Trumbull officials consider new policy

The current policy of the seniors’ board isn’t sufficient, one commissioner said.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN — Complaints about the Trumbull County Senior Citizens Advisory Council led county commissioners to consider a new conflict of interest policy that would bar more than half of the current members from serving.

The volunteer council recommends spending to the county commissioners for the $2.6 million annually generated by the seniors levy voters approved in 2005.

Commissioner Paul Heltzel said he and fellow Commissioners Frank Fuda and Dan Polivka have spent hundreds of hours on the telephone over the past year talking to organizations that consider some of the advisory council’s recommendations to be unfair.

Heltzel said the policy — which was drawn up by the county prosecutor’s office — would prohibit anyone from serving on the advisory council if they are closely affiliated with any group or organization that stands to benefit from levy funds.

For example, advisory council chairman Jack O’Connell is a member of the Area Agency on Aging, which pays staff member Tony Cario to run the advisory council office; and O’Connell serves on the board of the Girard Multi-Generational Center, which received seniors levy funding in 2007.

“What I’m saying, and what I think the prosecutor is saying is, ‘Why should a guy who wears three hats even be on the thing?’ ” Heltzel said of O’Connell.

Polivka said the policy may need to be adjusted somewhat because, for example, he’s not sure that Janet McGeough should be removed from the board because of her being a member of the Mobile Meals board.

When Cario was shown a copy of the proposed policy, he told commissioners it appeared it would eliminate six of the current 11 members from being reappointed to the council, Heltzel said.

The advisory council currently follows a policy requiring members to abstain from voting on matters affecting groups they are involved with, but Heltzel says that policy isn’t sufficient to prevent favoritism because their influence is still felt.

“What we need is 11 disinterested citizens who do the job of appropriating the levy funds to the appropriate organizations,” Heltzel said.

Darlene St. George, Howland Township administrator, said she and commissioners didn’t see a conflict of interest when she was appointed last year, but she will resign from the council if she is in conflict with the policy.

The Howland SCOPE center received levy funds last year. The center has a private board of directors but rents its building off of the township for $1.

In addition to O’Connell, St. George and McGeough, Cario said the policy might eliminate Tom Klingeman, Lena Franklin, and Jack Foley, Heltzel said.

Fuda said he expected the commissioners to appoint and reappoint advisory council members and pass the new policy within a couple of weeks.

runyan@vindy.com