WARREN Officials: Nothing wrong in lunch

Politicians and area officials say the lunch is no big deal.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
and AMANDA C. DAVIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- There's no such thing as a free lunch, unless you are a local politician who's a friend of Joe DiVieste.
Local officials and politicians gather weekly for a free lunch at DiVieste Banquet Hall, 754 North River Road N.W. in Warren Township.
The hall is not open to the public for regular daily dining.
The Vindicator was denied access to the lunch around noon Tuesday.
Warren Mayor Hank Angelo said that he rarely makes it but that the lunches promote good relationships among local politicians and officials who get together to chat and joke with one another.
Angelo said he wasn't sure who gets invited or who is in charge of the invitations.
Joe DiVieste, owner of the hall, says he invites his "friends."
Law Director Greg Hicks said he has not been invited.
He added that if officials have a "prearranged meeting" and discuss public business, they could be in violation of the state's open meetings law.
"I don't know what they discuss; I haven't been there," he said.
State officials: David Freel, director of the Ohio Ethics Commission, said the agency has no authority to issue an opinion on the matter because the agency primarily deals with conflict of interest. He said he usually refers such issues to county prosecutors or the Ohio Attorney General's Office.
Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said he is not familiar with the lunch and did not want to comment.
Spokesman Bret Crow said the attorney general's office also does not issue opinions on such situations. He noted, however, that it must be determined whether those attending the lunch can be considered a public body and whether the lunch itself is considered a public meeting.
For it to be a public meeting, a majority of members of a given public body would have to arrange to meet in advance to discuss public business, Crow said.Discussion topics: Angelo said that, to his knowledge, official business is not discussed and political decisions are not made at the lunches.
He added that people talk about personal matters -- for example, how their stocks are doing or how they fared betting on the horses at Mountaineer racetrack in Chester, W.Va.
Some lunch-goers planned a gambling trip to Atlantic City, he added.
DiVieste said the free meal is not a set thing -- he just serves lunch whenever friends stop by. He wouldn't say how much it costs him. DiVieste said that he was not sure when he started having the lunches but that it has been going on for years.
"It's like a family," he said. "There's always food."
Several politicians, however, say they go weekly for lunch.
"Some go every week, some every three weeks, some every six weeks," said Joe Angelo, a Trumbull County commissioner and Hank Angelo's brother. "I wasn't there when the Vindicator raided it."
DiVieste said friends who come for lunch have included the Angelo brothers, Commissioner James Tsagaris, Bazetta Police Chief Bob Jacola, county purchasing director Tony Carson, county Treasurer Christ Michelakis and Howland Township administrator John Emanuel.
Commissioner Michael O'Brien said he has not been invited to the lunches.
Some of those attending the meeting said they don't recall if Joe Angelo and James Tsagaris have been at the lunch together. Two commissioners together, discussing official business, would constitute a meeting. Under Ohio law all meetings should be open to the public.
Hank Angelo said he doesn't "even remember" his brother attending the lunches.
Sheriff Thomas Altiere said he has gone to the lunch but not in "a long time."
"It's extremely harmless," Altiere said. "A bunch a guys just go and sit around and talk about sports. There always seems to be different people."
Emanuel said there are people who attend the lunch who are not politicians.
"It's just a social gathering," he said.
In Mahoning County: Similar get-togethers in Mahoning County became known as the Cafaro round table, a who's who of local political, religious and business leaders.
Everyone there was personally invited by Anthony Cafaro, Cafaro Co. president, to Anthony's On the River.
The Citizens' League of Greater Youngstown objected, saying it has a problem with public officials attending exclusive luncheons with businessmen who have interests in public contracts and who are major campaign contributors.
DiVieste said he's known the Angelo family for years.
He added that he doesn't like politics and tells his friends to take a break from talking about politics when they come for lunch.
"I never ask for anything of these guys," DiVieste said. "These people are my friends."
Annexation issue: DiVieste said his hall has city utilities, which requires him to annex into the city limits. The annexation issue is pending before Judge John Stuard of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.Hicks said a 1993 city ordinance requires contiguous property owners to annex before city utilities are granted. Properties that aren't contiguous can get water and sewer service without annexation, he said.
The banquet hall was not contiguous when it received city utilities a few years ago, Hicks said, explaining that has since changed because other annexations near DiVieste's have made it contiguous.
DiVieste filed the petition to annex but has said he'd rather stay in Warren Township.
sinkovich@vindy.com
davis@vindy.com