TRUMBULL COUNTY Judge, auditor dispute who should pay bill for pictures

The auditor says he's just following his fiduciary responsibility.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A municipal court judge says the city auditor's refusal to pay for wallet photographs taken for court publications is personal.
"It's a long-standing issue with the courts and the police department that he has," Judge Thomas P. Gysegem said.
The judge said he's not asking for general-fund money but from court funds.
City Auditor David Griffing received a voucher in May to reimburse Judge Gysegem for $90.53 for 16 wallet-size photographs that the judge had taken for court publications. Griffing didn't pay it, and the judge signed a judgment entry Sept. 28 ordering Griffing to pay.
Griffing's response
Griffing still says he won't pay.
"It's not personal," he said. "It's my fiduciary responsibility to make sure that money that comes in the city is spent properly. It's nothing against the judge."
There are many times when the judges are asked to provide photographs, most recently the state judges' directory, Judge Gysegem said.
He said he paid for the photographs that he took home and he followed the procedures for reimbursement for those for court use. He said he's not surprised Griffing is refusing to pay.
"This is personal, and I'm not the only one who thinks that," he said, adding that many police officers share his view.
Griffing said he could understand if the voucher were for reimbursement for a portrait of the judge to hang in the courtroom in the municipal justice center.
"We have never paid for wallet pictures for any elected official in this city that I know of, and I've been here for 20 years," the auditor said.
denise_dick@vindy.com