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Auditor Meacham will take office early
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County commissioners have appointed Ralph T. Meacham as acting county auditor.
Thursday’s appointment follows Monday’s decision by a panel of three retired judges to suspend Michael V. Sciortino as county auditor based on the allegations against Sciortino in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal conspiracy case.
Meacham, a Republican, already was scheduled to begin his four-year term as county auditor March 9, after he unseated Sciortino, a Democrat, in the November election.
Meacham is the first Republican elected to a non-judicial countywide office here in 30 years.
Even though he has been suspended, Sciortino will continue to collect the auditor’s $89,109 annual salary through March 8 as dictated by state law. Meacham, too, will be paid that same salary as soon as he is sworn in.
The commissioners’ resolution says Meacham’s appointment will become effective as soon as he is sworn in and bonded.
Commissioner Anthony Traficanti said he believes Meacham will be sworn in Monday as acting auditor to complete Sciortino’s term.
Meacham’s formal swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Tuesday in the county courthouse rotunda.
Traficanti said the commissioners took the action Thursday “in order for us not to disrupt any services to the taxpayers of this community or to the county itself.”
Also Thursday, the commissioners amended a previous resolution to enable the use of $35,405 in federal funds to buy 18 body cameras for the sheriff’s department. The money to buy the cameras has been diverted away from patrol-car purchases, the sheriff said.
The money comes from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Justice Assistance Grant program.
The cameras, to be delivered next month and worn beginning April 1, will be used by deputy sheriffs in the patrol and courthouse- security divisions. Sheriff’s office detectives also will use them for interviews with witnesses and suspects in the field.
The cameras, which will record high-definition audio and video, will clip to the button area of the deputies’ shirts.
“Body cameras are less expensive and provide a more-accurate record than vehicle-mounted cameras,” said Maj. William Cappabianca.
“They’re easy to wear. They’re easy to use, and they reduce the amount of liability toward the law-enforcement agency,” he said.
“It’s a method for protecting both the citizens and the officers during interactions,” he added.
The $35,405 pays not only for the cameras, but also for the storage and retrieval system for the audio and video they record.
“We obviously believe that it’s going to bring accountability to the sheriff’s office, but it really aids in many other facets, including prosecution” of suspects and reduction of false accusations, Sheriff Jerry Greene told the commissioners.
“It reduces lawsuits, and I think it just raises the bar a little bit. All law enforcement has been moving towards this,” he added.