Meacham, Rusu allow us to hope

There’ll be something of significance missing when Mahoning County’s auditor and probate judge start their new terms in office: The black clouds of political corruption. That’s because Auditor Ralph Meacham and Judge Robert Rusu Jr. aren’t facing criminal indictment, a criminal trial, a prison term or probation.

In other words, Meacham and Rusu are the exception to what has long been the rule of Mahoning Valley politics: Bribery is OK so long as the briber is someone of influence and financial power.

So, when the oath of office is administered to the two, there will be a collective sigh of relief from residents who have grown tired of witnessing the breach of public trust year in and year out.

Meacham, a successful certified public accountant, was enjoying retirement when he saw that the Republican Party had lost its candidate for county auditor. Rather than give Auditor Michael Sciortino a clear path to re-election, Meacham decided that voters deserved a clear choice.

Party insider

Sciortino, a Democratic Party insider who was originally appointed to the position despite the fact that he was unqualified for the job, had the temerity to seek another term last year even though he was facing 16 state felony and six misdemeanor charges. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty say Sciortino participated in a criminal conspiracy to undermine county government’s purchase of Oakhill Renaissance Place, the former Southside Medical Center.

The fact that he was the Democratic Party’s nominee speaks volumes about the state of politics in this region, which is dominated by Democrats.

It wasn’t just Sciortino’s criminal charges that made him vulnerable. It was his spitting the hook on a drunken-driving charge that was the final straw for honest, law-abiding residents of the county. A high-ranking member of the sheriff’s department intervened in the traffic stop, resulting in Sciortino’s being unarrested for OVI. But it didn’t end there. The sheriff’s official drove his drunken friend home.

Thus, on the night of the Nov. 4 general election, Sciortino was unceremoniously kicked out of office. Even if he had won, there was always the possibility that the Ohio Supreme Court would have suspended him with pay until his criminal case is decided.

Now, the auditor’s office will have a CPA making important decisions about the county’s finances. It is noteworthy that the last CPA to serve as county auditor was George Tablack, a Democrat.

In the probate court race, Robert Rusu, who had been appointed to the judgeship by Gov. John Kasich after Mark Belinky resigned in shame, ran for a full term as an independent. He was challenged by another Democratic Party loyalist, Atty. Susan Maruca.

Again, the Democratic brand proved to be a political burden.

Voters not only were impressed by Rusu’s pledge to continue operating the court honestly and transparently, but they also weren’t comfortable with the fact that party Chairman David Betras, a political lightning rod if ever there was one, was particularly invested in Maruca’s candidacy.

However, it was Rusu’s predecessor, the (dis)honorable Belinky, who was ultimately responsible for the outcome of the election.

Criminal investigation

Belinky had resigned from the bench in the midst of a state criminal investigation. Although he insisted that he had done nothing wrong and was stepping aside for the good of the community, only the most naive of county residents bought his political pap.

In the end, he did what many of the region’s crooks have done: He offered to become a snitch in return for lenient treatment.

In July, Belinky, who also had deep roots in the Democratic Party, pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations and was sentenced to two years’ probation.

Rusu’s election was undoubtedly a repudiation of the kind of politics practiced by Democrats.

To be sure, the so-called Oakhill Renaissance Place scandal involving several current and former public officials, and prominent businessman Anthony M. Cafaro Sr., will continue to make front-page news this year as the trials of Sciortino, Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally and Youngstown Atty. Martin Yavorcik get underway.