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Deputy auditor McFall claims politics prompted her firing; auditor cites other reasons
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YOUNGSTOWN
Carol McFall, the recently fired chief deputy Mahoning County auditor, said she has “a clear conscience” and doesn’t believe she did anything wrong regarding fulfillment of The Vindicator’s public records request for pay-raise information concerning auditor’s office employees.
The new auditor, Ralph T. Meacham, however, said again Friday he fired her because she didn’t meet his expectations of transparency and added he has no regrets about terminating her employment.
Meacham took office Tuesday after a three-judge panel suspended Michael V. Sciortino on Feb. 23 because of allegations against Sciortino in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal-conspiracy case.
“I have always exhibited fairness and transparency. I am the collateral damage of ‘politics as usual,’ while being told by the new auditor that it would be anything but,” McFall said in a Friday courthouse rotunda news conference.
Saying she had been “persecuted in the press,” McFall spoke two days after Meacham fired her.
“I’m anything but ‘politics as usual.’ I’m probably the least political person ever elected to office in Mahoning County,” said Meacham, a political newcomer, who unseated Sciortino in the November election.
“This was not a political move. This was a management move,” he said of his decision to fire McFall.
McFall is a certified public accountant serving at the auditor’s pleasure.
Read more of her explanation and the situation in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.