WARREN Billboards proclaim ex-mayor's gratitude

Angelo insists it's not the start of a new campaign.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Former Mayor Hank Angelo has billboards posted around Trumbull County thanking the community, but he says he's not laying groundwork to run for another office.
One blue billboard with white lettering at the U.S. Route 422 and Elm Road intersection reads, "Hank Angelo ... Thank you."
"It's just a thank-you," said Angelo, who left office at the end of 2003 after two terms.
He hired Vic Rubenstein of Rubenstein and Associates, a Liberty campaign consulting firm, to produce the signs.
"It was so he could say thank you to the community," Rubenstein said.
He estimated that there were about 10 of the billboards that were bought through a deal offered by Lamar Advertising.
"They normally cost hundreds of dollars apiece," Rubenstein said. "They were five for $1,000. I tried to get everyone I know to buy the signs."
At the end of this term, Angelo told The Vindicator that he had no plans to run for political office in the future, but he didn't rule it out.
Denies he's campaigning
On Friday, both Rubenstein and Angelo said it's not the start of a campaign for Angelo to seek another office.
"We just thought it was a great way to say thank you for his years in office," Rubenstein said.
Angelo filed his annual campaign finance report Jan. 30 listing $18,850.55 in his campaign coffers.
If a candidate with an open campaign account isn't on the ballot for any office in the preceding year, they must file an annual report documenting the use of those funds with the board of elections, said Norma Williams, director of the Trumbull County Board of Elections.
denise.dick@vindy.com