MAHONING COUNTY Canfield Twp. misses payday for workers

Trustee Bill Reese needs to get to a fax machine to approve the paychecks.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- Township employees are expected to get paid a day late because only one of the three township trustees signed their paychecks.
Township Clerk Carmen Heasley said that state law requires at least two of the three trustees to sign paychecks. Trustee Bill Reese is in California on a scheduled vacation and was not available to sign paychecks, Trustee Paul Moracco said. Reese announced his intention to take this vacation at a trustees meeting in January, Moracco said.
That left Moracco and Trustee Judy Bayus to sign the paychecks. The township's contract with Teamsters Local 377, which represents the employees, states that the paychecks must be issued by 3 p.m. Thursdays.
Moracco signed the checks, but Bayus did not, and the paychecks were not issued. Calls to Bayus' home were not returned.
The township has six full-time and two part-time employees who are paid every other week.
Heasley said she called Bayus' home after 10 p.m. Wednesday night to tell her that the paychecks were available to be signed. Bayus' husband answered and said Bayus was on vacation and couldn't be reached, Heasley said.
Not pleased
"Judy just took off without telling anyone," said Township Zoning Inspector Dave Morrison, shop steward for Teamsters Local 377, which represents the employees. "She knew darn well that Reese was out of town and payday is today.
"She's not living up to her legal obligation," Morrison said. Road Superintendent Gary Cook, assistant shop steward for the union, added, "Apparently, she could care less."
Heasley said that she called Moracco on Wednesday night to tell him Bayus was out of town, and that she tried unsuccessfully to call Reese on Thursday morning. At about noon Thursday, Heasley called the Mahoning County prosecutor's office and described her situation to two assistant prosecutors.
The assistant prosecutors said that they would research the situation and that Heasley should try to set up a conference call with Reese at 1 p.m. After Heasley got off the phone with the prosecutors, Reese called her, and the conference call was scheduled.
At 1 p.m., the prosecutors called Heasley ready for the conference call, Heasley said. They told her the employees could be paid if Reese signed a statement that he intended to sign the paychecks.
The statement would have to be faxed to California, signed by Reese, and then faxed back to the township, Heasley said. Reese also would have to mail a copy of the statement to the township, she said.
Effort hits a snag
Heasley said she then tried calling Reese for the conference call, only to find that his cell phone was out of its coverage area. She said she "desperately" tried to call Bayus again, but was told by Bayus' husband that she still couldn't be reached.
Heasley said she finally spoke to Reese at 2:55 p.m., five minutes before the pay deadline in the contract, and told him about signing the statement. Reese, however, said he didn't know when he would be able to get to a fax machine, and Heasley said the township most likely won't get his statement until about noon in Ohio.
Employees would then get their paychecks.
Both Moracco and Cook also said they had considered the possibility that employees wouldn't get paid because Reese was going on vacation.
Heasley also said that Bayus failed to sign off on overtime for road department employees last year while Reese was on vacation.
hill@vindy.com