Mayor, judge at odds after court pay raises

The city is considering consolidating the court system with Mahoning County's.
By SARAH POULTON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CAMPBELL -- Judge Patrick Cunning said he was justified in giving two municipal court clerks pay increases and promoting a clerk from part time to full time, even though the city is in a state of fiscal emergency.
The judge said his full-time clerks haven't seen a pay raise since 2001, and they were entitled to it. He also said that with the court's increased caseloads, he needed to promote Jean Darkadakis to full-time status.
The difference in salary will be taken from the court's computer fund, he said.
The increased caseload stems from lack of space for inmates at the county jail, he said.
Because there is limited jail space, more people are being given probation, and as a result there have been more probation violation hearings, he added.
Pay raises
Mary Helen Muntean and Christine Maker were the two full-time clerks to receive pay raises, Judge Cunning said. He added that the 10- and 9- percent increases they received, respectively, would be taken from the city's general fund. The journal entries stated that Muntean will now be paid $39,050 a year, and Maker $23,650 a year.
The judge said that although the money for the salary increases is coming out of the general fund, the court is putting money into the fund, and that is the court's money to spend. The court generates a lot of money for the city, and the pay increases will cost the city only about $4,000 a year, he said.
The city is responsible for 60 percent of the clerk's salaries, he said.
At the same time, the judge said, "I've been in this town for 54 years, and I'm acutely aware and sensitive to the needs of this administration."
The city reacts
Mayor Jack Dill said he is very upset about the judge's actions. They cannot be taken lightly, and for the sake of the Campbell residents, something must be done, he said.
"Anyone who knows Cunning knows that he has the interest of the community at heart," Dill said.
"He did what he had to do, so now we have to do what we have to do, and if that means consolidating the court system with Mahoning County, then, absolutely."
Dill said city officials will seriously look into the process of having the municipal court brought into the county court system.
In another issue, Judge Cunning said he was not running from confrontation by signing the journal entries on June 30, the day before he took a two-week vacation, without consulting administration or council.
Instead, he took the action because he wanted the pay increase to take place immediately, he said.
The judge said he was approached by an employee about a raise two weeks after he took the bench.
"I wanted to wait and see, and that's what I did. It's not my goal to play hardball with council or the administration."
Dill said he is aware the judge doesn't have to consult with him before granting pay raises, but doing so would have been the courteous thing to do.
The judge said, "I do respect [Dill], but I didn't really feel the need to necessarily talk to the mayor about this. In hindsight, it may have been a more prudent thing to do."
Ongoing money problems
Dill said that while the judge has the right to operate the court how he sees fit, he will have to deal with the ramifications.
He contended that the biggest ramification is that residents will not support any levy put on the November ballot because they do not understand that the court's pay raises had nothing to do with the administration or the council.
"I told Judge Cunning that the city of Campbell would not take one penny out of the general fund to subsidize that court, and we won't. ... I am not going to see the entire city suffer for a court system," Dill said.
The mayor said he thinks the judge was misled by his mentor, former municipal Judge John Almasy, and that even though the court contributed $20,000 to the general fund last year, it costs more than $60,000 to operate.
Judge Cunning acknowledged that he did not write the journal entries himself -- Judge Almasy wrote them.
Judge Almasy could not be reached for comment.
Muntean said Judge Almasy wrote a similar journal entry in November 2005 but retracted the entry the next day after speaking with the mayor.
spoulton@vindy.com