MAHONING COUNTY Judge renews order: Clean property

The judge says he could be a best-selling author.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A judge in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court admonished a 55-year-old Ellsworth Township man for failing to comply with a court order to clean up his junk-filled property.
At the Wednesday hearing, Judge R. Scott Krichbaum also gave himself a pat on the back, saying he is good at a few things, and one is being "crystal clear" on court orders.
"It was my finest hour," the judge said about his April 30 court order. "If you want to write a book on how to comply with a court order, you could use what I said at the last hearing. [It] would have been [a] best seller."
Robert Brown of Akron-Canfield Road had until Tuesday to comply with a court order to clean his yard, which includes old vehicles, furniture, scrap metal and wood. In 2002, Diane Dudek, the township's zoning inspector, filed a civil suit against Brown saying he was in violation of Ellsworth's zoning code.
Violations
The case was settled in December 2003, when Brown agreed to clean his yard. After Dudek told the judge in April that Brown hadn't completely complied, the Ellsworth man was ordered to serve three days in the county jail for violating the court order.
At a status hearing Wednesday, the judge read from a report submitted by Dudek stating Brown has made progress but still hadn't complied with the court order.
T. Robert Bricker, Brown's attorney, said his client has had to delay the cleanup because of the weather.
"I don't care what the conditions are; if there's rain or a catastrophe, an act of God or a bomb," Judge Krichbaum said. "You must comply with the court order."
The judge scheduled a contempt hearing for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday and told Brown that it would be a good idea for him to comply with the court order by then.
"I'm in a jury trial, so I don't have time for this now," Judge Krichbaum said.
skolnick@vindy.com