Mahoning hopefuls certified

By David Skolnick | February 11, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County Board of Elections certified the candidacy of those running in the May 3 primary.

All candidates submitted nominating petitions with at least the minimum number of signatures needed to be eligible to be on the May ballot. The minimum is 25 for most races.

The only close call was Plato Kalfas, the Republican candidate for Youngstown City Council’s 5th Ward.

Kalfas, the only Republican on the Mahoning County primary ballot, turned in nominating petitions with 28 signatures. Three were ruled invalid by board employees, leaving him with 25 signatures, the least amount he could have to be a candidate.

The board on Thursday approved the candidacy of candidates for the primary.

Also Thursday, the board agreed to return two employees to full-time status.

In an effort to reduce its expenses in January 2010, the board reduced seven of its 11 full-time clerks to nine-month employees. That cut their annual base-pay salary by 25 percent from $35,600 to $26,700.

The board then laid off two of those clerks in July 2010.

Of the remaining five, the board agreed Thursday to return two clerks to year-round status. That leaves three nine-month clerks.

“It was a challenge at times with less full-time employees,” said board Deputy Director Joyce Kale-Pesta.