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Tablack receives 1-year contract
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
YOUNGSTOWN
Mahoning County Administrator George J. Tablack has a new one-year deal, but one commissioner opposed the pact, citing the county’s poor economic condition.
Tuesday’s vote to rehire Tablack was 2-1, with Commissioners Anthony T. Traficanti and David N. Ludt in favor and Commissioner John A. McNally IV opposed.
It was the same alignment of commissioners as in the 2006 vote concerning Tablack’s initial four-year contract, which expired Saturday.
The other terms of Tablack’s contract will remain the same: a $103,809 annual salary, minus 10 percent in the form of an unpaid holiday every two weeks; six weeks of annual vacation; and a clause requiring a lump-sum buyout equal to six months of his salary if the commissioners fire him.
McNally said he was opposed to the contract renewal because of the county’s poor financial condition, but he was willing to keep Tablack as a regular at-will employee as he was before he got his initial contract four years ago.
Ludt noted that Tablack performs both county- administrator and budget-director functions.
“The rate we have him down at is a fair rate,” Ludt said.
Tablack is a certified public accountant.
Because of the critical financial issues affecting the county, Traficanti said he believes it is essential to keep Tablack at least through the end of this year.
“I think it would be irresponsible if we did not do the right thing for the county,” Traficanti said.
Tablack, who also has served as county auditor, did not attend Tuesday’s meeting.
McNally said that due to the county’s financial crisis, 10 to 15 people likely will be laid off soon from the county’s 30-member facilities department, which cleans and maintains county buildings, but he said he did not know the effective date of the layoffs.
In other business, commissioners honored the leadership of the Committee for Our Future, which ran the successful campaign to get the half-percent county sales tax renewed for five years May 4.
The committee donated $700 in leftover campaign funds to the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, and Atty. David Betras pledged an additional $300 to the food bank from the Mahoning County Democratic Party, of which he is chairman.
The commissioners also entered into contract with Youngstown Radio Service for installation of 30 GPS units in county engineering-department vehicles at a cost of $14,250 and with Snovak Floor Covering of Youngstown for $6,198 worth of carpeting to be installed in the new domestic-relations court magistrates’ offices on the third floor of the county courthouse.