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LOWELLVILLE Village seeks interim police chief
LOWELLVILLE
Village council approved legislation to create a part-time interim chief-of-police position at a special meeting Thursday because of the abrupt resignation of its chief June 19.
Ryan Bonacci, who had been chief since August 2013, resigned via email to the council and village Mayor Jim Iudiciani.
The legislation gives the council time to advertise and search for a full-time chief, Iudiciani said. It intends to begin that search with an advertisement Friday or Monday, he said.
The interim chief will not work more than 28 hours a week at a wage of $20.43 an hour. There is a six-month cap on the term because another mayor might want to appoint his or her own interim chief after the November election, Iudiciani said.
Iudiciani said until someone is appointed, the department’s two captains are capable of running it.
Four people have expressed interest in the full-time chief’s position, which pays $42,500 a year to start, he said.
One person is from outside the department, and Iudiciani said he will not release that person’s name without a public-information request.
The three department insiders are Sgt. Don Coppola; part-time patrol officer J.R. Blakeman; and part-time patrol officer Dan Lamping.
Lamping was a patrol officer in Struthers until Mayor Terry Stocker fired him in July 2012 after he was charged with OVI by the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Boardman.
He has been working for the Lowellville department for about a year, said Iudiciani, who added Lamping is a “good officer” who made a mistake.
Capt. Stacy Karis, who is dating Iudiciani, has not expressed an interest in becoming chief, he said.
Bonacci has said he resigned partly because of an investigation into something that Karis did while she was schools officer.
She delivered binders in March to school board members’ homes with information that included the school safety plan in the event of an active shooter, terrorist event or other emergencies.
The schools’ attorney alluded to her that giving the plans to board members made them public record – a violation of state law because the documents are supposed to be confidential.
Lowellville Police did an internal investigation. Bonacci reported to the Ohio Ethics Commission that Iudiciani was intimidating him during the investigation.
Bonacci recommended firing Karis. She remains employed.
Iudiciani said Thursday he does not want to respond to too much of what Bonacci said because he wants to speak to the village’s legal counsel first.
He also pointed out the OEC decided the relationship between him and Karis is not an ethics violation.
He said he is not her direct supervisor, and even though he is the supervisor of the police chief who will in turn supervise her, he does not see a problem with that.