Canfield trustees to review hiring

By Jeanne Starmack

Township Trustee Paul Moracco suddenly resigned during a meeting June 9.

CANFIELD — The township trustees and the Mahoning County prosecutor will look into whether former Trustee Paul Moracco should accept a township job he helped to create.

A Vindicator editorial’s assertion that if Moracco takes the job it will be a violation of state law “caught me totally off guard,” Trustee Chairman Randy Brashen aid Sunday.

“We will call our attorneys and ask them to guide us through the accusations that have been thrown at us,” he said.

Moracco, a longtime trustee, resigned suddenly June 9 at a trustees meeting.

Before his resignation, he and trustees Brashen and Bill Reese had met for more than an hour in a closed session.

When they reopened their meeting, they passed a motion to ask their attorney for help in advertising a new position for the township — that of township roads superintendent and construction projects manager.

After the motion carried 3-0, Moracco turned over his letter of resignation, Brashen said.

“He was writing while we were talking and making the motion, and he handed me a piece of paper with his resignation on it after the vote,” Brashen said.

Trustees advertised for the new position, which will pay $60,000 annually, in the newspaper June 11. They received 11 applications, including one from Moracco.

After officials, including Brashen and Reese, interviewed the top four candidates, they decided June 23 to select Moracco, Brashen said.

Brashen would not say if the trustees discussed creating the position in the June 9 closed session.

He said that trustees have talked about creating such a position “for years.” Brashen also said Moracco’s resignation came as a surprise.

Reese and Brashen previously told The Vindicator that Moracco never discussed with them his intention to seek township employment while he was a trustee.

Brashen said he knew Moracco had been looking for another job since leavinghis post at the Canfield Fairgrounds on April 25. He had been grounds superintendent there for 28 years. Moracco told The Vindicator last week that he left “to find something better and to move on to the next step in my life.” Brashen said Moracco got the township job simply because he was the best candidate.

“I will hand you the 11 r sum s we got and clip the names off the top — you’ll pick the best, and you’ll hand me Paul’s,” he insisted.

Moracco could not be reached for comment Sunday. Brashen said that Moracco learned about The Vindicator’s assertion during a conference call between the two of them and the paper’s editorial writer Friday.

“Obviously, he was down,” Brashen said. “But we looked at each other and felt we did everything right.”

Brashen said trustees will check with Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains today.

Though Moracco was to begin his duties Tuesday, Brashen said he would consult with attorneys to see if they recommend postponing Moracco’s startdate.

Gains said Sunday he saw the editorial and he had already sent an e-mail to the chief of his civil division. “And we’re going to look into it.”

Brashen said that if trustees made a mistake, they will take steps to fix it. “We’ll definitely do what we have to do.”