TRUMBULL COUNTY Law snarls effort to recall officials

The group is requesting Howland Township records.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HOWLAND -- After researching Ohio law, a local citizens' group will likely abandon plans to attempt to remove Trumbull County commissioners from office in a California-style recall.
However, the Trumbull County Citizens' Action League will still pass petitions so voters can register their discontent with commissioners, said league president Robert Carr.
The group had initially discussed targeting only Commissioners Joseph J. Angelo Jr. and James G. Tsagaris for removal, but subsequently added Commissioner Michael J. O'Brien to the list, Carr said.
People in the 50-member group are angry with commissioners for seemingly allowing janitorial supply companies to steal from the county and for its poor management of county vehicles, Carr said.
All three commissioners were to be targeted because they all approved bills, he said.
But the complexity of Ohio law regarding the removal of public officials has stalled the attempt.
Specific wrongdoing
Carr said a lawyer working for the 50-member group advised they would need to detail specific wrongdoing by each commissioner, something not yet done. Then, they would have to convince a common pleas judge that the commissioner is guilty of malfeasance, misfeasance, nonfeasance or dereliction of duty.
"We don't know if we could do it, and we don't know if it would help anyway," Carr said.
He pointed out that O'Brien, the democratic nominee for mayor of Warren, will likely be elected to that post and leave the board of commissioners in January, and that Angelo's term expires at the end of next year.
The Trumbull County Citizens' Action League will meet in the Howland branch of the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library at 6 p.m. Thursday to discuss the future of the petition drive and other issues.
Carr said he hopes to pass petitions anyway, "if for no other reason than to show what the voters in Trumbull County think about the waste of taxpayer money."
The group is also investigating Howland Township government.
It recently requested township records on credit card use and the employment records of John Emanuel, former trustee and administrator from 1994 to 2002.
siff@vindy.com