No Charges in Alleged Shoving, But Ethics Complaint May Be Coming

Criminal charges won’t be filed against Wyandotte City Administrator Todd Drysdale, who was accused of shoving City Assessor Thomas Woodruff in late January after the two got into an argument about access to veterans’ applications for property tax exemptions.

The dispute flared up after Woodruff reportedly allowed City Councilman Daniel Galeski to look at the personal files, causing concern among a large gorup of veterans who attended a public meeting and complained their privacy had been violated, the News-Herald reports.

The records contained information that is protected by the federal HIPA (Health Information Protection Act) law, the veterans said. Fifeteen residents applied for the exemption, including Mayor Joseph Peterson.

Drysdale reportedly found Galeski going through veterans’ applications for exemptions in Woodruff’s office. Woodruff reportedly asked him to leave and said that as an elected official, Galeski was entitled to look at any official documents.

They reportedly exchanged words before the alleged shoving. Wyandotte Police Chief Daniel Grant confirmed at  a June 11 council meeting that he took a report of an alleged assault after the Jan. 31 incident.

“A police report was filed and one of our detectives obtained witness statements, which along with the report were submitted to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office for review on Feb. 19,” Grant said.

However, Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Patrick Colletta, who is assigned to the Public Integrity Unit, declined to prosecute. The News-Herald said local citizens are looking into filing an ethics violation against Galeski.

Galeski has denied that he looked at veterans’ documents and called the allegations “a witch hunt.”