TRUMBULL COUNTY Use state purchasing till probes end, prosecutor advises

Commissioners are planning to follow the prosecutor's advice.
By STEPHEN SIFF
and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The Trumbull County purchasing director should not be given the leeway to make buying decisions until a criminal investigation is complete, county commissioners say they've been told.
In a letter received by the commissioners Wednesday, County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins advised commissioners to put off awarding new supply contracts until they have fully figured out what they have in their storerooms, said Joseph J. Angelo Jr., a county commissioner.
Commissioner Michael O'Brien and Angelo said they would go along with the prosecutor's recommendation for now.
O'Brien and Angelo told reporters what the letter said but were unable to furnish a copy. O'Brien said he lost his copy of the letter and could not furnish it to reporters. Angelo was contacted at home, where he did not have it. Commissioner James Tsagaris was out of town.
Watkins said it's up to the commissioners to decide whether copies of the letter should be released to the public.
The prosecutor also told commissioners to wait until a criminal investigation of county purchasing by the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation is complete, Angelo said. The investigation was launched after a series of Vindicator stories in August detailing excessive spending and lackluster accounting practices in the county maintenance department.
In September, commissioners terminated accounts with all the maintenance department's current suppliers and began buying supplies exclusively through the state.
Delaying plans
Following the recommendation from the prosecutor to stick with state purchasing would delay plans announced by commissioners Angelo and James Tsagaris last week to empower Anthony Carson Jr., the county purchasing director, to bid out contracts and buy supplies.
"I asked Dennis Watkins if he had a problem with Tony Carson, and he said 'no,'" Angelo said Wednesday.
Commissioners will follow the advice of their lawyer, Watkins, and stay with state purchasing until investigations are complete, Angelo said. Then they will likely bid contracts out locally, with the intent of saving money.
Carson, who earns $48,672 a year, has been in charge of preparing bid specifications for large county contracts and informally shopping around for better prices on items that have never been put out to bid. He also makes about $60,000 a year by renting the Central District Court building in Cortland to the county.
Sticking with state purchasing suits O'Brien, who declined to sign the letter last week which expanded Carson's responsibilities to include actual purchasing.
He said he wanted to wait until the investigations were complete.
siff@vindy.com
sinkovich@vindy.com