MAHONING COUNTY Engler: Choose company on merits

The commissioners will vote on the contract proposal next week.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Former Mahoning County Commissioner David Engler says the county commissioners should hire his company based solely on the merits of its proposal, and politics shouldn't play a factor.
Commissioners are considering a $7,500 contract with LightGov of Boardman, of which Engler is chief executive officer, to collect outdated computers and other electronic equipment.
The company would refurbish some of the equipment for resale and dispose of the equipment that isn't salvageable in compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.
Commissioners planned to vote on the proposal Tuesday but postponed it until Thursday at the request of Commissioner David Ludt, who was under the impression the county was going to be paid for the collection. The proposal wasn't on Thursday's agenda, and a vote is planned for next Thursday's meeting.
Engler's comments
"If people say, 'no,' make sure they say it was based on merit," Engler said. "They shouldn't reject this because they're worried about [negative publicity] or whatever. They should make a decision on the merit."
Engler, who resigned as a commissioner in 1999, said he didn't understand why the question of a potential conflict of interest was raised. An Ohio Ethics Commission attorney says there is no conflict of interest related to this matter.
"We're a fast-growing local technology company with plans for national expansion, and we want to work with our county," Engler said.
LightGov is in discussions with county officials to handle an auction for surplus county materials, and for a procurement program that would have companies bidding via computer to get contracts to provide materials needed by the county, Engler said.
LightGov would typically charge a county the size of Mahoning a $1,400 fee, plus a 6-percent fee on items sold, to handle a surplus materials auction, but Engler said his company is willing to waive the $1,400 fee for the county.
Activists speak out
Three citizen activists from Austintown -- Mark Cleland, Gary Brant and John Paulette -- told commissioners Thursday not to approve the contract with LightGov. They pointed to a program done in Summit County two years ago to collect outdated computers and send them to the Trumbull Correctional Institution, where inmates refurbished them. The computers were then donated to schools and nonprofit organizations.
Tim Berlekamp, director of the county's recycling division, said the county has participated in a similar program with the Federal Correctional Institution at Elkton. But the LightGov proposal allows the county to also collect cellular telephones, videocassette recorders, radios, small copiers and televisions.
Berlekamp said he can't estimate how many items will be collected, but most of it will probably not be salvageable.
skolnick@vindy.com