Working together is ‘most helpful’

By Elise Franco

A temporary position was created to help the new Canfield city manager.

CANFIELD — Joe Warino’s transition from Mahoning County sanitary engineer to Canfield city manager has been smooth.

Warino, whose two-year contract began Dec. 1, said he credits that fact to former city Manager Chuck Tieche, who had the position for 18 years.

“It’s exceptionally beneficial for me to have him here,” Warino said.

City council members voted Dec. 2 to approve the salary for a new position, assistant city manager. Council President Andrew Skrobola said Tieche will stay on in the assistant role in order to help Warino learn the job.

“The idea behind creating this position is to transition from the old to the new,” Skrobola said. “[Tieche] will be helping [Warino] understand what the job is all about.”

Skrobola said the job, which pays Tieche $35 per hour, is temporary and will be terminated at the end of January.

He said once Tieche leaves, council will put an item on the agenda and vote to eliminate the position entirely.

Warino said working with Tieche has been most helpful in teaching him how to balance a budget and prioritize projects.

“One of the most tenuous duties is getting the budget together, and that’s what’s going on during this time of the year,” Warino said. “There would certainly have been a lot of voids and questions without him.”

He said after the first of the year he will focus a lot of time on flooding issues in the city.

Warino said he’ll also focus on bringing new business into the community.

He’s “looking at putting together a Canfield businessmen’s association,” he said. “It’ll give us a second set of eyes to see what we can do to get more business into the city.”

Warino was appointed in November under a two-year contract with a salary of $70,000 per year.

Before becoming city manager, Warino was Mahoning County’s sanitary engineer, a post he retired from at the end of November.

J. Robert Lyden, 68, of Canfield, has been appointed interim sanitary engineer for the county.

efranco@vindy.com