Campbell municipal judge feeds entitlement culture

It's bad enough when an officeholder ignores the fiscal crisis confronting government and grants pay raises to his employees, but when he uses the word "entitled" to justify the irresponsible action, he's adding insult to injury.
The entitlement culture that too many public employees embrace is largely responsible for all the red ink dripping from the ledgers of government. Indeed, such a culture has been the bane of the public sector in the Mahoning Valley.
Municipal Judge Patrick P. Cunning of the city of Campbell, which has been in state-imposed fiscal emergency since June 2004, wrote in a journal entry dated June 30 that the clerk of court and the bailiff/deputy clerk are "entitled to a salary increase." He gave clerk Mary Helen Muntean and bailiff/deputy clerk Christine Maker a 9 to 10 percent pay raise. The money is to come out of the general fund.
Judge Cunning also raised the salary of Jean A. Darkadakis by 379 percent when he changed her employment status from part-time to full-time, with full employee benefits. He said the change was necessitated by an "increase in caseload and governmental requirements." Darkadakis' salary will come out of the computerization fund.
Campbell Mayor Jack Dill and members of city council cannot allow the municipal judge to get away with such abuse of power -- not when other city employees have not had a raise since 2003.
They should give serious thought to forcing the judge to sue them by refusing to allocate the money needed to cover the raises. While it is true that the judiciary has a definite advantage when it comes to securing operating funds it deems necessary from the executive and legislative branches, it would be interesting to see how Judge Cunning defends his contention that his employees are entitled to the raises.
Commission warning
The mayor and council should also invite the seven-member state-mandated oversight commission that controls the city's finances to issue the same warning the oversight commission in the city of Girard issued not too long ago: Any spending over what has already been budgeted will result in a lawsuit against city officials.
Why invite a suit? To prove to Judge Cunning that unilateral spending increases by officeholders will not be taken lightly -- especially when there is a great deal of cynicism on the part of the residents of the city. Last September, a 5-mill operating levy was soundly defeated -- even with the cost-cutting measures that were implemented by the mayor and council.
Dill has talked about putting the levy back on the ballot this year, but given Cunning's salary increases, it will be a hard sell to the voters. City Finance Director John Leskovyansky has warned that different services may have to be reduced if the journal entry goes unchallenged.
"I really don't know," Leskovyansky said of the ramifications. "If the money runs out, I don't know what will happen. ... Just because there's money there, don't assume you can spend it."
The financial situation in Campbell is so bleak that the finance director said the prospect of city workers getting a raise in the next three year is grim.
Given all of this, Cunning's irresponsible action must not go unchallenged.