MAHONING COUNTY Valley company loses ballot contract

The election board authorized the hiring of an attorney.
YOUNGSTOWN -- For the first time in at least two decades, a local company will not print absentee ballots for the Mahoning County Board of Elections.
The board awarded the absentee ballot printing contract for the May primary to Dayton Legal Blank of Dayton, Ohio, for $11,700 on Tuesday.
Dayton has sought absentee ballot printing jobs from the election board for several years but was always beaten by Olfield Graphics, a Youngstown company formerly known as Youngstown Lithographic.
But the Olfield proposal did not include a mandatory bid bond, and the company didn't follow bid specifications. Olfield submitted a bid of $29,840 to print absentee ballots for the May primary and the November general elections. The bid didn't break down the cost of each election.
Election board members and officials expressed disappointment that Olfield didn't get the job. The board unanimously voted to hire Dayton Legal Blank.
Craig Olson, Olfield's owner, admitted he misread the bid specifications and assumed the board was looking for a bid for the primary and general elections, as it did last year.
"My intention was to give the county the best and lowest proposal," he said. "It's my fault for misreading it. But I'll be back. I'm not going anywhere."
Olson said if the bid was just for the primary, his company's asking price would have been about $10,500, less than Dayton's. Olfield will submit a proposal for printing for the November general election, he said.
The election board requested 15,300 absentee ballots be printed for the May primary.
Dayton handles ballot printing for several counties in Ohio.
A long history
"They have a long history in the state," said Mark Munroe, election board chairman. "We don't have any experience with them, but we're not concerned about any problems because of the change."
As part of the contract, Dayton has to provide additional absentee ballots, if they're needed, on a quick turnaround basis.
"If Dayton is unable to do that, and the county gets in a jackpot, we'd step in to help them if needed," Olson said.
Also Tuesday, board members authorized election officials to retain an attorney for a possible lawsuit against the county over its 2005 budget allocation.
All departments were asked to prepare their budget request at 1999 levels because of revenue lost by the defeat last year of a 0.5 percent sales tax that provided about $14 million to the county.
The request for funding at 1999 levels was made because that was the last time the county had an annual budget between $35 million and $39 million.
The election board's 1999 budget was $1.5 million. It asked for $1,237,042 this year, and commissioners allocated $900,000 -- a 40.2 percent cut from 1999.
Out of money
Election officials say that with only $900,000 the department will be out of money before the November general election.
"We'll work with the board to help with staff and elections," said Commissioner John McNally IV. "We'll keep in touch, and we'll try to help them the best we can. I'm sure there will be an election in November. I can't see a reason why there wouldn't be an election in November."
To add to the problem, commissioners placed a 0.5 percent sales tax on the May countywide ballot, and the previous board of commissioners had asked election officials to submit a budget that didn't include a countywide issue on the primary ballot.
The countywide issue will cost the election board $197,000.
The election board reworked its budget to fund the countywide issue, including laying off a full-time employee, and using only 4 part-timers instead of the usual 18 to 24 in the weeks leading up to elections. Those cuts, as well as reductions in supplies and employee benefits, total about $198,000. That means the board could absorb the cost of the countywide election with a budget of $1,236,125.
Under state law, counties must provide their boards of elections with enough money to run elections, and if counties don't comply, they can be sued, said Thomas McCabe, deputy director.