Judge lays off 13 and fires her bailiff

The judge said more cost-cutting moves will be announced later this month.
& lt;a href=mailto:bjackson@vindy.com & gt;By BOB JACKSON & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Thirteen Mahoning County Juvenile Court employees have received layoff notices because of budget cuts, and the bailiff there has been fired for engaging in what the judge termed inappropriate activity.
Judge Theresa Dellick said notices went out Friday to the affected employees, whose last day of work will be June 14.
"And we're looking at more cuts coming," Judge Dellick said. "This is just the first round."
She said she was not sure whether the next cuts will include more layoffs, program cutbacks or salary reductions for remaining employees. A decision will be made in about two weeks, she said.
The court has about 120 employees.
Budget request
Judge Dellick said county commissioners appropriated $4.6 million for the court's budget this year, but she had requested $6.9 million. She has sued commissioners for the extra money, and the matter is pending before the Ohio Supreme Court.
Judge Timothy P. Maloney of probate court also has a suit pending against commissioners for more money. He's asking for about $172,000 more than he was budgeted for the year.
Judge Dellick said she does not want to cut her staff's wages, because juvenile court employees already are paid less than other county workers who do similar jobs.
She said juvenile court workers were passed over for cost-of-living increases for years. Part of the reason she wants the additional funding is to bring them in line with what they should have been paid long ago.
"If I decide to cut wages, it's not as if I'd be taking them back to a 2002 wage level, or even 2000," Judge Dellick said. "It would be more like 1990."
Other departments lay off
Juvenile court is the third county department to lay off workers this year because of budget cuts. Commissioners laid off 33 employees in April, and the sheriff's department laid off 54 deputies in March.
The deputies were recalled this week, though, because of additional funding that became available through a contract with the U.S. government for housing federal inmates in the county jail.
Bailiff fired
Judge Dellick also said she recently fired bailiff Melanie Tawney for "severely improper" conduct on the job.
She said Tawney, who had been bailiff since the beginning of Judge Dellick's tenure, was allowing the sale of Spice of Life products to court employees during business hours. Spice of Life sells erotic and sensual products for adults.
The judge said Tawney did not actually sell the products but arranged for their sale by someone else who does not work at the court.
"Whether it's on your lunch hour or not, it is not proper to conduct outside business at the courthouse," Judge Dellick said. "It's egregious. I felt it was severely improper."
Judge Dellick said that because of the county's tight budget situation, she has not replaced Tawney, who was fired about two weeks ago. She will eventually fill the position.
& lt;a href=mailto:bjackson@vindy.com & gt;bjackson@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;