2 panels to write referendum on county government change
They will spend the next five months writing the charter reform language.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
LIBERTY — Members of committees looking to change the form of government in Mahoning and Trumbull counties realize they face a huge challenge.
But they say they are up to the task.
Organized through the Regional Chamber, the two committees announced their members and a plan with few specifics Tuesday at the Liberty Township Administration building. The plan involves placement of referendums on the November 2008 ballot in both counties asking voters to overhaul the current form of county government in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
“We have a very ambitious goal to put this together,” said Mahoning County Commissioner John McNally IV, chairman of the Mahoning committee.
The goal, he said, is to create a government that is more efficient and effective than the one that currently exists with three county commissioners and eight other countywide elected jobs.
The committees are leaning toward asking voters next year to adopt a home rule charter that would establish the position of county executive — one person in charge of running the day-to-day operations, and a county legislature. The number of legislators isn’t yet determined, but the members would come from all over the county and be elected to part-time posts. Also, it isn’t known how many of the other eight countywide positions would remain and if they would be appointed rather than elected.
The committee members acknowledge there is little support for the concept from current elected officeholders. Trumbull County Commissioners Frank Fuda and Dan Polivka as well as Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti have already expressed their opposition. Also, having McNally as the only countywide elected official on either committee is a telltale sign.
“It’s the start of a significant initiative,” said Thomas Humphries, president of the Regional Chamber. “We have a significant challenge in front of us.”
The committees will spend the next five months writing the language of the proposed government reform ballot initiative to be put in front of Mahoning and Trumbull voters in November 2008. It’s quite likely the language of the two referendums will differ.
To get on next year’s general election ballot, the committees need to get about 9,500 valid signatures from registered voters in Mahoning County and about 8,300 in Trumbull, said Tony Paglia, the chamber’s vice president for government affairs.
The committees will also begin a series of meetings shortly with elected officials to talk about the proposals. The most difficult part of the process, McNally said, is educating voters and county officials about the benefits of the proposal.
Effective campaigns for charter reforms in the two counties combined would cost about $250,000 to $300,000, McNally said.
The committees will use Summit, the only county of 88 in Ohio with a charter form of government, as a model as well as Allegheny County in Pennsylvania.
The committees wrote on a handout given to the media Tuesday that charter forms of government have “found that overall costs have been reduced with competent management by a county manager or executive. Savings may be in the form of reducing operating costs, increased efficiency and productivity, improved revenue, collection, or effective use of technology.” The handout also states home rule would reduce “the cost of government by eliminating the duplication of services wherever possible.”
Atty. Matt Blair, the chamber’s government affairs council chairman and a Trumbull home rule charter committee member, said Allegheny was able to save money through the consolidation of certain offices to pay the salaries of grant writers that brought money into the county.
When asked to give a range on the cost savings of having a charter form of government, committee members said there is no guarantee it would save any money.
But McNally said companies would have to deal with only one county executive rather than three commissioners when looking to relocate to the Mahoning Valley. That would make it easier to get economic deals done, he said.
skolnick@vindy.com