Published Tuesday, Oct. 5, 1999 In a three-page letter dated Aug. 26, Miller accused Michael Walker of Youngstown-based Pro-Con Enterprises, whom trustees hired a year ago to do a comprehensive plan for the township, of leaving town and some of his projects unfinished.
He also accused the trustees of taking the project away from Youngstown State University, the low bidder at $11,092, and giving it to "a friend with fewer credentials at double the price." Walker's bid was $22,000.
Trumbull County 911 Director and former Brookfield Police Chief Timothy Gladis said Miller has been treating the comprehensive plan issue as a "shadowy conspiracy."
Gladis said a steering committee worked on the plan and Walker put it together.
"It's funny how this comes at election time," Gladis said. "Since no real issue exists, he (Miller) had to invent one."
Miller is once again running for a seat on the township's board of trustees.
Resident Patricia Rowbotham interrupted Gladis, who said Miller was thrown out of office because of his behavior and his tendency to pick fights, and accused Gladis of trying to run a campaign against Miller. She acknowledged the committee's work on the plan but questioned money the trustees paid Walker but did not itemize.
"It may be a great plan, but we want to know what our $22,000 was put out for," Mrs. Rowbotham said. "You're trying to cover up things and you're not fooling us," she told trustees. Trustees have paid Pro-Con all but $300 of its contract, but Walker hasn't been heard from for several months.
Robert Maskrey, a member of the steering committee, said he keeps hearing how trustees may have wasted $22,000 by hiring Walker, but Miller's administration spent more than $185,000 on legal fees. He cited a lawsuit against Trumbull County 911 over dispatching fees; back pay for former Police Chief Tom Jones, who resigned in 1993 after pleading guilty to bugging the police station; and fighting a suit brought by The Vindicator of Youngstown for violating the open meeting law.
Maskrey also read passages from a book Miller wrote in which he told of a secret meeting with township dispatchers. Other passages detailed Miller's investigation of township police and how he gave his information to the state Bureau of Crime Investigation.
Maskrey said Miller was sued for making false accusations; Miller and several residents pointed out that the police were later convicted of bugging their own station.
Miller said during his 1990-95 tenure, the township spent a total of $252,000 on legal fees and most of that money came from a settlement made prior to his term. He also said Maskrey was reading excerpts of complete sentences from the book.
Miller explained he wanted to hold off settling with Jones because he knew indictments were coming, but the insurance company told trustees to settle right away. He also pointed out that he wasn't sued, the township was.
"I did my job as a trustee," Miller said. "I saw an injustice going on."
