Crestline Mayor Allen Moore said he plans to resign at end of week over racial slur video

CRESTLINE - Crestline Mayor Allen Moore said he plans to resign at the end of this week after a video was released earlier this month showing him using racial slurs, leading to village residents and council members calling for his resignation.

The video, recorded on Crestline Police Chief Joe Butler’s body-worn camera during a June conversation in Moore's garage, shows Moore using racial slurs four times.

Moore made the announcement in response to a resident's comment during a Crestline Village Council meeting Monday night.

"I was stepping down at the end of this week, just to let you know," Moore said during the public comment period of the meeting in response to Crestline resident Gary Almanson, who said Moore should resign and called him "a detriment to our city."

Moore's statement was met with applause from the roughly 50 people crowded into council chambers Monday night.

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Moore declined further comment on his planned resignation, saying he will release an emailed statement to media after he resigns.

Council members, village administrator John Rostash and village solicitor Rob Ratliff met in executive session for 20 minutes Monday night "to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion or compensation of a public employee or official."

Moore was not included in the executive session.

Moore issued an apology letter to the community Oct. 1, saying the recording was made without his knowledge after previously asking Butler to stop his "usual practice" of recording all conversations but saying "that is no excuse for using the language in that video."

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Residents call for mayor's resignation

Some Crestline residents have called on Moore to resign over the video. Crestline Village Council unanimously signed a letter earlier this month saying Moore should resign "immediately."

Council unanimously approved waiving its rules limiting public comments to three minutes, changing it to five minutes for Monday night.

Kari Pfeifer, quartermaster at Harley Helfrich VFW Post 2920, read a statement Monday night about Moore's comments in the video about the VFW and other aspects of Crestline. Several members of the post also attended Monday's meeting.

"Not only did the mayor use racial slurs to address members of this community, he also talked negatively about local businesses," Pfeifer said. "There aren't that many businesses left in Crestline, and the last thing the mayor or any other employee of this village should do is be talking in a negative manner about any of them."

She said the VFW demands an apology and the resignation of both Moore and Butler.

"The degrading language used by both was an absolute disgrace to this village," she said. "Both the mayor and police chief should be held to a higher standard than what was displayed. Village pride starts right here. It begins with the mayor, the council and the employees of this village. If none of you are going to display the pride we need in this village, then we may as well turn off the street lights and call it a day."

Pfeifer said Moore was a social member of the VFW post as a guest, but the group decided to end his membership, saying he's no longer welcome in the canteen or post.

Pfeifer added the VFW has donated more than $55,000 back to the community over the past two years.

"If behavior like this continues in the local government, we will find different avenues to utilize our charity funds," she said.

Crestline resident LeAnn Walker-Williams said Monday night Moore's apology letter was not enough, and he needs to resign, calling it "the only remedy for this community to move forward."

Walker-Williams, who was born in Crestline and moved back in 2006 to raise her daughter, said the video has put Crestline on the map in a negative light, rather than for its small-town atmosphere.

"I think as citizens of Crestline, we deserve public officials who not only unites the community, but they look for ways to grow our community, with businesses, industry and suitable resources and infrastructure," said Walker-Williams, 50. "We as citizens of Crestline deserve the mayor and a city council that puts Crestline first."

Walker-Williams also questioned Moore's explanation for using the slurs.

"You were talking in first person instead of repeating a story that you claimed that you overhead," she said.

Walker-Williams said she commended council for its letter calling on Moore to resign but said they were "complicit in the unfortunate situation that this community has been put in," questioning why they didn't release the letter until after local media began reporting on the issue.

"It's hard to believe that no one on the council questioned the activities of the mayor, as far as the police chief being on administrative leave and firing of the dispatcher (Deb Potter)," she said.

Walker-Williams started a petition and hopes to get enough signatures to have a special election to recall Moore and remove him from the position.

Per Ohio Revised Code, the number of signatures on the petition must be at least 15 percent of the total votes cast at the most recent regular municipal election.

Walker-Williams said Monday night signatures were still being gathered and didn't have an estimated number of signatures.

An online petition was also started calling for Moore's resignation. As of Tuesday afternoon, it had 122 supporters, with a goal of 1,000.

And Walker-Williams had a reminder for council and the mayor.

"We are not going away," she said. "For those who love Crestline and who have been raised and born here, this is not going to end. If we have to be here every other week for this meeting, this is the way it'll be."

Crestline resident John Hess said council members and mayors should be elected, not appointed, when they need replaced.

"It needs to give the voters, the people, the choice, not your buddies," he told council.

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Crestline resident Phyllis Cochran, who said her family has lived in Crestline for more than 100 years, said she hopes this is a learning experience for community, estimating 50 percent of people in room have used N-word, even though "you may not want to admit it."

"No matter what color you are, we've got a lot in common. We all came here the same way. When we bleed, it's the same color...And we're all going to die. So why waste time with this pettiness over dumb stuff?" she said.

Cochran said people need to treat others as they want to be treated.

"I still want to be treated like a human being. If I personally do something to you, then have a problem with me, but not just because of the color of my skin or what your grandparents taught you or what their great-grandparents taught somebody," she said. "We've got enough problems in the world. We don't need to have Crestline totally crushed."

Cochran said Crestline used to be a "lively town" people wanted to come to, but now, it's "falling apart."

"Right now, you're growing up a generation of children that can't wait to get out of Crestline because we don't offer them anything. We're too busy playing politics," she said. "We're not gonna grow that way. If you can't handle your job, get down from it, and don't just tell me 'I'm sorry.' If you don't mean it, don't say it."

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According to an April Telegraph-Forum article, Moore has been in office since April 4.

Moore replaced former Mayor Barry Byerly, who was elected last fall and replaced acting mayor Clayton Herald. Herald became acting mayor after Gloria McDonald resigned in May 2017 after serving two years of her term.

Moore was appointed to village council in February 2015 and elected to a new term in November of that year.

The Telegraph-Forum reported in April Moore has been a Crestline resident since 1960 and is a 1974 Crestline graduate.

ejmills@mansfieldnewsjournal.com

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Twitter: @EmilyMills818