Council calls special meeting to vote on resolution to remove Trustee Coles

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Tippecanoe County Council members felt an urgency to act on a resolution to remove Fairfield Township Trustee Taletha Coles after hearing more than an hour of testimony about Coles' administration of her office.

"I think we as a board — after what we heard today — should have a special meeting," Councilman Barry Richard said after eye witnesses spoke out about Coles' behavior.

Other council members agreed, so a special meeting at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27 is scheduled to hold a formal vote.

The council's Sept. 27 vote becomes the third step in a four-step process to remove rogue and unresponsive trustees, which was adopted earlier this year at the General Assembly.

If five or more of the council members affirm the resolution, Coles will be summoned into court within 20 days of the resolution. Tippecanoe Circuit Judge Sean Persin will then weigh the matter and decide if Coles should be removed from office, County Attorney Doug Masson said, outlining the new state law.

The council cannot vote on the resolution for 10 days after Tuesday's public hearing.

Coles, a Democrat who was elected in 2018, was a no-show at the council meeting, and Council President Kevin Underwood said he has not received an email from Coles before the hearing.

The Journal & Courier emailed Coles Tuesday morning asking why she did not attend the meeting, if she had any comments about her possible removal and if she wanted to comment on anything surrounding the allegations against her.

She did not respond before deadline.

Monica Casanova joined the Fairfield Township Board in February, and since then, she said she's battled to get documents that should be public.

“I had hoped that what I was reading in the press was hyperbolic, but I soon learned this was not the case,” Casanova told the county council members.

MORE: Fairfield Township trustee alleged to have driven township truck while intoxicated

MORE: Fairfield Township trustee charged $41K on credit card in 2021

Casanova is running as the Democratic Party's candidate for Fairfield Township trustee because, she said, of what she saw after joining the board. She defeated Coles in the spring primary.

“There is never an account for anything that the trustee does," Casanova said of her nine months of observation of Coles performance. "No executive reports provided to the board. No budget has been submitted to the state board of accounts since 2019, the first year that Trustee Coles took office.

“Routine questions about the township are dismissed by the trustee as irrelevant and out of their jurisdiction of the board, despite the board being the fiscal body of the township,” Casanova said of Coles' failure to do the trustee's job.

“Questions are seen as accusations, and any official request for documentation has to be done through public records requests," she said. "And those records can only be viewed at the township office with a monitor present.

“In fact, the Journal & Courier had to resort to suing the township office for release of what ought to be public information.

MORE: Journal & Courier files suit in pursuit of Fairfield Township trustee's records

“I believe this township and community deserve better, and I urge you to vote to remove Trustee Coles.”

The Indiana State Police and the Indiana State Board of Accounts currently are investigating Coles and her time in office.

In January, the Indiana State Board of Accounts seized Fairfield Township financial records. On May 20, the Indiana State Police served search warrants at the township offices, the township's other properties, saying they were investigating the township.

Later May 20, they served a search warrant at Coles' house in the 1200 block of Roberts Street. In that instance, police declined to say who they were investigating, but said the warrant at Coles' house was not about their investigation into the township.

Coles' inability to produce receipts for township purchases was discussed several times during Tuesday's public hearing.

Coles does not have receipts from credit card purchases because, according to Trisha Fogleman, a former employee, Coles shoves them into her wallet, into the truck console or between the seats. Yet Coles has accused former employees of shredding receipts and calls those making the accusations against her "ex-disgruntled employees."

MORE:Fairfield Township trustee blames former employees for lack of itemized receipts

“I am not a disgruntled employee," Fogleman declared to the county council. "I left rather than be complicit in her activities.

"Shredding documents is an actionable offense, and if there was any evidence this happened, we would be under investigation," she said in rebuttal to Coles' allegations that former employees shredded receipts.

Fogleman said Coles used to tell her that same line when she worked at the township offices.

“I am a whistle blower. I gain nothing from this,” Fogleman said.

The board's other two members — Perry Schnarr, the board president, and Rocky Hession, the board secretary — also spoke to the council about what they have witnessed, as did former employees Brigid Hamilton and Vicky Woeste.

Woeste used to investigate people who came to the township for assistance to make sure they qualified.

Woeste shared one case that drove her to leave employment with the township.

A young woman with two young children under the age of 2 came to the township for help.

"Taletha denied her request because she was sure there was a boyfriend in the picture," Woeste said.

There wasn't, according to Woeste's investigation.

"For the last year, it's been a waste of time to send them to the trustee's office," said Woestes, who works in social services at Lafayette Urban Ministries.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Council calls special meeting to vote on resolution to remove trustee