MAHONING COUNTY Despite Oles' position, officials will get raises

The raises are retroactive to January.
AUSTINTOWN -- Two of three township trustees voted to approve a salary increase for department heads.
The township administrator, fire chief, police chief, zoning inspector and maintenance supervisor will all receive a 3 percent raise retroactive to January 2004.
The raise was voted on by only two of the trustees, as trustee Lisa Oles walked out during the executive session and before the vote, when an exchange with fellow trustee Bo Pritchard got hot.
"Mr. Pritchard began raising his voice to me in a way that was verbally abusive," she said on Tuesday.
Oles opposed the raises, and was proposing to give each department head a one-time $2,000 bonus instead. She said Pritchard got angry with her during the discussion of raises vs. bonuses, saying, "This is not about raises; this is about you being political, Oles." Oles walked out shortly after, at about 9:10 p.m. Monday.
Pritchard could not be reached to comment.
With Oles gone, Trustees Pritchard and Dave Ditzler brought the meeting back into general session and voted 2-0 to approve the salary increases.
Department heads received their last raise in 2002, some of them receiving two raises that year amounting to a 5 percent wage increase. The 3 percent increase this year brings salaries to:
UMichael Dockry, administrator (and acting roads superintendent), $70,185.
UAndrew Frost, fire chief, $65,741.
UGordon Ellis, police chief, $65,741.
UMichael Kurilla, zoning inspector, $55,211.
URussell Pallotta, maintenance supervisor, $54,184.
Oles' position
"I was not in favor of raises when we have an uncertain future," says Oles, referring to possible cuts in services that might have to be made because of budgetary constraints.
Oles is also complaining that the salaries are just too high. Dockry's total compensation package, she says, is $92,000, when benefits are added in. This is before the 3 percent raise that was approved Monday night, and doesn't include a $2,000 bonus that he is being given for acting as interim road superintendent, a job he took on in addition to his own after Michael Bertilacci retired.
Oles also notes that township employees have other fringe benefits. A number of them drive township cars, with gas and insurance covered by the taxpayers, and talk on cell phones that are also paid for.
Oles has gathered considerable community support for her efforts to control spending.
But her first year on the township board has been bumpy. "If last night is any indication of her reaction, she's going to have a difficult time handling her position," said Ditzler, who said he didn't think she has ever been treated discourteously by anyone in any executive session.