Wellington questions Aey’s eligibility for office

The board has the discretion to keep both candidates on the ballot, its director says.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Sheriff Randall A. Wellington is questioning the eligibility of one of his challengers while the other failed to turn in required paperwork, which could jeopardize his status as a candidate.

Wellington, of Boardman, filed a formal one-page objection Friday with the county board of elections stating David P. Aey of Boardman, a former sheriff’s deputy, shouldn’t be on the March 4 Democratic primary ballot.

State law requires sheriff candidates to, among other things, have at least two years of “supervisory experience as a peace officer at the rank of corporal or above” or to have “served at the rank of sergeant or above in the five-year period ending immediately prior to the qualification date.”

Aey says he served as a field supervisor from June 2003 to November 2006 for the U.S. Marshals Service’s Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force, thus giving him the required “supervisory experience.”

Wellington appointed Aey to that position, but contends it wasn’t one of authority.

The state law doesn’t address if holding a position of federal authority is considered “supervisory experience.”

Aey said the job had him holding supervisory responsibilities on the county and federal levels at the same time.

“I’m the most qualified guy to file in the last couple of elections for sheriff,” Aey said. “I don’t see this as a problem.”

Aey provided the elections board with a letter from the coordinator of the federal task force supporting his contention he has supervisory experience. He also retained the legal services of the Brunner Firm Co., which Aey said researched the issue and shows he is eligible. Rick L. Brunner, husband of the Ohio secretary of state, is the firm’s managing partner.

“His protest is an act of desperation,” Aey said of Wellington.

Thomas McCabe, the elections board director, said the board has the discretion to keep Aey on the ballot. The board will meet Thursday to certify the nominating petitions of candidates and will schedule a date to hear Wellington’s objection.

“Either way, we’ll get sued,” McCabe said of a board decision on this issue.

Also, Rick Alli, an ex-Youngstown police sergeant and short-lived chief of law enforcement operations for the attorney general, filed nominating petitions Friday to run for sheriff.

Sheriff candidates are required to submit a variety of documents when they file nominating petitions for the job. Alli didn’t turn in that paperwork to the elections board by Friday’s filing deadline, saying he was unaware he had to do so.

The paperwork includes documentation signed by the county’s administrative judge that a sheriff candidate was fingerprinted and been subject to a background criminal search as well as a complete history of his places of residence and previous employers for the past six years.

State law reads the information must be submitted “prior to the applicable qualification date.” The law specifies that date as “the last day on which a candidate for the office of sheriff can file a declaration of candidacy, a statement of candidacy, or a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate, as applicable, in the case of a primary election for the office of sheriff.” That date was Friday.

Election employees told Alli that it was unlikely he’d remain a candidate, but McCabe said, “Rick Alli will be fine.” The final decision rests with the elections board, which could determine Alli’s eligibility at its Thursday meeting.

Alli said he plans to get the required information prepared Monday.

But he wouldn’t be bothered if he’s disqualified.

“If I’m not timely, these elections come up every four years,” Alli said. “I won’t be disappointed no matter what happens with this. ...Voters should have options and by me being in this race, it will give people options.”

Alli stopped working for the Youngstown police after 31 years in January 2007 to serve as Attorney General Marc Dann’s “top cop.”

But Dann, a Liberty Democrat, fired Alli on April 20, 2007, after determining Alli was receiving checks from the city while earning his $118,000-a-year salary as the attorney general’s chief of law enforcement. Dann contended collecting salaries from both public entities was inappropriate.

Dann and the city turned the matter over to the Ohio Ethics Commission in April, but no ruling has been made on the issue.

Alli had the city pay him over time rather than a lump-sum amount. That allowed him to accumulate additional financial benefits, such as vacation and sick time as well as longevity and hazardous duty pay, even though he no longer worked there.

It was a common practice at the police department dating back to at least the 1960s. But because of the publicity surrounding Alli, city council voted in June to stop the practice.

“There was nothing unethical about getting what was owed to me,” Alli said Friday. “I did nothing wrong. ...I was punished before the investigation started. I was guilty before I had a chance to prove my innocence.”

skolnick@vindy.com