Columbiana County suffers with health comish’s pact

We aren’t surprised that the Columbiana County Board of Health has extended Health Commissioner Robert Morehead’s contract, but we certainly are angry.

What is it about Morehead that blinds members of the board to the criminal charges that have been brought against him?

The charges relate to the performance of his public duties, yet his contract, which expired May 1, was extended for three months.

A status hearing on the theft in office, theft and forgery charges is scheduled for July 11; a jury trial is set to begin Aug. 12.

Morehead, who was arrested in December after he was indicted, has pleaded innocent. He is free on $20,000 recognizance bond. If convicted, he could face up to 71‚Ñ2 years in prison.

The charges relate to Morehead’s spending practices as health commissioner between December 1996 and February 2004.

We are encouraged that a visiting judge will preside over the trial. Columbiana County Common Pleas Judge Ashley Pike is to be commended for asking the Ohio Supreme Court to appoint a visiting judge.

Ever since a Vindicator investigative series several years ago revealed Morehead’s questionable use of a county-issued credit card, we have advocated his removal as health commissioner.

Our misgivings about him were confirmed by a special audit by the state auditor’s office. It contained 5,442 findings for recovery from Morehead and a bonding company. Yet, not only was he permitted to keep his job, but the chairman of the board of health at the time went so far as to express his wholehearted support for the health commissioner.

Clear message

The message from the board to the taxpayers of Columbiana County has been clear: Morehead’s misuse of public property is not reason enough to fire him.

Morehead used the county credit card to make purchases for himself at a golf club in Nashport, Ohio, a department store in Pittsburgh, a souvenir shop in Daytona Beach, while he was on vacation, and from a mail-order company that advertised itself as offering “Tools for Serious Readers.”

The state auditor’s findings also listed credit card purchases of a Swiss Army Duetto watch, tickets to a Rolling Stones concert, men’s furnishings, groceries and books.

Morehead also used public money for many meals at a local restaurant owned by a member of the board of health, Matt Borza. The onetime chairman, Dr. Jack Amato, said he saw nothing wrong with that practice.

The indictment from the Columbiana County grand jury says he stole between $500 and $5,000 from the health district.

Indeed, the health commissioner has repaid $5,834 for questionable expenses identified in an earlier audit. A subsequent audit for the years 1996 to 2002 called for him to repay $5,442.

And yet, last month, the board of health extended Morehead’s contract.

It is irrelevant that the new contract does not give him the pay raise other health department employees received.

Whether the health commissioner actually retired in March, as he claimed, but continued working with no pay also is irrelevant. Now, he’s receiving his salary — more than $70,000 a year.

We are hard-pressed to understand why the board of health refuses to cut him loose. Perhaps that is an issue the prosecutor in the case will explore.

The idea that Morehead is indispensable is ridiculous.