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Mahoning auditor candidates spar; Betras blasts Meacham's emails
County Auditor
Video Set
By Peter h. MILLIKEN
YOUNGSTOWN
Ralph Meacham said he would not “clean house” if he’s elected Mahoning County auditor next month, but a commissioner and the county Democratic Party’s chairman blasted Meacham’s campaign-fundraising emails to county workers on their accounts.
Meacham, a certified public accountant, said he looks forward to building partnerships with other county officials.
Meacham, former chief financial officer for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is the Republican challenger to County Auditor Michael V. Sciortino, who is a Democratic lawyer.
Tuesday’s events also included a tiff over an emailed blast invitation to today’s Meacham political fundraiser from Meacham’s campaign public-relations firm that went to county employees on county government accounts.
Atty. Dave Betras, county Democratic Party chairman, said soliciting political contributions from county employees while they’re at work or in their workplaces is a first-degree misdemeanor criminal violation of state law.
“I personally am not sending any emails out to any county employees,” Meacham said. “I have not directly solicited any county employee over the phone or Internet.”
As to the job of auditor, he said his first priority is to restore confidence in the auditor’s office, noting Sciortino’s employees “kept the office running smoothly during long absences of the current auditor.”
“I will spend considerable time relationship-building, getting to know each individual and assessing their expertise,” Meacham said of the auditor’s office employees.
Sciortino has acknowledged he checked into an alcoholism rehabilitation facility after a county sheriff’s office commander “unarrested” him from a potential drunken-driving charge in Canfield.
Sciortino maintains he works more than 40 hours a week and characterized Meacham’s reference to his “long absences” as “a flat-out lie.”
Sciortino listed a host of accomplishments, including perfect audits for all county agencies since he took office in 2005, his office’s receipt of the certificate of excellence in financial reporting for seven-consecutive years from the Government Finance Officers’ Association of Ohio and the county’s acquisition and retention of an A+ credit rating with a stable outlook from Standard and Poors.
“We do a great job doing the work of the taxpayers,” Sciortino said.
Sciortino is running for re-election under the cloud of an indictment that alleges he conspired with others to impede the move of the county’s Department of Job and Family Services from rented quarters to Oakhill Renaissance Place, which the county bought in 2006.
He and the other defendants have pleaded not guilty.
During Meacham’s news conference, David Ditzler, chairman of the county commissioners, issued a statement on county commissioners’ office letterhead complaining that he and other county employees received an email Monday seeking donations to Meacham’s campaign on county government email addresses that was received on county-owned computers.
If any of his supporters are engaged in the behavior Ditzler complained about, Meacham said: “They’re not doing it with my permission.”
One of the emails to the county email address of an employee of the county commissioners’ office invites her to a $35-per-person fundraiser at 5:30 today at the Magic Tree Pub and Eatery, 7463 South Ave., Boardman, where Meacham will appear with State Auditor Dave Yost.
At the bottom are the initials, WRPA (Western Reserve Port Authority) and the address of Rubenstein Associates in Liberty. Rubenstein is listed as the source of tickets for the fundraiser.
Rubenstein is the advertising and public-relations firm for both the port authority and Meacham.
Carolyn Rubenstein, president of the public-relations firm, said the initials WRPA remain on an email account set up for the firm by Leo Jennings, an adviser to Sciortino’s campaign.
“Ralph Meacham did not direct us to send an email to government employees,” Rubenstein said, adding that the port authority did not authorize the Meacham email.
Jennings is a former employee of the PR firm and now an independent contractor for Rubenstein, who works only on the port authority account.
Rubenstein said Jennings set up the account and is the only one who can remove the WRPA letters from the account.
Jennings said the Rubenstein firm uses the account for multiple clients and was “just sloppy” in not removing WRPA’s name from the Meacham announcement.
Jennings said it’s the legal responsibility of Meacham and Rubenstein to ascertain that campaign solicitations aren’t sent to county employees on their work accounts.