County rescinds coroner office layoffs
YOUNGSTOWN — Dr. David Kennedy, Mahoning County coroner, has rescinded the layoff of his investigator, Jesse Hoffman, which was to have taken effect today, and said his office will resume 24/7 availability of investigators to go to death scenes.
Dr. Kennedy made this announcement after meeting for more than one hour this morning with the County Administrator George Tablack and the county commissioners.
Tablack said he didn’t see why the layoff couldn’t be rescinded because the coroner appears to be operating within his budget with one third of the year elapsed and based on his spending trends over the past five years.
The meeting was in response to the triple fatal accident in Campbell where a car ran into a house and nobody from the coroners office went to the scene and families said they were upset about having to wait until Monday for confirmed identities of the loved ones.
Anthony T. Traficanti, chairman of the commissioners began the meeting by saying it was not a question of if but how the coroner’s office would be available at all times when needed.