Gone but not off the hook

Gone but not off the hook

Trumbull County Engineer David DeChristofaro got off on the wrong foot when he took office Jan. 5, 2009, and immediately fired three employees, two of whom were related through marriage to the former engineer. Those employees filed suit for wrongful termination and eventually won settlements totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Now it appears that things only went downhill from there.

DeChristofaro resigned abruptly Thursday, four days before trial was to begin in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on a taxpayer’s suit to remove him from office. During depositions leading up to that trial, DeChristofaro’s secretary, Jennifer Bindas, described doing a week’s worth of campaign-related work for her boss while on the clock over the period of a year. Much of the work was done using county materials and equipment, she testified.

Serious penalties possible

As we pointed out last month, having subordinates do political work on the taxpayer’s dime is not a petty matter. A former Mahoning County commissioner served eight months in prison after being convicted of using two county employees to do campaign work. Their man hours expended were valued at $200. We assume that Bindas was paid well above that per week.

DeChristofaro’s resignation isn’t the end of the story, only the beginning of a new chapter.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office and Ohio Ethics Commission are already on the case and they should now redouble their efforts to determine if criminal charges are warranted. Given what’s been revealed, it is difficult to see how they would not be.