The Vindicator analyzes Mahoning's worker turnover

RELATED: Tiny offices lose key workers to higher-paid jobs elsewhere

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The number of people leaving Mahoning County government for other jobs varies by departments, and they are leaving for what most of us would as well — more money, a Vindicator analysis shows.

A few departments experienced a large number of employee resignations in 2012 and 2013, while others experienced few or none.

The departments with the largest numbers of resignations during that two-year period were the sheriff’s office, Children Services Board and juvenile court, which had many of the county’s lower-paid employees.

“Here you have skilled individuals [who] are educated that get paid very little,” Commissioner David Ditzler said of those departments.

During the two-year period evaluated by The Vindicator, the total number of county employees was 1,647 at the end of 2012 and 1,668 a year later.

In those years, the county saw 503 departures of employees in all departments.

Of those, 234 resigned, 162 were terminated or laid off, 100 retired and seven died, according to payroll information supplied by the county.

Excluding seasonal, temporary and substitute workers reduced the number of resignations to 107 during 2012 and 2013, which The Vindicator considered for this analysis.

Among the departments that showed no names in the resignation category were the engineer’s department and the auditor’s, treasurer’s and recorder’s offices.

Among those with few resignations were the veterans’ service commission with three.

The sanitary engineer’s, prosecutor’s and dog warden’s offices, Department of Job and Family Services, Board of Health and Board of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services had two each; and the commissioners’ and coroner’s offices, facilities maintenance department, recycling division, domestic relations court, clerk of courts and planning commission had one each.

Here is a look at departments that saw the most turnover.

the sheriff’s office

The sheriff’s office lost 31 deputies and a warrants and records secretary through resignations over the two years.

“Unfortunately, based on the low pay and economic climate, many times our agency becomes the resume builder for somebody,” explained Sheriff Jerry Greene.

“Our entry-level salary is way behind our sister counties,” said Maj. William Cappabianca, referring to counties similar in population and sheriff’s department size.

Financial and employment instability caused by on-again, off-again sales taxes a decade ago was also a contributor to turnover here, the sheriff said.

Between 2009 and 2012, the sheriff’s office employees took concessions, which were dictated by the decline in tax revenues to county government that was induced by the recession that began in 2008.

Most of the deputies who resigned had been assigned to work in the county jail and earned between $24,794 and $30,389 per year when they left, with the warrants and records secretary earning $31,533 annually.

In many cases, “They found other employment within the law-enforcement field that is a little bit higher” in compensation, Greene said of deputies who left. Others resigned for health reasons or while facing discipline, he added.

The goal of many in law enforcement is to be a police officer, but the seniority-based job preference bidding system under the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 141 contract at the sheriff’s office is such that new hires here work six to eight years in the county jail before they can elect other jobs, such as courthouse security or road patrol, Greene said.

“We are a seniority-driven agency,” Greene said. “It takes 10 years for a deputy to reach top rate here,” he added. Entry level is now $27,248 a year, with the top rate at $44,970, exclusive of ranking officers.

In Trumbull County, corrections officers assigned to the county jail start at $30,389 annually and reach $37,482 after four years.

Trumbull County sheriff’s deputies start at $35,006 annually and reach $42,869 after four years.

In the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, there were five retirements in 2012 and one in 2013. Reductions in Public Employee Retirement System benefits that took effect early in 2013 contributed to the 2012 retirements, Greene said.

The sheriff’s office has a total of 222 employees, including the sheriff — 208 of them law-enforcement officers and 14 of them civilian employees.

children services

There were 21 resignations listed at the Children Services Board, including the Dec. 31, 2012, departure of Denise Stewart, executive director, who had been with the agency for 38 years; and the July 26, 2013, resignation of David Arnold, who was interim executive director for nearly seven months until the current director, Randall Muth, took office.

Stewart’s final salary was $90,854 annually.

Stewart resigned after CSB placed her on paid administrative leave because of what it said was an investigation without providing any additional explanation.

Arnold was paid $44.64 per hour, which would have totaled $92,851 had he served full time for a year.

Of the 21 resignations, 16, including Arnold’s, occurred in 2013, after Stewart’s departure.

Based on comments from his staff, Muth attributed the high turnover in 2013 to low pay and uncertainty over the agency’s future after Stewart left.

Ohio law requires that children services caseworkers have bachelor’s degrees in a social work-related field, Muth noted.

“We tend to be a training ground for other counties where people move. ... That’s a sad, sad state of affairs, especially when you’re talking about the safety and well-

being of the children of Mahoning County,” Ditzler said.

Child-welfare caseworkers at the county’s CSB, who work in a metropolitan county, are paid less than their counterparts in most counties in the population-size tier immediately below Mahoning, said Muth, who is secretary of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.

“Child welfare has, intrinsically, a high turnover rate because it’s a psychologically traumatic job. We’re dealing with people who do horrible things to kids,” Muth said.

Among those who resigned from CSB in 2012 or 2013 were David Macek, personnel officer, and Philip Murphy, child-welfare casework supervisor, both at $57,699 per year; Andrea Robinson, fiscal officer, at $54,018 per year; five child-welfare caseworkers earning between $28,995 and $41,309 per year; a $25,002-a-year data processor; a $19,053-a-year technical typist; and two $18,741-a-year receptionists.

Also leaving CSB by resignation were seven group- home workers, including five part-timers, earning between $9.35 and $13.70 per hour.

CSB had four retirements in 2012 and six in 2013. It has has a total of 121 employees.

Total staff turnover there was 23 percent in 2013, but only 5 percent so far this year.

JUVENILE COURT

At the juvenile court, 22 people resigned over the two-year period, including two nurses working in juvenile detention, one a registered nurse at $42,328 a year and the other a licensed practical nurse at $37,440 a year.

Eleven corrections officers in juvenile detention, who were paid between $23,192 and $26,478 a year, constituted the largest group of resignations there.

Others who resigned were a $40,435-a-year program director, a $35,006-a-year probation officer, a $31,242-a-year treatment court coordinator and a $22,110-a-year maintenance worker.

The juvenile court staff fluctuates between 120 and 125 employees.

“They make barely more than minimum wage. ... They are looking to gain experience and then move on to a better-paying job,” said Anthony D’Apolito, a magistrate and juvenile court administrator, said of the corrections officers.

Some corrections officers have left to work in the state correctional system, in the oil and gas industry and at General Motors, said Jason Lanzo, juvenile detention

director here.

“We are the lowest-paid county in the state of Ohio that deals with an urban population” in juvenile corrections officer pay, Lanzo said, adding that it’s frustrating to constantly train and lose corrections officers.

D’Apolito said he’d like to be able to pay the 32 corrections officers more, but he noted their pay is limited by the financial constraints of the county’s general fund, which pays for all juvenile detention-related costs.

“The majority of people that are here are not here to become millionaires. They’re here to help people,” D’Apolito said of juvenile justice center staff.

DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

Eleven people resigned from the county board of developmental disabilities over the two-year period, including George Winsen, a $74,589-a-year workshop director, and Lorraine Stanko, a $45,198-a-year executive assistant, and four employees in service and support administration, who earned between $37,086 and $54,870 a year.

Also resigning were a $13.15-an-hour bus aide; a $12.50-an-hour workshop specialist; an $11.94-an-hour transportation secretary; an $11-an-hour instructor’s assistant; and a $10-an-hour direct services assistant.

The DD board had 16 retirements in 2012 and nine in 2013. DD has 300 employees.

Kristine Hodge, assistant superintendent, said she doesn’t attribute the relatively low turnover in the DD board staff to high pay, but she acknowledged her staff has a richer benefit package than staff at other agencies serving the developmentally disabled population.

“People enjoy the work they do, and they’re committed to people with disabilities,” Hodge said. “To do this kind of work, you truly need to have a passion for people with disabilities.”

Union pay scales range widely in the Mahoning Education Association of Developmental Disabilities from $9.25 an hour for the lowest-paid part-time personal service assistants to $33.50 an hour for the highest-paid caseworkers and registered nurses.

The top salary for caseworkers and RNs equates to $69,680 a year. Bachelor’s degrees are required for DD board caseworkers.

Teachers working for the DD board on a nine-month schedule earn up to $60,900 annually.