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Marsico quits race after snub by Democrats
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Marsico
YOUNGSTOWN
Mahoning County Engineer Richard A. Marsico said he was “surprised and disappointed” at the Democratic central committee’s vote to endorse his opponent, Patrick Ginnetti, in the March 6 primary.
Marsico withdrew his re-election bid Tuesday, however, he endorsed Ginnetti and promised to assist in the transition to a new county engineer.
Ginnetti, who is running for political office for the first time, said he was surprised he won 68 percent of the votes.
With Marsico announcing his decision to retire at the end of his current term, which ends at the end of this year, and not to seek a fifth term, Ginnetti, of Struthers, is unopposed for the Democratic nomination for county engineer.
No Republican is in the race, and the independent candidate filing deadline is March 5. One thousand petition signatures are required for an independent candidacy.
If any independent candidates run against Ginnetti, Dave Betras, Mahoning County Democratic Party chairman, said: “We will run over them.”
Only eight Mahoning County residents possess both professional engineer and surveyor licenses, both legally necessary to run for county engineer.
Betras and Ginnetti appeared with Marsico at a Tuesday afternoon news conference in the county engineer’s office.
“For the past 15 years, I have had both the privilege and the honor to serve the good people of Mahoning County as their engineer,” Marsico said.
Betras said the party endorsement for Ginnetti should not be interpreted as an anti-Marsico vote. Rather, he said, county voters have historically believed it is time for a change after an elected officeholder has served 16 to 20 years.
Betras commended Marsico for the integrity with which he has run the county engineer’s office and said Marsico did the right thing for his office by not engaging in “a bloody primary fight.”
Marsico, who was Youngstown city engineer for 13 years before he became county engineer, said he would like to spend more time with his family after he retires.
Under his leadership, Marsico said the engineer’s office has competed aggressively for funds, worked with local governments to improve projects and save government money, and found money to fulfill unfunded mandates imposed on the county.
Ginnetti, who has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Youngstown State University and works in Cranberry, Pa., for an engineering firm, described himself as “a hands-on engineer and hands-on surveyor.”
Ginnetti was noncommittal about whether he’d quit his private engineering practice and be a full-time county engineer if he’s elected. “We’ll cross that road when we get to it,” he said.
If elected, Ginnetti said his top priorities would be public safety on county roads and bridges and the use of technology, such as the geographic information system, to establish a routing program for snow plow trucks and a road-paving and reconstruction plan, and laser-scanning for surveying.
Meanwhile, Paul J. Gains, county prosecutor, said he will remain in the race for re-election to a fifth term despite the committee’s endorsement of his Democratic primary challenger, Jay Macejko, by a 57-43 percent margin in that two-man race.
Gains noted that 254 committee people voted Saturday, but some 57,000 Mahoning County voters are expected to participate in the Democratic primary.
“I’ve certainly never been a party insider,” Gains said. “We’ll see what happens,” he added.
“I respect the vote of the Democratic Party, but I still believe that my experience is extremely important for this position,” he added.