TRUMBULL COSTS Official: 'I was afraid to ask'

The commissioner's friend was hired as purchasing director in 2001.
By STEPHEN SIFFand PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Trumbull County Commissioner James Tsagaris says he was aware of excessive spending in the county maintenance department but was afraid to do anything about it.
"I was afraid to ask anyone," said Tsagaris, a commissioner since 1998. "I'm by myself."
He said he has no idea why he didn't mention the matter to county Prosecutor Dennis Watkins.
Others do not recall Tsagaris' worrying about janitorial purchases.
"I was not aware that he was upset with maintenance spending," said Roselyn Ferris, the county clerk-administrator
Commissioner Joseph Angelo Jr. said he would not comment on what Tsagaris said.
"I was not aware of any excess spending," Angelo said.
Tsagaris said that in 2001, he was so worried that he decided he would not approve any more bills unless the county hired a purchasing manager.
"If he had any suspicions, it is news to me," said Commissioner Michael O'Brien.
"I don't recall any of this transpiring."
Tsagaris says the reason he pushed the county to hire a purchasing director was because he didn't know what to do about the excessive spending.
"All the conferences that I went to, all the other areas had purchasing directors and I just figured a purchasing agent would know what to do because I didn't know how to go about it," Tsagaris said.
Who was hired
Tony Carson, a political ally and friend of Tsagaris', was hired as Trumbull's purchasing director in March 2001.
Sometime after that, Carson compared the prices the county was buying for supplies with other companies but did not show the report to commissioners or the prosecutor's office.
Carson has said that he showed it to department heads and let them decide if they wanted to switch vendors.
Some items, such as toilet paper, were put out to bid, and a local company -- W.J. Services of Warren -- was awarded the contract.
Tsagaris' son was a salesperson for the company at that time.
Carson did not become directly involved with buying all the janitorial supplies until October 2002, after Watkins began an investigation.
The probe was started after a series of Vindicator articles was published in 2002 about the county's excessive spending and lax bookkeeping.
Last week, maintenance department director Tony Delmont was indicted on charges of bribery, theft in office and money laundering.
Delmont's wife, Karen, was also indicted on one count of money laundering.
Both have pleaded innocent.
Two weeks ago, the co-owner of a company that sold products to the department pleaded guilty to bribing Delmont and overcharging the county $180,000.
sinkovich@vindy.comsiff@vindy.com