Overturning of veto doesn’t faze mayor

By D.A. Wilkinson | March 19, 2008 at 12:04a.m.

SALEM — Mayor Jerry Wolford said he’ll appoint someone to act as a safety director, but he wouldn’t say who or when.

The mayor spoke after council Tuesday overturned his veto of an ordinance that eliminated the safety director’s position. Before the vote, Wolford directly asked council to delay any action pending further study.

Wolford had earlier this year named former Councilman Greg Oesch to be the safety director. Oesch was not at the Tuesday night council meeting.

Eliminating the safety director’s job would save the city about¬†$8,400 a year.

Law Director C. Brooke Zellers said that under state law, the mayor can appoint someone to function as a safety director under the city’s service director, Steven Andres.

The question is whether that person would want to serve without being paid. Paying the person would require action by council, Zellers said.

Democratic Councilman Justin Palmer started the move to eliminate the safety director’s position to save money.¬†

Wolford, a Republican, and Councilman Clyde Brown, a Democrat, contended the other party was playing politics.

Brown, the chairman of the city’s rules and ordinances committee, and the committee members had checked with local communities to see if they had both directors. Most did not.

Salem has had a safety director since the early 1900s. The study indicated that most of the communities surveyed did not have a safety director.

David Johnson, the chairman of the Columbiana County Republican Party and a lifelong resident of Salem, grilled the committee members about their survey. Rules and ordinances committee member Dan Nye said the committee members had asked a set series of questions.

Johnson said he wanted to see the written responses compiled by the committee. Brown said he would make them available.

“I can’t understand how some individuals claim a safety director is vital to the future of Salem,” Brown said. “If it’s important to our safety, why wasn’t it a full-time appointed position?”

wilkinson@vindy.com