Germaniuk plans to seek coroner’s job

The coroner’s office would be moved from its current
location.

WARREN — Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk, Trumbull County’s forensic pathologist since 1998, says he would continue to conduct most of the county’s autopsies but take a pay cut to acquire the title of county coroner.

Germaniuk, 53, made his candidacy official this week at the county courthouse, saying his move from coroner’s employee to coroner will save the county more than $457,000 in payroll over four years, since he would assume both jobs.

His current boss, Dr. Ted Soboslay, announced last month he would not run again for coroner after 20 years in office. The position comes up for election in 2008.

Soboslay makes $112,552 per year, and Dr. Germaniuk makes $114,330.

Germaniuk, a Democrat, said the tradition in Ohio of having a coroner who does not conduct the autopsies himself is evolving, as Trumbull County would be the fifth one in Ohio to combine the jobs of coroner and forensic pathologist if he were elected.

Germaniuk is a board certified forensic pathologist, a specialty in the medical field.

Other counties

Cuyahoga (Cleveland), Summit (Akron), Stark (Canton) and Lucas (Toledo) counties already have one person handling both responsibilities, he said.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are 66 counties in the state with fewer than 100,000 residents, and in those counties there isn’t enough work to justify a full-time pathologist, he said.

Trumbull has about the right number of cases for a full-time pathologist, he said. In an average year, there are around 220 to 230 cases, though the number was 261 in 2006. He attributed the increase to a larger number of drug overdoses.

If elected, Germaniuk said that one of the changes he would make is to move the coroner’s offices from a location owned by Soboslay on East Market Street to a county-owned building. He has looked at buildings owned by the county and is hoping that a second-floor space in the board of elections building on Youngstown Road might accommodate the office.

Before coming to Trumbull County, Germaniuk was chief medical examiner for Washington, D.C.

He and his wife, Genevieve, live in Warren. They have a son, Zachariah.

runyan@vindy.com