TRUMBULL COUNTY In-house cleaning saves departments money

The county engineer and sanitary engineer departments clean their own buildings and buy their own supplies.
By STEPHEN SIFF and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The Trumbull County Maintenance Department has spent more than $250,000 a year for janitorial supplies even though several county buildings are cleaned by staff members or outside cleaning companies.
Ultimate Building Maintenance, 3229 Youngstown Road S.E., cleans the Trumbull County 911 Center, board of health and board of elections, county officials said. The county paid the company $17,154 last year, the county auditor's office says.
The cleaning company brings its own supplies, said Lyn Augustine, deputy director of the board of elections, and Tim Gladis, 911 director.
Departments of the county engineer and sanitary engineer clean their own buildings and also buy their own cleaning supplies for a fraction of the cost of the county maintenance department.
"It is very minimal," said Thomas Holloway, the sanitary engineer.
The total bill for cleaning supplies, toilet paper and other janitorial items for county engineer's administrative office and two garages is between $3,000 and $4,000 a year, said Rocky Riviella, controller for the engineer's department.
That amount included $300 for 500 pounds of shop rags used in garages where the engineer's dozens of vehicles are maintained.
The maintenance department spent nearly $14,000 on shop rags for the vehicle maintenance department, which works on sheriff department cars.
"We are really careful with how we spend money around here," Riviella said.
System of checks
Within the engineer's department, supply requests go from the custodian, through two supervisors, then to Riviella himself before the purchase order is approved. A similar procedure is followed when the bill arrives, Riviella said.
Commissioners approved skyrocketing bills for the maintenance department the past several years without a question. The county spent about $9,000 a year on supplies in 1992 and now spends about $250,000 a year, county records state.
There are 25 employees in the maintenance department. Of those, 14 are custodians who work in the county administrative building, common pleas court, Wean and Stone buildings.
"We also purchase our own toilet paper and air freshener," Gladis said. "We get about a case a year of air freshener. I think each individual air freshener runs about $2.50. I guess we don't need as much as the rest of the county offices."
So far this year, State Chemical of Cleveland has billed the county for $7,760 worth of air freshener, at prices between $7.58 and $10.83 per can.
The elections board buys toilet paper and paper towels out of its own budget, Augustine said. The cost: about $300 a year.
The 911 center spends $155 a year on toilet paper. "The way it figures out, each employee uses about one roll a month," Gladis said.
A cleaning person also is hired to clean the Trumbull County Central Court, said Judge Tom Campbell. He said his court also buys most cleaning products, but the county maintenance department supplies the building with hand towels, garbage bags and floor cleaner.
The maintenance department cleans the county courthouse, county Family Court, administrative building, Stone Building, 11th District Court of Appeals and county jail.
Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said the maintenance employee who cleans his office has always done a "very good job." He noted, however, that he always has purchased his own glass cleaner and furniture polish for his office.
What others do
Several courthouse employees also say they buy their own supplies and clean their own desks.
"We have always bought our own cleaning supplies," said Margaret O'Brien, clerk of courts. "We have our own vacuum, too. The maintenance department workers empty garbage cans and occasionally vacuum."
Watkins began an investigation about three weeks after The Vindicator began a series of investigative reports in early August on excessive spending and sloppy record keeping in the maintenance department.
Watkins has since asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and the state auditors to join the probe. The FBI also is investigating.
sinkovich@vindy.com
siff@vindy.com