Trouble after official seeks job

The ethics commission will be asked for a ruling if Write is offered the job.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

YOUNGS-TOWN — City school board president Michael Write may have violated the state’s ethics law just by applying for a paid position in the district while still in office.

Write, whose term on the board ends this month, said he applied for a community “linkage coordinator” job in a program being funded under a state grant on Nov. 7, the day after he lost his bid for re-election to the school board. It was the last day to apply for the position.

Write said he had voted earlier in the year for the district to accept the $545,633 grant to fund a program aimed at improving the graduation rate and academic achievement of ninth-grade boys.

At the time, he had no intention of applying for one of the two coordinator jobs the grant requires, he said, explaining, “My intent was to be on the board again.”

Information provided to The Vindicator by the Ohio Ethics Commission says that a board member cannot seek or solicit employment from the board while he or she is a member of that board.

Further, the law says a board member cannot accept any benefit from an employment contract authorized by him or by the board of which he is a member.

Atty. Jennifer Hardin, chief advisory attorney for the Ethics Commission, said she couldn’t speak specifically about Write’s situation but did say Ohio law requires a school board member to resign his or her position before even applying for a job within that board’s school district.

There is also a prohibition on a school board member accepting employment with that board within one year of leaving office, if that employment was authorized by the board while he or she was a member, Hardin said.

The city school board has hired one coordinator at $33,000 a year but has yet to act on the second slot for which Write has applied. The board authorized the creation of the two coordinator positions when it accepted the grant to fund the “Beating Our Achievement Gap Together” program, and Write said he did vote to authorize the program.

Write said he examined the state law before deciding to seek the position and felt he could apply, pointing out the school board hasn’t authorized any employment for him.

However, he has also said that, should the board offer him the job, the issue will be presented to the Ohio Ethics Commission for review and an opinion before he would accept it.

If the commission finds a conflict of interest, he will step aside, he said.

“I can do what I do without getting paid,” Write said, referring to his career in counseling and drug and alcohol prevention programs.

He believes his experience can be put to good use in the district.

It was never his intent to violate any law or do anything to harm the district or himself, he said.

“My intent has always been to act in the best interest of kids,” Write said.

gwin@vindy.com