A debt of gratitude to Republicans

Let there be no doubt about it: Had Michael Sciortino won re-election last fall, the Mahoning County auditor’s office would now be hidden from public view — as it was for so long — and the shenanigans that defined the Democratic Party insider’s tenure would be continuing without interruption.

Indeed, with Sciortino calling the shots, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, a Republican, would have been laughed out of the county had he tried to sell the auditor on the idea that local government’s checkbook should be put online for all the world to study.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that transparency and accountability have not been the strong suits of Democratic officeholders in the Mahoning Valley. Instead, they tend to occupy the dark, dank environs of government, like so many mushrooms in a musty basement. Light is the enemy.

Remember Antonini?

That’s why Sciortino’s inauspicious departure from county government has been the best thing that has happened to this region since the last officeholder who fell from grace — which was not so long ago. Remember Lisa Antonini, the former treasurer of Mahoning County and ex-chairwoman of the county Democratic Party? She used her public position for personal gain and was made to pay the price — in court.

Sciortino, Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally and Youngstown Atty. Martin Yavorcik have been charged criminally in state court for their roles in a conpiracy to block county government from purchasing Oakhill Renaissance Place, the former Southside Medical Center. They, and others who have not yet been nabbed, were acting at the behest of Valley businessman Anthony M. Cafaro Sr., who as president of the Cafaro Co. wanted to block the relocation of the county’s Job and Family Services agency from the Cafaro Co.-owned Garland Plaza to Oakhill Renaissance. Cafaro has since retired.

Sciortino, McNally, whose charges relate to his tenure as a county commissioner, and Yavorcik, whose candidacy against county Prosecutor Paul Gains was supported by Cafaro and others, are set to go on trial in March 2016 in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

But regardless of what happens in court, the taxpayers of Mahoning County have already won. Sciortino sought re-election in November and lost to Ralph Meacham, a political newcomer and a Republican, to boot.

Meacham’s victory in the predominantly Democratic county conveyed a strong message from the thoughtful voters who supported him: We’re tired of public-sector corruption and of the secrecy that shrouds government.

The certified public accountant, whose entire working career was spent in the private sector, ran on a platform of transparency and openness and pledged to establish a new standard of behavior for employees of his office.

Meacham has been true to his word. His many moves since becoming county auditor have been well publicized. The latest that should ingratiate him with the public is his reversal of his predecessor’s decision to let his employees work four, 10-hour days, rather than five eight-hour days.

Talk about putting the interests of public employees ahead of the convenience of those who pay their salaries, the taxpayers.

But Meacham’s push to change the culture of county government goes beyond his office.

Accountability

In the aftermath of his stunning election win, he had conversations with two very important state officeholders, Treasurer Mandel and Auditor David Yost. The topic of discussion: How to make county government more accountable to the people.

Like Meacham, the two state officeholders are Republicans.

The solution they came up with was to put the county’s checkbook online — just as Mandel, with Yost’s help, has done with the state’s books.

Long story short, Mahoning County taxpayers will soon be able to analyze government’s financial transactions, revenues and expenditures.

Given that most of the county’s operating budget goes into the pockets of the employees, shining the public spotlight on them is exactly what’s needed.

Here’s the bottom line: Democrats in county government have been shamed into lifting the shroud of secrecy that has kept government hidden from public view.

We owe the three Republican officeholders, Meacham, Mandel and Yost, a debt of gratitude for showing us that government can be honest and open.