ETNA, Ohio — “I was disgusted when I saw that,” Etna Township Trustee Mark Evans said.
Evans is talking about cameras that were installed at the Etna Town Hall for security in early October. Then, on Oct. 19, he checked the app on his phone and saw three of the cameras were not responding.
“They didn’t seem to be operable,” he said.
Evans found earlier that day Board of Trustees President Rozland McKee and township contractor Bill Vance had covered the cameras with Post-Its and a plastic bag. Three days later the server the video was on was removed from Town Hall.
Both McKee and Vance, talking with 10TV’s Bryant Somerville on Monday, say the cameras were only supposed to be recording during public events and without audio.
“I can conclusively prove that there was no audio,” Evans said. “The videos are still within the app of the security system. There is no audio.”
The video clips obtained by 10TV from Trustee Evans did not have any audio.
Mrs. McKee says she contacted township attorneys about her concern and that they advised her to remove the video server. The matter is now being investigated by WhereWolfe Intelligence out of Westerville. It was a matter Evans voted ‘No’ to, saying it should have been handled by the township prosecutor, not an agency hand-picked by McKee.
At the trustee meeting on Nov. 1, Evans and Fiscal Officer Julie Varian inquired about the missing server, citing public record, but were not given answers.
“This is just a long line of instances where information and records are being withheld,” Evans said.
McKee says her concern was that the system was recording her for no reason and that Trustee Evans frequently accessed the server through his phone.
“Were you in any way, shape or form overstepping your reach concerning this surveillance system,” Somerville asked Evans.
“No,” Evans said. “Not whatsoever.”
Evans says every trustee should have been able to access the system from their phone.
While the matter is being looked into, Evans says who is really suffering are the residents of Etna Township.
“We are falling further and further behind and it’s hurting the residents, businesses and in the future of Etna,” he said. “Follow the law. Follow the rules and be transparent with the public and they’re not.”
McKee says WhereWolfe Intelligence is scheduled to provide an update on its investigation at the next trustee meeting, Dec. 6.