Boardman trustees' drama now playing on state stage

A year ago, we urged Boardman trustees Elaine Mancini, Kathy Miller and Robyn Gallitto to use diplomacy as they went about doing the peoples' business. We were hoping to avoid a repeat of the bloodletting that defined the administration of the township in 2005 when Mancini, Miller and Tom Costello were on the board of trustees.
Costello lost the November '05 election to Gallitto. But the new year did not bring a new climate of governance. Rather, the first three months saw a continuation of the upheaval -- only with different alliances. And so, last April we urged the trustees to set aside their personal agendas and put the interest of the township first.
But they didn't listen. Thus today, the drama that township residents have come to expect from the three trustees is now being played out on the state stage.
Last week, Mancini and Gallitto asked county Prosecutor Paul Gains to determine if Miller had misused public funds and public employees. Her crime? She authorized the publication of an advertisement in The Vindicator pertaining to the plans for a new fire station without a formal vote of the board of trustees. The cost of the ad? About 165.
As for the misuse of employees, in December 2005 a township resident called Miller with a complaint of basement flooding. Miller acknowledges that she asked for a road department employee to visit the house and determine whether the flooding problem was caused by the township.
It is worth noting that Miller's alleged transgressions were discussed by the trustees in executive session, but when a vote on asking the county prosecutor to investigate was taken in public session, Miller joined her two colleagues in supporting the motion. But she did note that she thought the motion was "invalid."
Gains has referred the matter to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation to ensure an independent review of the facts.
Contract negotiations
BCCI is part of the attorney general's office, which means Attorney General Marc Dann will ultimately be involved in this controversy. In light of that, we renew the call we made last year to Dann's predecessor, Jim Petro, to review an opinion from the Mahoning County prosecutor, Gains, that a member of the board of township trustees is prohibited from attending public contract negotiations -- even as an observer.
Gains' reading of the law was triggered by a letter he received from then Boardman Township Administrator Curt Seditz pertaining to Trustee Miller's wanting to attend -- not participate in -- contract negotiations. She made it clear she merely wanted to observe.
Here's what the county prosecutor wrote, in part: "It is the official opinion of this office that a member of the board of township trustees may not directly participate in negotiations process by attending negotiation sessions and retain the right to reject the proposed agreement."
His equating attendance to participation seems, to us, to be a stretch. We strongly disagree with the notion that elected officials with ultimate authority over labor contracts somehow give up their rights as citizens to observe how their tax dollars are to be spent.
Attorney General Dann should also address another issue that has ignited a firestorm in Boardman: The right of a trustee to comment publicly on government business -- or even conduct government business -- without the permission of the other trustees.
It is clear from what is transpiring in the Boardman Township Administration Building that Mancini, Miller and Gallitto need a clear definition of their statutory responsibilities and rights as officeholders.
We urge Attorney General Dann to provide such guidance.