Ex-Chief Deputy Auditor McFall defends herself

YOUNGSTOWN

Ex-Chief Deputy Auditor Carol McFall defended herself on Friday morning from inside the Mahoning County Courthouse.

McFall, who was fired by new county Auditor Ralph T. Meacham on Wednesday for failing to fully disclose to him compensation increases provided by now-suspended Auditor Michael V. Sciortino, said she was just following the office public records policy when she redacted $28,119 in bonuses from the records The Vindicator requested.

“I redacted the documents to provide The Vindicator with the information that they requested and nothing more,” she said. “Ralph did not ask me about any union or non-union cost of living adjustments or the implications of the contract.”

Meacham asked her for “a list and the personnel action requests for the new raises, any new hires since Jan. 1, and a copy of the union contract,” she said.

Following her news conference Friday, reporters met with Meacham. He said there is no policy to change official documents in the office, and he expects the auditor’s office “to go above and beyond.”

“The last thing I wanted to do was to let my deputy auditor go on my second day,” he said. “I was counting on her and, frankly, she let me down.”

The McFall news conference and Meacham reaction came a day after Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents interviewed auditor’s office employees for the first time as part of the state’s probe into the suspended auditor’s involvement in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal-conspiracy case.

Meacham told reporters McFall’s computer was retrieved by agents.