Campaign fires area coordinator

By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Kerry-Edwards campaign fired its Mahoning County coordinator about a month before Election Day, but he is still working at the same office.
Rick Barga, a Tiffin, Ohio, native, is no longer employed as the county's Kerry-Edwards coordinator, and has accepted a job with the Mahoning County Democratic Party, said Brendon Cull, Ohio Democratic Coordinated Campaign spokesman.
Cull declined to discuss the reasons for Barga's dismissal but said he stopped working for the campaign about a week ago. Barga couldn't be reached Monday to comment.
Mahoning Democratic Chairwoman Lisa Antonini said she was told by Kerry-Edwards campaign officials that they were uncomfortable with Barga's management style, among other issues. Antonini said she was shocked to hear of Barga's termination.
"I was quite pleased with what he did, so I decided to hire him through the end of the campaign," she said. "We're giving him a little bit of money so he can stay on. It's a living wage so he can get through the month. He can also help me with local candidates. He can do a lot of the day-to-day stuff. He was too valuable to let go."
Assistance
Barga provided assistance at Sunday's appearance of U.S. Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, at Austintown Fitch High School. Barga escorted members of the local media from the school's parking lot to Kerry-Edwards workers, who took the media members to the press entrance at the event.
The Kerry-Edwards campaign shares an office with the county Democratic Party at 101 Federal Plaza East, Suite 400, in downtown Youngstown. That means Barga is working in the same office, but in a different capacity.
The Kerry-Edwards campaign has four or five field organizers in Mahoning County, Cull said, and plans to add more staff shortly. The campaign doesn't plan to hire someone to coordinate the field organizers, he said.
Barga was named in June as coordinator for the Democratic presidential campaign in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. The Trumbull responsibilities were given to Matt Ross, originally from a Pittsburgh suburb, a month later.
Barga's main responsibilities were to organize local volunteer meetings, telephone banks and assist with visits to the county by the candidates, their wives and surrogates.
Barga served as a field staff member for Kerry during the primaries in Iowa, Washington, Wisconsin and Maryland, and has worked for the campaign since October 2003.
skolnick@vindy.com