Cleaning supplies to be tracked

Security cameras will be installed where air freshener and toilet paper are stored.
By STEPHEN SIFF
and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Trumbull County will immediately begin implementing a plan for greater accountability in the maintenance department, commissioners say.
The plan, formulated by a blue ribbon commission of two former private sector executives, calls for cleaning supplies to be kept under lock-and-key, a single employee to be assigned responsibility of receiving and dispensing supplies, and new paperwork trails that would allow supply use and expense to be tracked.
Officials say they also plan to install video cameras in the supply room.
"These changes should have been made 10 years ago, but I didn't know it was a problem," said Joseph Angelo Jr., a county commissioner.
The commission's suggestions, presented to commissioners Wednesday morning, were aimed at creating accountability and checks and balances in the maintenance department, said Chuck Joseph, a commission member.
Probe under way
The maintenance department, which spends more than $250,000 a year on supplies, is under investigation by the FBI, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and county prosecutor for its dealings with suppliers.
The prosecutor has questioned what he called excessive purchases by the department, including tens of thousands of dollars spent each year on air freshener alone.
The commission suggested procedures for a storeroom clerk to receive shipments and keep track of what supplies the county has and to whom they are given.
Procedures also were laid out for the county purchasing director, Tony Carson, to place orders and for department heads to request supplies.
"I think they are wonderful," said Tony Delmont, head of the maintenance department. The department was stripped of the authority to make purchases after investigations began in September.
"Controlling inventory, that is what we need," he said.
Commissioners say they should be able to put up chain-link fencing and security cameras in the maintenance department stockroom within days. It may take until February to assign an employee to the new stock room position, officials say.
The changes could eventually evolve into centralized purchasing and receiving for nearly all county purchases, commissioners said.