WARREN — Denny Malloy, Trumbull County Board of Commissioners president, said he is planning to file a police report on Commissioner Niki Frenchko after she took a hammer to a plastic glass divider.

The divider had been placed under the board’s large desk to keep heat from a small heater she keeps underneath from blowing on the other commissioners.

Just moments before the commissioners’ public meeting Wednesday, Frenchko walked up to the desk area and saw that a plastic glass divider that she’d removed the night before had been replaced and bolted in between the desk area.

Frenchko, according to Malloy, unsuccessfully attempted to manually pull the divider from under the desk.

She then walked from the meeting room and returned with a hammer.

“She was swinging the hammer like she was hitting a railroad spike,” Malloy said. “She hit it 10 times. The glass went everywhere.”

Malloy said he was sitting at his desk next to the partition when Frenchko began hitting it.

“I backed off after the third swing and called the sheriff’s department,” he said.

He recorded the incident on his cellphone.

“This is the third time in two weeks she destroyed plexiglass placed between our desks,” Malloy said.

Malloy said Frenchko said went into the commissioners’ meeting area approximately two weeks ago and destroyed plastic glass that was under the desks at that time.

“The video system in the commissioners’ meeting room captured images of Frenchko’s actions,” he said. That partition again was replaced.

Frenchko, according to Malloy, was told by a maintenance worker Tuesday that if she removed the plastic glass he would file a report. A report was filed Wednesday.

SHE’S CHILLY

Frenchko said she has a small heater under her desk because her hands get cold during the commissioners’ meetings.

She suggested the other commissioners will not allow the heat to be turned up in the meeting room past 72 degrees. Cold air from the ventilation system blows directly over her desk.

“You can’t have the heater in a confined area,” she said. “I’ve had times when my heater would begin to smoke. The edges of the plexiglass were rough. I wear a professional suit with stockings, I’m worried the rough-edged plexiglass would catch my stockings and rip them.”

In addition, Frenchko said the divider placement prevented her from being able to open the drawer of her desk.

She said the placement of the plastic glass continues a pattern by the other commissioners designed to stop her from being able to do her job properly.

“I’m working with two great big petty little boys,” Frenchko said. “They will not replace my laptop. They have taken away the staff iPhone, so they can’t (get) my messages. They told me they can’t bring my paperwork to my office for me to sign. They told department heads not to respond to me. They are being petty.

“They know I have a health condition that makes my hands cold,” she said. “It is political theater.”

‘POLITICAL ABSURDITY’

Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa said the heat was at full blast under her desk Wednesday morning.

“The next thing I knew she was asking why the partition was up,” he said. “She tried to pull it out manually. The next thing I know she came back into the room with a hammer and began swinging it. I heard a crack and saw her swinging three or four more times.”

“It’s beyond political absurdity,” he said. “People have said they have not felt comfortable around this individual for some time,” he said.

Cantalamessa questioned why a person who has argued for best practices would take an action that destroyed taxpayer property and places other people at risk.

“This is a disturbing incident,” he said. “It makes for a completely dysfunctional and hostile work environment. It demonstrates a lack of self control.”

Malloy said there were at least five people in the commissioners’ conference room at the time of Wednesday morning’s incident.