Attorney says Delmont will skip job-status hearing

The conference will still be held, prosecutors say.
By STEPHEN SIFF
and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Trumbull County maintenance director Tony Delmont will not attend a conference to determine if he should lose his job, based on prosecutors' allegations that he accepted bribes and free vacations in return for helping vendors steal from the county.
But the conference, scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday, will go on without him, Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said.
Lawyers for Delmont notified Trumbull County commissioners Friday afternoon that their client did not plan to attend the predisciplinary conference. In a previous letter, they had threatened to call commissioners to testify if the conference went forward.
Prosecutor Dennis Watkins planned to compel Delmont to testify by stipulating his testimony in the predisciplinary conference won't be used against him in any criminal case.
Delmont has pleaded innocent to a seven-count indictment alleging bribery, theft in office and money laundering. Prosecutors allege that he participated in schemes that enriched vendors at the county's expense and cost taxpayers $400,000 since 1998.
Refusing to participate in the conference raises the possibility that Delmont could be charged with insubordination -- the same charge he could face if he went to the conference but refused to testify.
Unclassified employee?
Commissioners already put Delmont on unpaid leave, without benefit of a conference -- treating him as an unclassified employee, who can be fired by commissioners without cause. In letters to the commissioners, first assistant prosecutor James Misocky has advised them that he believes Delmont is an unclassified employee.
"We disagree. We think he's classified." said Atty. Daniel Thomas Sr., who represents Delmont.
It's a narrow legal issue, and Thomas said he plans to take it to the State Personnel Board of Review for determination.
The predisciplinary conference scheduled for Delmont resembles the type of hearing normally used for classified employees.
"Trumbull County is offering Anthony R. Delmont additional rights not normally accorded to 'unclassified' employees," Misocky said in a letter to Thomas. "This is not a hearing, but an opportunity for the employee to be made aware of the allegations against him as well as providing the employee with the opportunity to present his story and respond to the allegations."
Unclassified employees are typically higher-paid managers with responsibility for financial discussions.
In arguing that Delmont is unclassified, Misocky pointed out that his $71,000-a-year salary puts him among the 25 highest-paid county employees; that he negotiated labor contracts on behalf of management; and directs the requisition of millions of dollars of tools and supplies.