Demotion followed report of criticism

The sheriff said reports were written anticipating a public-records request.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Demotion to captain for James M. Lewandowski at the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department took place the day he recapped testimony he'd given critical of then-Maj. Michael Budd, now charged with inmate abuse, The Vindicator has learned.
That day, July 8, 2002, Sheriff Randall A. Wellington issued this special order: "Major James Lewandowski is hereby removed from the rank of major and in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement is returned to the rank of captain."
At the time, Wellington told The Vindicator the demotion was a cost-cutting move before the November 2002 election, which featured a half-percent sales tax measure on the ballot. Lewandowski's drop in pay saves the county $5,510 annually.
On Friday, the sheriff was adamant that Lewandowski's July 8, 2002, memo summarizing his arbitration hearing testimony had nothing to do with his demotion that same day. The Vindicator only recently obtained the memo and other documents through a public-records request.
"I think [Lewandowski] wanted that to be the illusion that that's what happened but that absolutely did not happen," Wellington said of the idea the demotion was a result of the negative testimony. "I think that's why he threw this arbitration testimony into the public records."
What happened
The sheriff, according to Lewandowski's recap, had instructed him to submit a report detailing what happened at the arbitration hearing held July 3, 2002. The deputy involved was fired then won his job back through arbitration.
Lewandowski wrote that he was subpoenaed to give testimony about a confrontation he had with Budd while both held the rank of major. The union lawyer also subpoenaed a seven-page report Lewandowski had voluntarily submitted to the sheriff about the event titled: "Conflict with Major Michael Budd on March 28, 2002."
Wellington said Friday: "Jim Lewandowski goes out and submits to me on his own a flowery report, his interpretation of [the conflict]. ... He always did have a direct hatred for Mike Budd and he has political ambitions and he knows that some day, some day he's going to use those reports as public records."
The records obtained by The Vindicator did come from Lewandowski's files because, according to a cover letter from the sheriff, his office sustained damage in April when plumbing pipes above burst, spilling sewage.
He asked staffers to send him any complaints about Budd from their files because the ones in the sheriff's office files must have been inadvertently thrown out with other sewage-drenched papers.
Lewandowski's recap of his arbitration hearing testimony, meanwhile, notes that the union lawyer wanted him to confirm that Budd told him during their March 2002 confrontation "You're a [expletive deleted] little punk b----" and that Budd stepped in close and made a threat to do him bodily harm. Lewandowski also said in his summary that Budd had on occasion directed profanity at subordinates.
"I told [the union lawyer] that I thought the person in charge of Internal Affairs [Budd] had to be a professional (or perhaps professional in conduct) and exemplary in his behavior," Lewandowski wrote.
"I told her that it was my personal opinion that Major Budd did not rise or present himself to the level that I think the person ought to be."
Wellington said Friday that swearing is not uncommon in police circles.
A four-count federal indictment against Budd, meanwhile, was unsealed Tuesday after his arrest by the FBI. He is accused of violating three inmates' civil rights through use of excessive force.
The sheriff demoted Budd to deputy and placed him on paid leave. The paid-leave status applies to three other deputies indicted in July in the same case.
What sheriff said
Of five other deputies' reports critical of Budd obtained by The Vindicator, the sheriff said the best defense was an offense and that two of the deputies worked for Lewandowski and were instructed by him to make the reports. The sheriff said some of the deputies were apologetic afterward to him for making the reports.
Wellington said "there's no doubt in my mind" that the motivation of the reports was so that Lewandowski could keep a file for release as public records, as is the case now.
Lewandowski said Friday that sheriff's department policy prohibits him from speaking to the press.
In July 2003, Lewandowski was put on the graveyard shift to guard Berlin and Lake Milton dams and, in a grievance, said it was retaliation because he didn't support Wellington's re-election bid.
Lewandowski had been expected to challenge Wellington for sheriff in the March 2004 Democratic primary. The sheriff, in office since 1999, is running unopposed next month.
Lewandowski has been with the sheriff's department since January 1985 when Ed Nemeth was sheriff. He served as interim sheriff after Phil Chance, convicted of racketeering, resigned in July 1999.