GIRARD Judge acts to enforce order

The mayor said the city isn't spending money in any department.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Girard's municipal court judge is asking a common pleas court judge to order Girard's administration to comply with an order allowing him to update his computer system.
Attys. Kevin P. Murphy and Gina DeGenova Bricker, who represent Judge Michael A. Bernard of Girard Municipal Court, filed the action Friday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. The case has been assigned to Judge Peter Kontos.
In a Nov. 28 order, Judge Bernard wrote that Dell Computer Co. submitted the lowest and best bid through the Ohio Department of Administrative Services under a state contract to provide 20 computers, monitors and related equipment.
He also ordered the city's service director, Jerome Lambert, to enter a contract with the company and Auditor Sam Zirafi and Treasurer John Martin to pay the company $25,943 from the court's computer and probation services funds.
The judge's order says the court's computers were bought in September 1996 and the upgrade will enhance speed and capacity.
According to Friday's filing, which names the city, Lambert, Martin and Zirafi as defendants, on Nov. 30, the city refused to comply with the order.
Mayor's response: Mayor James Melfi said a representative of the state auditor's office told him that his and Lambert's signatures weren't necessary for the contract.
"We thought that it's not a very good signal to send to the community to spend $25,000 for computer hardware," Melfi said. "It's a terrible message to send to the public and a terrible message to send to people who work here. If he wants to spend his money then that's his business."
The city has been in fiscal emergency since August because it defaulted on two state loans, and some of its funds are operating at a deficit. A state commission has been appointed to oversee city finances.
The judge also sent an order to the administration Friday to buy an X-ray machine for $2,800 for inside the justice center's entrance, the mayor said.
"We're not signing that one either," Melfi said.
The mayor said the city isn't spending money in any department.
"Basically, we're down to toilet paper," he said.
Judge's assertion: A municipal court may include in its fee and cost schedule an additional fee to be set aside for computerizing the court, Judge Bernard's court action says.
"The duty placed upon the defendants to enter into the contract and disburse the funds currently held by the treasurer is mandatory" under state law, the filing said.
Violation of the order constitutes a violation of a duty specifically imposed by law, according to the court action.