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Heltzel breaks a pledge, and that’s good
Four years ago, Paul Heltzel had area officeholders squirming and the press buzzing when he pledged that if elected commissioner in Trumbull County he would serve only one term.
Heltzel, a lawyer who had done yoeman’s work in the county prosecutor’s office, offered the following assessment of politics: Holding public office should not be a lifetime proposition.
Well, he obviously swayed the voters, because he went on to win the election in 2004. In the Democratic Primary, the political newcomer defeated six candidates, including incumbent Joseph J. Angelo, who was seeking a fourth term.
In the November general election, Heltzel defeated Republican Michael Collelo.
To say his tenure has been interesting would be to understate what has taken place in county government over the past three years.
His making the charge that one of the most powerful families in the Mahoning Valley is able to “dominate and dictate to weak-willed political hacks” certainly goes beyond interesting.
Heltzel was talking about the Cafaro family and his comment was made in August 2006 within the context of his two colleagues, James Tsagaris and Daniel Polivka, voting to appoint Capri Cafaro, daughter of Cafaro Co. executive vice president J.J. Cafaro, to the Senior Citizens Advisory Council.
Heltzel objected to the appointment, contending that it was his turn to recommend and that Capri Cafaro was not the right choice because of her family ties.
(Note: Ms. Cafaro not only secured the appointment, but went on to win the backing of the Democratic members of the Ohio Senate to succeed Sen. Marc Dann, who was elected Ohio attorney general.)
Verbal lashing
But it was Heltzel’s verbal lashing of some county employees that endeared him to at least this writer.
Indeed, the commissioner earned a description that he should wear as a badge of honor: “ ... demanding, abrasive, vulgar and loud.”
It came from R. Keller Rohde, hearing officer for the Ohio Unemployment Compensation Review Commission, who had ruled that former county Administrator Tony Carson Jr. wasn’t entitled to the $416 a week in unemployment benefits he had been collecting because he had quit his job.
Carson had tried to pin the blame for his resignation on Heltzel. He claimed that the commissioner was requiring him to perform his duties in a way that would have violated Ohio law.
Rohde didn’t buy any of that. But he did find that Heltzel had raised his voice and used unprofessional language.
Carson also claimed that the commissioner caused women in the office to weep and vomit. The claim was never substantiated.
With such allegations you would think that Heltzel’s decision to seek re-election, thereby breaking his pledge to serve only one term, would attract a slew of challengers and harsh criticism from this writer, who has long railed against professional politicians. There’s that old saw about individuals who can’t succeed in the private sector finding lucrative positions in the public sector.
But Heltzel has proved to be different. His willingness to turn the spotlight on government incompetence and waste and challenge pencil pushers and paper shufflers makes him the ideal officeholder in a region with a history of bad government.
Surprise
It was, therefore, a surprise when the filing date for candidate petitions came and went and there was only one candidate for Heltzel’s seat — Heltzel.
No Democrat filed to challenge him in the March primary, nor did any Republican enter the race.
In other words, the so-called terrorizer of public employees has a free ride this election.
As for his breaking his pledge, there are times when even the most cynical observer of government must acknowledge an officeholder whose continued presence is necessary.
Any journalist worth his salt would jump at the chance of quoting an elected official as saying, “ ... the same hand that supports good causes and our area’s growth should not be able to dominate and dictate to weak-willed political hacks.”
Heltzel has been a breath of fresh, fiery air.