Salem official: Temporary hiring cannot be done

By D.A. WILKINSON

wilkinson@vindy.com

SALEM

A proposal to bring back the lowest of three laid-off city firefighters did not catch fire.

The firefighters were among seven full-time workers the city laid off because of tight finances.

The newest firefighter, Kevin Bryan, qualified for a state grant that would have let him return to work until September.

The state funds are designed to help people get full- or part-time jobs, said Lawrence A. Kosiba, the executive director of the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center in Salem, who also is working with the Columbiana County Department of Job and Family Services.

City Law Director C. Brooke Zellers said Monday night that he had reservations about the plan.

He said the Ohio Revised Code was “very clear” on who gets laid off and who is recalled.

The temporary rehiring, he added, “cannot be done under the Ohio Revised Code.”

Harry Dugan, chairman of the civil service commission, agreed with Zellers that it did not have any legal involvement in the plan.

Mike Burns, a union representative for the fire department, said that any contract changes by law would have to go through the civil service commission.

In a council meeting after the civil service commission session, Councilman Bryan Whitehill said of the idea, “We have to look at every option.”

Mayor Jerry Wolford said the idea was to get a laid-off worker back on the job.

Bryan was at the fire station after the meeting but declined to comment.