Sunday, September 25, 2005
In commenting on the decision by the Mahoning County commissioners to fire Richard Malagisi as director of facilities management, Commissioner Anthony Traficanti offered this jewel: "Our ships didn't sail in the same direction." Traficanti didn't elaborate. But he and his two colleagues, David Ludt and John McNally IV indicated they were displeased with Malagisi's job performance.
Malagisi says he was not given a reason for his firing, though he had offered to retire because of tensions between him and the commissioners. Malagisi, who worked for the county for almost 24 years, is considering legal action.
"Let them take their best shot, and I'll take mine," he said. "I didn't do anything wrong."
Given that, we believe the commissioners have no choice but to conduct a statewide, if not national, search for a new director of facilities management. Why? Because if they pull any stunts, like they did with the hiring of the human resources director and the No. 2 man in the lead control program, they will be giving Malagisi ammunition for his lawsuit.
In order to show that there was nothing personal in their decision, Ludt, Traficanti and McNally must put qualifications and experience at the top of the list. They have appointed Pete Triveri interim director and McNally said the commissioners weren't sure how they would handle the vacancy. The options they are exploring are to make Triveri the permanent director or conduct a search.
The second option is the only one that will provide the commissioners with legal cover if Malagisi sues.
Education, experience
The old days of looking at this job as nothing more than a glorified janitorial position are gone. With all the buildings owned by county government and with a criminal justice center under scrutiny by the federal courts, the challenge of operating and maintaining them requires someone with the proper education and experience.
At the risk of being criticized for even mentioning his name, we would urge commissioners to look at the qualifications and experience of Govind Thakkar, who was hired in August 1993 and resigned about a year later after he became the target of an investigation by then county Prosecutor James Philomena.
While Thakkar remains the butt of jokes by detractors of the commissioners at the time, his qualifications when he was hired should serve as a guide: director of maintenance, Deaconess Hospital of Cleveland; corporate maintenance manager, Gray Drug Stores Inc., Cleveland; self-employed energy engineering consultant; director of plant operation services, St. Thomas Medical Center; director of facilities engineering, MetroHealth St. Luke's Medical Center.
He was replaced by an engineer from Hubbard, Joseph Verostko, who had been an associate engineer at Pfitzenmaier & amp; Jablonski Inc. in Youngstown, where he oversaw a 16-person engineering department.
We refer to these two individuals to make the point that it is not impossible for Mahoning County government to attract applicants for jobs that require specific educational and work qualifications.
A statewide or nationwide search would in no way shut out any locals who might have an interest in the position, including the interim director of facilities management, Triveri.