SCOPE responds to accusations

By Ed Runyan

WARREN — Representatives from SCOPE, the Trumbull County agency accused last month of overbilling the countywide seniors levy for services provided at senior centers and in seniors’ homes, countered the accusations Wednesday.

The venue was the weekly Trumbull County commissioners meeting.

SCOPE representatives also arranged a meeting with county commissioners for Tuesday to discuss the commissioners’ role in an investigation by the District 11 Area Agency on Aging that led to a referral to the Ohio Department on Aging and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

The attorney general’s office has confirmed that it is conducting a criminal investigation into the matter based on the referral.

Commissioner Frank Fuda said Tuesday’s meeting will include SCOPE officials and District 11 representatives.

John Vogel, a consultant working for SCOPE, has asked for public records from the commissioners that he hopes will show who first raised questions about SCOPE’s billing practices to the commissioners.

Vogel says he has also requested records to learn why the investigation was initiated, because he questions District 11’s motives.

Janet Schweitzer, director of SCOPE, said her office has not received a single inquiry from the attorney general’s office during the more than two weeks since the investigation was revealed in the news media, or before that.

SCOPE has offered to drive documents to Columbus if that would help move things along, Vogel said, but the attorney general’s office has declined.

Vogel said Tony Cario, a paid staffer who oversees the levy spending, reviewed 5,000 separate services SCOPE provided during the first six to seven months that the levy money was distributed to SCOPE, and Cario apparently found nothing wrong because he recommended payment for the services.

Also, SCOPE’s own accountant and SCOPE’s board of directors never noticed anything wrong with the way SCOPE was being reimbursed for services, Vogel said.

Lisa Solley, District 11 community relations director, said Vogel’s remarks about Cario’s actions leave out the fact that SCOPE refused to allow District 11 to look at the books regarding services provided at SCOPE senior centers for some of those months.

When District 11 finally did look at the books, it discovered bills of $8,124 for a golf league, $7,665 for boccie and $37,400 for line dancing — all of which were billed at rates three times higher than they should have been, Solley said.

District 11 says certain physical activities such as line dancing, operating a golf league and boccie should be reimbursed at a rate of about $9 per hour, not $33, as SCOPE wanted.

Vogel said Wednesday that the people who campaigned to pass the seniors levy in 2005 never spelled out in campaign literature what rules would be followed to determine the reimbursement of services. Those rules were established by District 11 “after the fact” in a way that was unfair to SCOPE, Vogel said.

Solley said District 11 established rules governing use of the levy money to benefit SCOPE and enable the senior centers to remain open.

“We’re sure of ourselves. We’ve done nothing wrong,” Schweitzer said.

runyan@vindy.com