Traficanti, Ludt must explain their vote on recycling pact

Sunday, August 20, 2006 With all the controversy swirling around the Mahoning County criminal justice system — it has been called "dysfunctional" by a Toledo lawyer who spent months reviewing it — the decision by commissioners Anthony Traficanti and David Ludt to award a recycling contract to the sheriff's department certainly deserves an explanation. Yet, when Traficanti and Ludt voted Aug. 8 to take the contract away from Community Corrections Association and assign it to Sheriff Randall Wellington, they did so in silence. On the other hand, Commissioner John McNally IV, who cast the dissenting vote, said he saw no reason to change the 12-year relationship between the county and CCA. McNally also pointed out that while the new contract was for $73,000 — CCA was receiving $157,277 — the sheriff's department wants to hire a liaison between it and the county's recycling personnel with wages and benefits of about $40,000. Add to that the cost of a used pickup truck, and the $200,000 from the general fund the department already spends for its inmate work program, and the economics of the move come into question. Enter the judges U.S. District Court judges David D. Dowd Jr. and Dan A. Polster and 6th District Court of Appeals Judge Alice M. Batchelder are already overseeing the operation of the Mahoning County jail. A federal lawsuit was filed by inmates who claim that their constitutional rights were violated because of problems at the lock-up. The case was assigned to Judge Dowd, who appointed Atty. Vincent M. Nathan of Toledo to evaluate the operation of the facility.Nathan issued a 22-page evaluation that said the jail's problems of overcrowding and staff shortages were the result of a "dysfunctional criminal justice system." It is against this backdrop that the issue of the recycling contract surfaced. The contract involves, among other things, placement and removal of recycling bins throughout the county, collection of roadside litter, pickup of aluminum cans collected by pupils and staff from 21 schools, and collection of household batteries from library collection points. CCA's work crews consisted mostly of individuals assigned to residential programs. They were supervised by a staff of six. The sheriff's department will use deputies for supervision and the crews will be made up of non-violent misdemeanor inmates who are on furlough. Sheriff Wellington contends that the contract would ultimately help reduce the county jail population by keeping nonviolent, misdemeanor offenders out of the jail. Dr. Richard Billak, CCA director, counters that the county is taking a risk by using inmates who are not as thoroughly drug screened or put through the psychological tests that CCA residents take. The three federal judges are in a position to render an unbiased evaluation. We urge their involvement.