1 official, 1 objective for 1 term
The new commissioner would support an additional sales tax if absolutely necessary.
WARREN -- Paul Heltzel doesn't want to make a career out of being a Trumbull County commissioner.
What he wants, he says, is one term to "kind of just get the boat back on even keel."
The commissioner-elect, taking office in January, is big on time management.
He has an established corporate law practice. A former Trumbull County assistant prosecutor, he's already spent 15 years in the county administration building and courthouse, and is no stranger to how things work there.
Heltzel, 59, of Niles, also has family ties to the former Heltzel Co. and to the Trumbull County Democratic Party, serving as treasurer in the late 1980s. He's now a precinct committeeman.
"I had some people approach me, and I said I wasn't interested, partly because of a kind of distaste for politics and a lack of some of the skills necessary," he said about running for commissioner. "That changed as some information came to light on some of the problems the county is having and some of the corruption issues."
A special grand jury is investigating the extent of a purchasing scandal that involved cleaning supplies and other items; Trumbull County needs to trim $6 million in 2005 from nonmandated budget items; and the commissioners are in a lawsuit with the Convention and Visitors Bureau board over use of lodging tax dollars.
"This was not a burning ambition to run for political office," Heltzel said, though he stressed that public service should be an important aspect of anyone's life. "If things hadn't been so bad, I wouldn't have gotten involved."
He defeated incumbent Commissioner Joseph Angelo in a seven-man primary contest, then defeated Republican Michael Collelo by a 2-1 vote in November. He admits asking himself after the primary, "What am I getting into here?"
Heltzel ran for one term only and thinks he can get a decent start on helping to solve the county's problems.
"One term. Paid for it myself, don't owe anybody and I'm not running for office again. And I like that," he said.
Background
Heltzel received his law degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1982. He earned his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and a B.S. in finance from John Carroll University, Cleveland. As a teen, he attended Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills.
He said he doesn't believe he will be the odd man out with fellow Democrat commissioners James Tsagaris and Daniel Polivka, though he would like to see more issues resolved before board votes are taken.
Heltzel made it a point to sit in this month on county budget hearings, which were held early at his urging. The commissioners will now go through each department and analyze different elements to determine what can be cut -- and cuts are inevitable.
Even if an additional county sales tax is acted on soon by the commissioners, collections on it wouldn't start until October. Timing a push for another sales tax now is problematic, Heltzel noted.
"Until this [corruption probe] thing gets the light of day on it and the people and the issues are out in the open, it's real difficult for the county to solve its fiscal problems," he said, noting the rumor mill is churning about who are the subjects of the investigation, and it's affecting all of county government.
"It's real tough to go out and promote any kind of piggyback tax. I just don't see that happening," he said.
An alternative is to impose the tax, which voters have already turned down. Heltzel called that "a distasteful prospect." He said he would support an additional quarter-percent tax only if it is to maintain minimal services for 911, the sheriff, recorder, treasurer and courts, among others.
How will he juggle all of the hats he's now wearing?
Heltzel said most of his corporate business law is manageable with the duties of being a county official. He's sent a notice to the bar association asking that it cancel referrals to him, thus confining his legal practice to current clients.
Plus he's prone to getting up early and working at home when it's quiet. "Some of my best work I do at home on the kitchen counter," he said.
It hasn't always been quiet around the house: He and his wife, Rosemary, have four sons: Ryan, 27; Michael, 25; Bob, 19; and Paul, 17.