

E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com and mclark@enquirer.com