MAHONING COUNTY Judge seeks compromise in funding court operations

Two commissioners said they don't intend to meet with the judge, however.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Judge Theresa Dellick said she's willing to sit down with Mahoning County commissioners and work out a compromise to finance her court operations without bankrupting the county.
"Let's sit down and see where everything is," said Judge Dellick of juvenile court. "Let's find a happy medium here."
Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock said the judge should go a step further and drop her demand that commissioners pay up on a $2.3 million court judgment by Thursday.
"That would be a good show of faith on her part," Sherlock said. "Then maybe we could talk."
Commissioners are still stinging from a recent Ohio Supreme Court decision ordering them to comply with budget demands from Judge Dellick and Judge Timothy P. Maloney of probate court.
The judges filed suit in the high court in January after commissioners did not fund their courts for the full amounts they had sought through court orders. Judge Dellick wanted an additional $2.3 million, while Judge Maloney wanted an additional $172,196.
Deadline
Lawyers for the judges sent a letter to Prosecutor Paul Gains last week, demanding that the money be paid in full by Thursday. If the money is not transferred into the courts' accounts, commissioners could be held in contempt of court.
Sherlock said commissioners probably will give Judge Maloney his money, but she and Commissioner Ed Reese said it's unclear what will happen with the juvenile court demand.
"I'm ready to take a stand," Sherlock said. "I would rather be in contempt of court than give in to this ridiculous budget demand."
Reese said the board will discuss it this week with Gains, who represents them.
Judge Dellick said she's willing to settle for less than the full amount but wants to discuss it first with commissioners. She wants enough to restore her court staff from part-time to full-time status. Employees were cut back to four days per week earlier this year because of the budget cuts, she said.
Judge Dellick also laid off employees earlier this year and said she curbed some programs and contracts to stay within the amount commissioners had appropriated. She's not necessarily looking to call back the furloughed employees this year.
She couldn't say how much money she would need to restore staff to full time and implement some of the service programs for juveniles that were put on hold because of the budget battle.
"All I want to do is have a meeting with [commissioners], show them the court's needs and balance that against the needs of the county," Judge Dellick said. "I'm not here to bankrupt the county. I'm here to do my job."
The judge would not say what she'll do if commissioners don't comply with the Thursday deadline.
"Until proven otherwise, I remain confident that we can meet and discuss this," she said. "That's the reasonable thing to do."
Not interested
Sherlock and Reese said they can't understand why the judge now is willing to accept less than the $2.3 million after fighting so hard in court to get it. Neither is interested in meeting with the judge to talk about it.
Sherlock said commissioners wanted to hold such discussions earlier in the year but were handcuffed after the judges filed their lawsuits. She said no one has questioned the court's needs or the importance of its programs.
"But there are needs all across the county, not just in juvenile court," Sherlock said. "We only have a limited amount of resources, and people are having to do more with less."
Commissioner David Ludt, who met last week with Judge Dellick and Auditor George Tablack to try to resolve the issue, said he's willing to meet again with the judge.
"How are you supposed to communicate if you just draw a line in the sand and won't budge?" he asked.
bjackson@vindy.com