MAHONING COUNTY Former sheriff challenges incumbent Wellington

The incumbent says the crime rate has dropped because the jail is full.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The race for Mahoning County sheriff has incumbent Randall A. Wellington taking on a former sheriff who once supported his candidacy.
The time was October 1996, and outgoing sheriff Edward P. Nemeth, who lost to Phil Chance in the March primary that year, threw his support to Wellington. At the time, Nemeth, now 56, described Wellington as one of the most educated, dedicated and professional police officers the area had ever seen.
Wellington, after 12 years as Youngstown police chief, ran as an independent in the November 1996 general election and lost to Chance. Chance resigned in July 1999 after being convicted of racketeering crimes, and Wellington was appointed to fill the position.
Wellington went on to win election in 2000. The 71-year-old veteran cop seeks re-election this year while his department remains under investigation by a federal grand jury in Cleveland.
The March 2 Democratic primary has a third contender for sheriff, Howard L. Faison Jr., who will turn 54 next Monday. Faison, who served as assistant warden, has been on disability retirement since May 2003.
Wellington's positions
"The major issue in this race is first and foremost the ability to operate the department in a manner that meets the statutory requirements of the office for mandated services with a significantly reduced budget," Wellington said.
For 2003, Wellington asked for a $17.8 million appropriation, an increase of more than $1.5 million of what he spent in 2002.
The sheriff received $13.5 million for 2003, when commissioners made budget cuts.
The sheriff's department budget for 2004 will be around $13 million, Wellington said.
Wellington said his priority is to continue to jail all criminal offenders and do more with less. He said he has increased the jail's earning ability by housing federal detainees, for which the department is paid about $70 per day per inmate.
The jail, which used to incarcerate about 450 inmates, now typically holds more than 700 inmates, and the crime rate has been reduced drastically, Wellington said. He said he won't release prisoners to meet budgetary constraints.
Nemeth's concerns
Nemeth said that, as a former sheriff and corrections professional, he has watched developments since Wellington has been sheriff and thinks the department and the county is in trouble.
He said the department must be stabilized in terms of hands-on, prudent administration of the budget and personnel assignments. He said the jail is his first priority.
Nemeth said that the county is facing another federal lawsuit over jail conditions and that he has worked with the courts before to reach acceptable levels of care at the jail. The new lawsuit alleges overcrowding, understaffing and unsanitary conditions.
The first lawsuit, filed in 1992 while Nemeth was sheriff, resulted in a federal consent decree that mandated how the jail, then located on Boardman Street, would be operated. To help settle the suit, a new jail was built.
The consent decree was lifted in November 2001.
The former sheriff said that Mahoning County has been victim to the ravages of organized crime and that the solution is an independent vice crime oversight commission. He said the commission, federal and state authorities, the business community and the press, would review all vice-related complaints.
Mentioned in testimony
Nemeth, although never charged, still must deal with the aftermath of testimony given in March 1999 in federal court by Lenny Strollo. The former mob boss said he paid $5,000 a month to then-sheriff's Lt. Michael Terlecky when Nemeth was sheriff.
The bribe money was split among Nemeth, Chief Deputy Frank Carbon and Terlecky, Strollo said in court. Terlecky pleaded guilty; Carbon was not charged. Nemeth has denounced the allegations.
Faison seeks change
Faison said it's time for a change in leadership. He said that morale at the sheriff's department is at an all-time low, and that he is the most experienced of the candidates.
He said he will initiate a zero tolerance to all crime in the county, make the jail safe for inmates and officers alike and increase the road patrols without increasing staff. He said he would balance the department's leadership with the racial makeup of the county.
Faison said he injured his back at the sheriff's department when he sat in a chair that flipped back.
He said he had surgery and now uses a cane.
Faison said he can drive but doesn't run anymore. He said that a sheriff is an administrator, not a police officer, and that he is capable of doing the job.
meade@vindy.com