Thursday, March 19, 2009

DISCUSSION: ITS ABOUT TIME FOR HARTVILLE MAYOR ED TUCKER TO HAVE A HEART-TO-HEART WITH POLICE CHIEF GEORGE DRAGOVICH, JR. ABOUT MOVING ON?

Hartville Police Chief George Dragovich, Jr. is in another controversy?

According to Edd Pritchard's report in The Repository yesterday, the chief has a disgruntled officer (Officer Bardwell) on the Hartville police force because the officer does not believe his on-the-job complaints are being heard.

A key matter that The Rep writer failed to inform Rep readers of is this. Chief Dragovich, according to a source of the STARK COUNTY POLITICAL REPORT (The Report), works from his home.

Isn't this splendid?

This "little morsel" of missing information from both The Repository's report and a report by the Akron Beacon Journal (see link below) may actually be a key reason why the officer took the chief's mailbox and his complaint and put it on Mayor Tucker's door. The Report's source says that Dragovich does not regularly and consistently check his mail (perhaps as little as two times a year?). And consequently a number of important matters are not dealt with in a timely fashion which proves frustrating to folks like Bardwell.

To be nice, The Rep's article was incomplete to say the least. For a more complete account go to the Akron Beacon Journal's version, CLICK HERE.

Citizens of Hartville should be peppering Mayor Ed Tucker and Village Council with a volume of questions about what is going on here and demand swift and immediate corrective action.

The Report thinks Tucker et al have an awful lot of explaining to do. Apparently, they do not believe that The Repository and the Beacon Journal are going to consistently and abidingly press them on this bizarre way of running police administration within the Village.

Reading between the lines of the Beacon Journal's story, The Report gets the impression that council members and Tucker are appropriately indignant for media purposes, but once the press goes away very little or anything will be done by these elected officials to get the chief in line with doing prompt, efficient and effective police leadership.

The Report's take on the Mayor Tucker, Bohaychyk, Currie, Beltz, and Sullivan reaction and action is "to blame the victim."

The Report has begun its scrutiny of Hartville government and the days of getting "softball" coverage are over.

Chief Dragovich has a storied history of late involving his conduct as the man in charge of Hartville's law enforcement.

It was only on January, 2008 (with the assumption of office of Mayor Ed Tucker) that Dragovich came of paid administrative leave imposed by former Mayor Bev Green in September, 2007 as an outgrowth of a complaint received against Dragovich. The Rep's Edd Pritchard reported Green's action this way:
Green placed Dragovich on leave after hearing a complaint that he had accosted a customer at a local convenience store. She then turned the complaint over to the Stark County Sheriff's Department for an investigation.
In November 2006, Dragovich filed a lawsuit against Mayor Green in her capacity as mayor for "usurping his authority" as chief.

To just to get "a little bit sarcastic" with the chief: "Gee chief, your right. You run such a tight policing ship in Hartville that one wouldn't want anyone else to get in the way."

In October 2006, Dragovich rescinded previously announced plan to retire by retracting same during a Village Council meeting.

In December 2003, Dragovich was involved in an incident at Hartville's Giant Eagle, to wit: (as reported by The Rep's Kelli Young)
Mayor Owen Stoll gave Police Chief George Dragovich Jr. a verbal reprimand Tuesday for acting inappropriately after a Giant Eagle security officer stopped the chief outside the W. Maple Street grocery store for leaving with two votive candles without paying for them.
Back to the premises of this blog.

George Dragovich, Jr. should seriously consider, in the opinion of The Report, returning to Plan B.

What is Plan B?

Retirement, that's what.

Dragovich was scheduled to retire in June, 2006.

It was a good idea in 2006. It's an even better idea in 2009!

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