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Port authority funding and hiring of director placed on hold
By Ed Runyan
VIENNA
The Western Reserve Port Authority did not hire John Moliterno to be economic- development director at its meeting Wednesday, but the board’s chairman said he still believes the hiring should take place fairly soon.
The port authority met in executive session for an hour with Mahoning County Commissioners Carol Rimedio Righetti and Anthony Traficanti, as well as county Prosecutor Paul Gains, at the start of the meeting.
Afterward, Ron Klingle, port authority chairman, said the meeting allowed the authority and the commissioners to iron out a lot of controversies that have been brewing, the most recent one having to do with Moliterno’s possible hiring.
That controversy led to remarks by Traficanti and Commissioner David Ditzler that Mahoning County might revoke $500,000 worth of annual bed-tax funding from the port authority in protest.
The Trumbull County commissioners also make appointments to the port board.
When asked after the meeting whether revocation still was a possibility at today’s Mahoning commissioners’ meeting, Righetti said, “I don’t think so” but added that all three commissioners would need to discuss it further. When reached Wednesday afternoon, Ditzler said he was going to rely on the recommendation of Righetti and Traficanti.
The controversy arose over word that Klingle was preparing to ask the port authority Wednesday to hire Moliterno.
The Mahoning commissioners were unhappy that Klingle had handled the selection process without consulting them or the board’s three Mahoning appointees.
Among the people Mahoning commissioners thought should have been considered was Sarah Lown, the authority’s current economic-development manager, Traficanti said.
After the meeting, Traficanti said the commissioners from both counties and the authority board plan to meet next week in Youngstown to further discuss a number of issues.
An indication that the relationship may be healing between the Mahoning commissioners and the port authority was Traficanti’s statement that the Mahoning commissioners are looking to fill the Mahoning vacancy on the WRPA board.
Ditzler agreed that it’s possible the position will be filled, but he wants to talk to the Trumbull commissioners first.
Klingle said the controversies have arisen because of “a lot of misunderstandings and confusion” that he thinks will be resolved in the coming weeks.
Klingle said he wants an interim director to be hired “as soon as possible” and for a formal selection process to be developed that can be used to determine if the interim director should be retained or someone else hired. He hopes that process can be complete by the end of the year.
Klingle said he had been contacted by more than 10 people interested in the job and narrowed the focus to Moliterno.
Meanwhile, Moliterno confirmed he notified Dan Polivka, chairman of the Trumbull County Democratic Party “a while ago” that he was no longer interested in being appointed Trumbull County commissioner to replace the late Paul Heltzel, but he denied that Polivka wanted him to drop out.
Moliterno, who has had elected positions on Girard City Council and the Girard Board of Education for decades, said he decided against it because of “the campaigning, the getting elected, re-elected. I simply didn’t want to go through that again.”