Trustees want Villano for top job

The auditor, a CPA, had helped secure a grant for revitalization in Hubbard.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Hubbard's city auditor is expected to be named the township's new administrator.
After a series of special meetings last week, trustees agreed Saturday to give Trustee Chairwoman Robyn Gallitto the authority to offer Michael Villano of Hubbard the position. Gallitto said a formal vote, pending a successful background check, is likely at a special meeting.
Villano would be paid $65,000 annually.
"He has a skill set that will transfer well for what we're looking for," Gallitto said, citing Villano's credentials as a certified public accountant, his experience in Hubbard and his master's degree in public administration.
"He's very hungry and eager to work here," she said.
Villano, Hubbard's auditor since 1998, said he initially wants to develop unity within the township.
"The next thing is planning," he said. "We need to do some strategic planning, some urban planning to determine where we're going."
Villano worked cooperatively with the Trumbull County Planning Commission to write a proposal for a $400,000 grant for revitalization of Hubbard's downtown. The city received the grant.
Second pick
Trustee Elaine Mancini said that Villano was her second pick. She favored a candidate who is a township administrator in a community in southwest Ohio.
"Michael comes from a city and it's just a different kind of governmental entity than a township," Mancini said.
Trustees interviewed 10 people for the position.
Trustee Kathy Miller said that while many of the candidates were good, Villano, "has done all of the things in his capacity in Hubbard that I was looking for."
Gallitto said that Villano has sat on negotiating teams, possesses budgeting and financial experience and has knowledge of grant procedures.
"He's the total package," Miller said. "They were all really good candidates, but if we were scoring them, he got a 100 out of 100, whereas another candidate would have gotten a 95 or a 98."
The position has been vacant since March 31, when Miller and Gallitto voted to fire Curt Seditz without cause. Seditz, who held the position for 10 years, was to earn about $78,100 this year.
Last month, Christina Griffith, deputy administrator, who had been named acting administrator after Seditz's termination, resigned to take another position near Cleveland.
Gallitto said no determination has been made about whether the deputy administrator position will be filled.
"I'd like to see what he wants and what he thinks about that," she said.