Tablack is back, at salary $19K less than expected

The Office of Management & amp; Budget leader also attended budget hearings.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County's new budget director was on the job Monday, but not at the salary he was expected to receive.
Commissioners voted 2-1 last week to hire George J. Tablack, the county's former auditor, to lead the Office of Management & amp; Budget. Tablack had resigned from that elected office in July to become chief financial officer for Palm Beach County, Fla.
Tablack's annual salary will be $65,000, Commissioner David Ludt said. That's less than the $84,000 salary Tablack suggested when he filled out an employment application, but comparable to the $62,000 the last budget director, Elizabeth Sublette, earned before she resigned in March 2004.
Asked to explain the $19,000 difference, Ludt -- who with Commissioner Anthony Traficanti voted to hire Tablack -- said they persuaded Tablack to accept the lesser amount. Commissioner John McNally IV voted against Tablack's appointment, saying the other commissioners had excluded him from the selection process.
Tablack will not have an employment contract with the county, Ludt said; he'll work at the will of commissioners.
Tablack's salary, like his employment, will be negotiable at any time, Ludt said.
His first day
Tablack spent his first day attending budget hearings with commissioners and various department heads who made presentations on their 2006 requests.
The county needs a formal capital budgeting process in order to plan for capital improvements, locate funding and avoid crises, Tablack said. To start the process, Tablack asked department heads if their capital projects are essential, necessary or desirable to their operations.
Walter M. Duzzny, the county's Emergency Management Agency & amp; Communications director, said it's essential for his office to construct a building to house new equipment for homeland security purposes. The building must be heated to protect vehicles that contain sensitive computer and electrical equipment, he told commissioners.
County Recorder Ron Gerberry said computer imaging of old documents in his office is less critical. Documents dating to 1985 are already computerized, and most land title searches go back 30 to 40 years, he said. Original documents, some of which date to the early 1800s, are in books that need to be repaired, Gerberry noted.