It is often misunderstood how small New Rome really is. Take a look at a Franklin County Engineer's Office map. See that tiny purple box to the left of where Norton Rd. intersects W. Broad St. on the West side? That's New Rome, all three blocks and 60 people of it. Notice that any of the nearby freeway interchanges are actually bigger than New Rome.
I once read that New Rome was the smallest incorporation in the state of Ohio.
Yet this blip on Broad has brought about shame and embarrassment and more to all of Central Ohio. I knew several people who would park at Doctors Hospital or Kroger or Dairy Queen or wherever and walk into New Rome if they had business there. And anyone who manages to pass through unticketed can't help notice the crumbling sidewalks and general unkemptness of W. Broad St. within its jurisdiction.
You may think, "So what--a town that small doesn't have much money."
Think again. This three-block-long burg rakes in well over 300,000 dollars a year in ticket income. At per capita spending of over $5,000, their streets should be paved with gold.
So where does all that money go? Read the following scandal timeline and judge for yourself:
- 1941: Village originally incorporated
- 1970's and 1980's: Village known all over Central Ohio as a speed trap
- 1989: State audit notes many improper accounting practices
- 1990: Village police chief Darwin Pelphrey charged with theft in office, fabricating records, and possession of dangerous ordnance
- 1990: Patricia Kinder, mayor's court clerk, pleads guilty to six counts of theft in office; auxiliary police officer Victor Ramey pleads guilty to forgery
- 1990: Current New Rome police chief Larry Cunningham is "reappointed" chief
- 1991: Ex-chief Pelphrey pleads guilty to felony theft for taking a shotgun from the village's property room
- 1991: Longtime mayor Bob Lee resigns after accusations of using a village credit card to buy gasoline for his personal vehicle. An audit showed 35 percent of village fuel purchases were used by Lee
- 1991: Former police chief Bell is found to have used a village credit card improperly
- 1991: Bell and Lee ordered by state auditors to repay $2,500 to New Rome
- 1993: Mayor's court clerk Sandra Bell found responsible for over $56,000 in missing funds. Bell, widow of former police chief Bell, pleads guilty to one count of theft in office
- 1996: New Rome receives $57,742 federal grant, citing a "dramatic rise" in burglaries, gang activity, vandalism and other crimes in New Rome. The money is subsequently used for traffic enforcement
- 1997: State inspectors condemn New Rome village hall; it is replaced with a prefab building
- 1998: Clerk of mayor's court Tammy Van Scyoc resigns after $56,456 disappears from New Rome accounts. State auditors find inadequate recordkeeping makes it difficult to determine guilt
- 2001: Clerk of mayor's court Joyce Johnson admits destroying case files and to stealing $5,600 from the mayor's court. Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Alan C. Travis has scheduled sentencing for May 31, 2002. Each offense carries up to five years in prison. Probation also is a possible punishment for the offenses. Johnson has agreed to pay back the stolen money.
- 2001: Goofball attempt to annex surrounding portions of unincorporated Franklin and Prairie Township. New Rome says existing city government would "step down" in a merger. This is true in a merger, but this would have been an annexation
- 2001: Jamie Mueller elected mayor with 6 votes. Existing officials refuse to seat him as mayor
- 2002: Committee to Dissolve New Rome has to file a complaint in court to force New Rome to place a village dissolution resolution on the ballot. The residents of New Rome voted 20-11 to keep themselves in business
- 2002: Ohio legislature introduces "the New Rome bill" that would eliminate mayors court for villages of under 100 people and make it easier to disincorporate corrupt towns
