Secretary of state begins review of Tsagaris

The review is expected to take until mid-December.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The Ohio Secretary of State's Office has begun reviewing if Trumbull County Commissioner James Tsagaris accepted campaign contributions from corporations, in violation of state campaign finance law.
Last month, Tsagaris submitted five years' worth of campaign records and photocopied checks to the Trumbull County Board of Elections in response to a public information request.
The documents were forwarded to the state office after local officials noticed several donations from incorporated companies. The donations appeared to be listed on forms previously filed with the board under the names of individuals.
"Clearly, some of the checks were corporate contributions," said Assistant Campaign Finance Administrator Kelly Neer.
The review of Tsagaris' contributions back to 1998 is expected to take until mid-December, said spokesman Carlo LoPardo.
Results will be forwarded back to the county elections board.
Any resulting charges would be filed by the local board with the Ohio Elections Commission, he said.
Tsagaris did not return calls left Monday at his home or office.
Board director's view
Elections Board Director Norma Williams said Tsagaris should have been aware of state laws prohibiting corporate contributions.
Both he and his campaign treasurer William Watson were at a seminar Feb. 13, 2001, when the laws were explained, she said.
"This was the same time all that was going on about the sheriff and corporate contributions, so they all should have known," Williams said.
In 2001, the Ohio Elections Commission made Sheriff Thomas Altiere's campaign committee return thousands of dollars in corporate donations and fined Altiere himself $2,500 for accepting the donations, as well as for keeping inaccurate campaign finance records and failing to track donors who gave less than $25.