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The Brown County Press - Sunday, July 18, 2010 - Page 9
Baker sentenced to two years Duke tax dispute with Ohio will effect Brown County soon "Fortunately for Miss Ramsey we are in this court room in Clermont County and we are a system of laws, not a system of mob rules," Rapp said. He made the argument that Ramsey's involvement in the Fiesel case should not have any bearing on her sentencing for the drug charges. "We are asking the court to punish her fairly," Rapp said, "to take into account that this is her first felony (conviction), these are (fourth and fifth degree felonies). Blind retribution, which is perhaps what society out there is asking for...that is best left to the primitive societies." Judge Walker said Ramsey's history with the court system still carried weight in her sentencing consideration whether she was given immunity or not. "Your counsel mentioned blind retribution. The symbol of justice is lady justice with a blindfold. Once you are convicted the blindfold comes off and justice is expected to look at the whole person," Walker said. "Your history is with you here today. I don't think you have any genuine remorse for these circumstances." Walker sentenced Ramsey to six months in prison for each of the four trafficking and possession charges to be served consecutively. He also sentenced her to six months in jail for the driving under the influence charge but suspended all but three days, which were counted in her almost four months served in Clermont County Jail since March. She was also fined the $375 minimum and will serve three years community control after her release. Walker noted that Ramsey was accepted into the River City drug and alcohol rehabilitation program and he said
that depending upon her behavior and other factors she could be out of prison and in the program six months from her sentencing. Including her 120 days in county jail and six months in the rehabilitation program, Walker said Ramsey could serve as little as one and a half years incarceration. Rapp detailed Ramsey's history before and after the Fiesel case. He said that Ramsey had not had an easy childhood and was married at the age of 18. She had three children with her now former husband. She was found guilty of a menacing charge in 2000 related to a verbal altercation with her husband for which she received a suspended sentence. In 2006 she was convicted of misdemeanor alcohol offenses relating to an incident at the Brown County Fair. In September 2006 she lost custody of her three children. Custody was returned in 2009. Also in 2009 she earned her General Equivalency Diploma. Following the Fiesel case she was diagnosed with an alcohol addiction and post traumatic stress disorder. Kevin Jodrey, Pastor of a small church in Decatur in Brown County, also spoke on behalf of Ramsey. He met her while working as a manager at the Dollar General in Williamsburg and eventually hired her for a position at the Dollar General. Jodrey said she has had a very difficult time keeping a job since the Fiesel case, and the Dollar General position was no different. Near the end of Ramsey's shift Jodrey began to receive angry phone calls from customers and employees upset over her hiring. Five hours after Ramsey started her first shift at the store Jodrey received a call from his district manager. "My district manager calls me and said 'Did you hire Amy Baker' and I said 'Yes I
did.' He said 'I can't believe you did that'...he told me I created a public relations nightmare," Jodrey said. While Dollar General could not fire her after she had passed a background check, Ramsey told Jodrey that she felt it was in her best interest to quit. Jodrey had put in his two weeks notice at the Dollar General before hiring Ramsey and he continued to council her when she was arrested later that month. "I thought maybe I could help her out a little bit because I knew the case and I knew what she suffered through and I saw how people treated her," Jodrey said. "As I look back on that day...I think, for me that was just one day. It was a traumatic day for me and it was traumatic for her as well. And I thought, she suffered that so many times since 2006 and she can't get a job. That's so unfair that public outrage would allowed to keep her from getting a job." Jodrey said he has spent about 50 hours counseling Ramsey since her arrest. "She has a very difficult time because of her infamous status and ended up abusing drugs," Rapp said. Following the sentencing Jodrey told reporters that, while he was not surprised by Walker's sentence, he did not think it was appropriate. "I felt she's been remorseful," Jodrey said. "She does need rehab but I believe she should be allowed to have a normal life." Jodrey said Ramsey was a good mother to her children and he thought she had wanted to leave the area following the Fiesel trials but did not have the means to do so. He said he will continue to counsel her in prison. "I believe God put me there to help her out," Jodrey said. "I'm just doing my job as a pastor."
Old SES now social services business CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 G & D Director of Operations Keith Crothers said that business' clients currently range in age from 18 to 75, and about 42 employees work for G & D. Crothers said G & D aims to teach its clients such skills as writing their names, addresses, and phone numbers and computer usage. He also mentioned the business provides music therapy programs and teaches clients skills with animals at a farm G & D owns in Brown County about 3 miles outside Williamsburg and with fish and hamsters who live at the G & D servic-
es building. Crothers also mentioned how G & D takes its clients out into the community to teach other skills and to provide recreational opportunities. He said they are taught how and when to cross streets, how to recognize traffic signs, and, when they eat out, how to manage money. Fitzpatrick, who said he has been working at his business for 30 years or so, also mentioned it operates seven group homes in Brown County and an eighth such home in Clermont County. The purchase of the former SES building also will create
an opportunity for some other small businesses to locate in Sardinia. Fitzpatrick said he plans to rent space G & D won't need to small business tenants and also mentioned how he can rent the gymnasium out for such functions as parties and wedding receptions. G & D, which Fitzpatrick said became incorporated in 1991, will hold an Open House in the near future to offer the public an opportunity to learn about the services it offers. G & D Alternative Living Inc. may be reached at (937) 446-2803. Its website is at www.gdalternativeliving.net.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The following is a list of entities or levies affected by the reduced tax payments provided by Green. The first figure is the 20 percent reduction already paid by Duke Energy for the second half of 2009 assessment, including the additional payment announced on July 14. The second figure is the 40 percent annual reduction the utility is asking for. The second number is provided to show the potential maximum impact should Duke win the tax appeal. Eastern Local $27,000, $108,000 RULH $17,300, $69,200 Southern Hills JVS $15,000, $60,000 Western Brown $13,750, 55,000
Georgetown EVSD $11,000, $44,000 Brown County $9,000, $36,000 Fayetteville Perry $7,500, $30,000 BCDD $4,750, $19,000 Library Services Levy $2,350, $9,400 Senior Citizens Levy $1,900, $7,600 Perry Twp $1,325, $5,300 Jackson Twp $1,150, $4,600 Mt. Orab $1,150, $4,600 Lewis Twp $1,080, $4,320 Ripley $920, $3,680 Russellville $850, $3,400 Sterling Twp $650, $2,600 Clark Twp $550, $2,200 Green Twp $540, $2,160 Union Twp $460, $1,840 Georgetown $455, $1,820 Brown Co. Library Bond Levy $450, $1,800 Pike Twp $445, $1,780 Fayetteville $325, $1,500
Bethel Tate $350, $1,400 Franklin Twp $330, $1,320 Huntington Twp $325, $1,300 Higginsport $275, $1,100 Blanchester $260, $1,040 Scott Twp $250, $1,000 Pleasant Twp $245, $980.00 Jefferson Twp $205, $820 Willamsburg Local $180, $720 Washington Twp $165, $660 US Grant JVS $75, $300 Eagle Twp $37.50, 150 Byrd Twp $34, $136 Hamersville $30, $120 Aberdeen $27.50, $110 Great Oaks JVS $20, $80 Blanchester Library $7.50, $30 St. Martin $3.50. $14 The village of Sardinia did not receive a Public Utility Personal Property tax payment according to the information supplied by Green.
Longtime Legion member honored CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Bernhardt Opens Program “We love this great country of ours – that is why we are here tonight,” Bernhardt said as he opened the program. Post Chaplain Dennie Keyes then offered the invocation and prayed to God, “We give You thanks for this great country. We thank you for giving our forefathers the foresight to lay down the divine foundations of where we are today.” Keyes thanked God for all the servicemen and servicewomen who were fighting for their country. Bernhardt then led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance and commented, “Today we celebrate the 234th Birthday of the greatest nation known to man.” Bernhardt conducted the program's Prisoner Of War/Missing In Action Place Setting Remembrance Service by a small table with a white tablecloth and other symbols and explained to his listeners what
each symbol meant. Among those symbols, the adjutant said, are the table, which being small symbolizes the helplessness of one person alone against his oppressors; the tablecloth's white color, which represents the purity of POWs' and MIAs' intentions in responding to their country's call to arms; and a yellow ribbon around a vase symbolizing the United States' unyielding determination to demand a proper accounting of its POWs and MIAs. “Remember, we all called them comrades, brothers, sisters and friends,” Bernhardt solemnly said. “Do not let them be forgotten for surely they have not forgotten us.” He then asked the crowd to pause for a Moment of Silence in honor of all the United States' POWs and MIAs. Keynote Address Delivered Bernhardt delivered the program's main speech by telling his listeners how they had a lot of blessings in their lives simply because they lived in the great
nation of the United States. He talked about how he was one of six children raised by a single mother in Newark, N.J., who walked to work each day. “We didn't have a whole lot, but we had each other,” Bernhardt recollected. He talked about such freedoms Americans have as the right to assemble as those gathered were exercising that evening; the right to worship God in one's own way; and the right to travel from one place to another without the permission of the local authority. He concluded by saying, “This Fourth of July, as Americans celebrated our freedom, our thoughts are also with the men and women who defend that freedom as members of the United States military. Our community and nation honors their service and sacrifice, and one of our greatest sources of pride on this Fourth of July is that men and women like them wear the uniform of our country throughout our country and others.
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B R O A D S H E E T O D D
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Sedarat appeared with legal representation at the village council's regular meeting this past May 10. While the council held an executive session that night to discuss personnel, they didn't call Sedarat and his legal representation into the executive session and took no action regarding Sedarat that night. Council members this past Monday also approved a Release and Settlement Agreement regarding Sedarat that had been signed by his attorney David Hardin of Cincinnati. New Chief Sworn In Bumbalough swore in Lewis this past Monday night after council members had approved him as Sardinia's new police chief. Bumbalough mentioned Lewis provides a fresh start for the village and its police department and added it was time for the village to move on from the past. Lewis, 50, retired this past September from the Georgetown Police Department where he had served 28 years including 16 as assistant chief. In an interview following last Monday's meeting, Lewis said said he agreed to accept the Sardinia chief's position because “The mayor called me and asked me if I was interested in coming over and seeing about getting the Police Department back on track.” Lewis said one of his biggest challenges as the new chief will be to try “to get cit-
izens to realize the Police Department is there to help them”. He will be paid $11 per hour for 36 hours of work per week and will be the Sardinia Police Department's only paid officer for now. In an interview after the meeting, Bumbalough commented about how the village has to have a police department “people can depend on”. He said the village has 18 auxiliary police officers, who receive no pay for their work but keep up their certification and credentials through their duties. Bumbalough said he would like if possible for the village to have some paid part-time officers next year. The Sardinia Police Department's officer in charge prior to Lewis' hiring was Sgt. Dan Nichols, who had been that department's only paid officer. Bumbalough said the village has now laid off Nichols from that paid position. Agreement's Terms Given The Release and Settlement Agreement the council approved between Sardinia and Sedarat include: Sedarat will continue on paid administrative leave as a part-time employee until Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012. He will not exercise any law enforcement powers on behalf of the Sardinia Police Department, other than those necessary to facilitate the agreement's terms, during the paid administrative leave period. Sardinia will pay Sedarat $1,000 per month, minus cus-
tomary payroll deductions, from this past July 1 through Friday, Dec. 31, 2010. That pay will increase to $1,500 per month, minus customary payroll deductions, from Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011, to Feb. 1, 2012. Sedarat will relinquish his “chief of police” title upon the first date after the full execution of the agreement, and upon that relinquishment, he automatically will be converted to the police officer position from that date until a date not before Feb. 1, 2012. If all of the agreed to payments have been made and received by Sedarat by Feb. 1, 2012, he will resign from the Sardinia Police Department effective that date. During the entirety of the agreement's terms, Sardinia will continue to make all current and necessary pension contributions on Sedarat's behalf to the appropriate retirement entity. The parties agree to fully and completely cooperate in all manners necessary to facilitate the terms of the agreement including cooperating in maintaining all of Sedarat's necessary law enforcement certifications until Feb. 1, 2012. The village will withdraw all charges and/or allegations and accompanying documentation from Sedarat's personnel and other files to the extent permitted by law. Sardinia and Sedarat agree to a release of all pending and potential claims in existence, but not previously settled or resolved, at the time the agreement is executed.
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Lewis approved as Sardinia police chief