Mediator should be familiar with Ohio’s judicial system

Given the issues involved in the conflict between the judges of the Youngstown Municipal Court and the administration of Mayor Jay Williams, an individual with in-depth knowledge of the criminal justice system in Ohio should serve as the mediator.

And since it is the justices of the Ohio Supreme Court who have ordered mediation, we would urge Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and his colleagues to provide the city with a list of qualified mediators who not only would understand what the conflict is about, but would objectively evaluate each side’s position.

At the heart of the battle that has been raging for months is the municipal judges’ demand for new court space. Judges Robert A. Douglas Jr., Robert Milich and Elizabeth Kobly have said that they have been patience for a long time and now they expect the administration and city council to provide them with space befitting a court that serves a lot of people.

Mayor Williams agrees that the current space on the second floor of City Hall is inadequate and is in bad shape, but he points out that city is struggling to make ends meet and cannot afford the $8 million price tag for giving into the judges’ demands.

Instead, the mayor has said the municipal court should be downsized to reflect today’s reality in Youngstown. The decline in population, the shrinking tax base and the court’s caseload compared with other similar courts make it clear that the status quo cannot be justified or sustained.

Williams has proposed two strategies for dealing with the municipal court situation. The first, the elimination of one of the three judgeships, can be accomplished relatively quickly — if city council joins the mayor in seeking action by the Ohio General Assembly.

Indeed, state Rep. Robert F. Hagan, D-Youngs-town, has said he is willing to sponsor a bill to eliminate the position once council passes a resolution seeking the Legislature’s intervention.

Caseload data

There is justification for such a move. The court’s own caseload data shows that the cases heard by each of the three judges is below the statewide per-judge average.

However, even though the municipal court provides the data to the supreme court in its annual report, Judge Douglas argues that the numbers are a “distortion.”

It is revealing that the judge’s solution to the caseload disagreement is to add another magistrate in the court. Having more than one magistrate would move cases more quickly, as is done in other courts with more magistrates, he contends.

Talk about having a tin ear. Administration officials note that the 64 employees in court are too many, but that the judges have shown no inclination to reduce the number.

Who’s right? That is one of the questions the mediator should answer.

The only reason Youngstown has three judges is because a special bill was passed many years ago to exempt the city from the population-based formula contained in the state statutes that deal with the criminal justice system in Ohio.

Under that formula, Youngstown, with its declining population, should have two judges — and even that could be open to some discussion.

The second strategy being explored by Mayor Williams is for the elimination of all the courts below the Common Pleas level and the creation of a county-wide metropolitan court system.

While the idea has the support of Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras, it will be difficult to achieve because there are too many special interests committed to the status quo (read that a whole bunch of employees slopping at the public trough.)

This initiative is worth pursing — even if the political hurdles are seemingly insurmountable.