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County-office closings raise questions
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Mahoning County Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti
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Mahoning County Commissioner John A. McNally IV
YOUNGSTOWN
Two of the three Mahoning County commissioners said they should have been consulted about the decision to close county facilities Tuesday.
“I just take offense to the fact that I found out the courthouse was closed through a group of employees that called me,” Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti said Tuesday afternoon.
“The commissioners should have been called,” said Righetti, who took office a month ago. “With cell phones the way they are today, they could plug us in for a conference call.”
Had she been consulted, Righetti said her preference would have been a two-hour delay to give road crews time to salt the roads after the early morning ice storm.
Righetti said she learned of the closing early Tuesday morning from various county employees, then called to inquire of John A. McNally IV, who is chairman of the commissioners.
McNally told her he wasn’t aware of the closing and would get back to her.
McNally then called her back and told her county Administrator George J. Tablack and Clark Jones, county emergency management director, had decided to close county offices and buildings.
McNally said Tablack and Jones made that decision after they learned Youngstown State University would be closed.
“We’ve sort of used YSU as a benchmark” to decide whether county offices and buildings should close, McNally said, noting the university rarely closes.
While Trumbull, Columbiana and Stark county governments remained open for business, McNally said he believes YSU provides a better benchmark because of its proximity to county offices.
McNally said Tablack and Jones did not consult with him concerning the closing decision.
“I think that, as chairman of the board, I should have been consulted,” McNally said, adding that the commissioners should soon meet with Tablack, Jones and Probate Judge Mark Belinky, presiding common pleas judge, to review closing and closing-notification procedures.
Judge Belinky said he called Jones at 5:15 a.m., and Jones told him then he believed the courts should stay open. Between 5:30 and 6 a.m., Judge Belinky called Jones again and informed him YSU would be closed, and Jones then said the courts should close, Judge Belinky recalled.
Judge Belinky said he relies on Jones because Jones is in regular contact with area road departments and the Ohio State Highway Patrol concerning road conditions.
The judge said he and his colleagues will discuss weather-related closing and notifications when they meet Monday.
“I think there needs to be a little better communication among all of us,” in county government and the courts on this issue, Judge Belinky added.