TRUMBULL COUNTY Official takes credit for food switch

Carson says he didn't force Acme on anyone. A sheriff department official has a different take on the meeting.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
and STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The official recently put in charge of all Trumbull County buying says he deserves credit for shifting the jail's grocery account from Acme Steak of Youngstown to the state purchasing program.
Purchasing director Anthony Carson Jr. also takes credit for arranging the $200,000 deal in the first place with Acme in 2001 that was never put out for competitive bids.
On Aug. 8, Sheriff Thomas Altiere asked county commissioners to seek bids for a food contract.
Subsequently, Carson phoned the state purchasing program and the commissioners approved a six-month contract.
When that contract is up, the county will likely solicit bids to compare with the state program, said Commissioner Joseph J. Angelo.
His responsibility
Putting the bid packages together will be Carson's responsibility.
"Hopefully, he will get a better price," Angelo said.
Meanwhile, in a letter to Vindicator reporters, Carson says he did not force jail officials to do business with Acme.
"I arranged a meeting with Chief [Ernest] Cook and his staff to review the proposal and at no time did anyone try to influence the sheriff's department on their choice of food vendors," Carson wrote.
"If I had not brought the proposal to the attention of the sheriff's department, I would not have been doing my job, which is to save money for Trumbull County."
Acme's proposal promised to save Trumbull County between 10 percent and 12 percent a year, Carson said.
No savings ever materialized, and Cook and others who were at the meeting say the switch was prompted by more than just a suggestion.
"We would not have switched to Acme on our own because the sheriff quit using Acme a few years prior to this because some of the food wasn't good," said Cook, the sheriff department's chief of operations.
"I attended the meeting that Mr. Carson scheduled, and I was told that we were going to switch. They explained quite well that the county purchasing director prevails and we had no choice."
Acme representative
Acme was represented at the meeting by a felon, who, according to the the FBI, has mob ties.
Leo Connelly Jr., 54, executive vice president of sales at Acme, is on parole for a burglary conviction for which he served nearly six years in a Pennsylvania prison.
He told The Vindicator previously he doesn't know what his "criminal past" has to do with Trumbull County's account with the company.
"We have 26 employees; I'm one of them," he told reporters in August, when the newspaper began a continuing series into excessive spending and poor record-keeping on county purchases.
County Commissioner James Tsagaris also attended.
In the first 10 months of 2002, Trumbull County spent $179,355 with Acme Steak, compared with $179,402 in the first 10 months of 2000 with Sysco Foods, despite changes in the inmate menu for less expensive foods.
Jail population increased slightly, jail officials said.
"If they weren't showing savings, they should have looked for a food vendor that would have saved money," Carson said. "That would be the responsibility of the person doing the ordering."
Monthly reports from the jail show a decline in per-meal costs, he said.
Pass along offer
In June, jail officials passed along to Carson a cut-rate offer from Gordon Food Service, which promised to save the county $20,000 a year.
It was never acted on.
"We could have saved money with Gordon Food Service," said Cook. "I never did find out why we didn't make a change, but I don't know why we switched to Acme either."
The reason, Carson says, was that he was waiting for a counteroffer from Sysco, which wanted to get the jail food business back. Sysco's proposal had not arrived by August, when The Vindicator reported a contract to provide jail food had never been bid out.
State law calls for competitive bidding or use of the state purchasing program for accounts more than $15,000.