Tuesday, November 22, 2005
If it weren't for the Mahoning Valley's long history of government corruption, we probably would not have been so incensed at the revelation in Friday's Vindicator that Warren Mayor Michael O'Brien had been under pressure not to give a statement in court against former acting city engineer David Robison.
O'Brien had made no secret of his disdain for what Robison did while he was on the public payroll.
It was John Kane, resident agent in charge of the FBI's Boardman office, who revealed after Robison's sentencing that there had been an effort made to keep the mayor from saying anything about the criminal behavior. However, Kane would not reveal the identity of the individual.
Likewise, O'Brien would not say who tried to pressure him, but he insisted that nothing would dissuade him from his responsibility to "denounce those who violate the public trust."
But Valley residents do have a right to know who had the temerity, in this day and age, to put the squeeze on the mayor.
O'Brien, who is in his first term as mayor after having served as a county commissioner and a member of Warren City Council, has earned the respect of all Mahoning Valley residents for not only standing up for what's honorable, but for making it clear that public employees should be held to a higher standard of behavior than was demanded in the past.
"When people see headlines for someone who has worked for the government that has taken money for personal gain, they consequently paint all government employees with the same brush," the mayor said after Robison received 33 months in federal prison on 19 counts of mail fraud and one count each of extortion and racketeering.
U.S. District Court Judge Solomon Oliver also ordered him to make restitution of $21,022 and pay a special assessment of $2,100. When he gets out of prison, he will be on supervised release for two years.
Plea agreement
The sentence was part of a plea agreement reached with the U.S. Attorney's Office, which agreed to drop one count of conspiracy to violate the Hobbs Act and one count of extortion under the Hobbs Act.
On Aug. 24, Robison admitted taking bribes and kickbacks for construction projects from the early 1990s through mid-July 2000. And while he was contrite, saying he had "dishonored my fellow workers, the citizens of my community, my friends and my family," the damage he caused cannot be ignored. This region has had too many Robisons, individuals in the public sector willing to sell their souls and the people they serve for so many pieces of silver.
And the Valley also has had too many individuals in the private sector willing to pay bribes to get an unfair advantage from government.
That is why Mayor O'Brien's stand is noteworthy and why his predecessor, former Mayor Henry Angelo, deserves to be publicly rebuked.
Angelo sent a letter to Judge Oliver on behalf of Robison seeking leniency for the former acting city engineer.
"I ask this court for consideration for Mr. Robison," he wrote. Angelo added that he believes Robison has "the utmost remorse for the errors committed and can again be the exemplary citizen the courts and our society would expect."
Angelo's former safety-service director, Fred Harris, also had kind things to say about Robison.
Fortunately, Judge Oliver chose to ignore the expressions of support from Angelo and Harris. It would have been a travesty had Robison received a lesser prison sentence.