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An MVSD board member, running for Youngstown mayor, backed away from seeking the firing of an indicted water official
YOUNGSTOWN
Jamael Tito Brown, a Mahoning Valley Sanitary District board member and Youngstown mayoral candidate, wanted an MVSD manager fired for being indicted on six felonies.
But Brown said he backed away from his request after hearing from Tom Wilson, MVSD’s attorney, in a closed-door board meeting last week.
On Wednesday, Brown provided The Vindicator with a copy of a letter he sent last week to Wilson and the rest of the four-man MVSD board.
Brown emailed it to Wilson and the rest of the board just before the board met March 29 and voted to place Anthony P. Vigorito, its plant operations manager, on paid administrative leave.
In the letter, Brown wrote that “it was alarming” to read an article about Vigorito’s indictment in the newspaper and that the MVSD manager “should be terminated immediately for this egregious act. If there is not a consensus to terminate him immediately, at the very least, he should be placed on unpaid administrative leave. He should then be advised that with any criminal plea, he would be terminated.”
But at the meeting, Brown never mentioned either option and voted with the rest of the board to put Vigorito on paid administrative leave.
Vigorito of Niles, 41, is paid $77,000 a year. That amount is being reduced by $320 a month because the state suspended his Class III license as a result of his indictment.
When asked Wednesday why he didn’t say anything at last week’s meeting, Brown said: “It was a personnel issue and there’s due process with” Vigorito.
He added: “I didn’t have the opportunity” to make a statement as “the vote was to put him on administrative leave. Just because he’s indicted, he’s not guilty. That was the advice of our attorney [during an executive session before the vote]. From our attorney, I was advised [we] couldn’t legally” fire him.
Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally, who Brown is challenging in the May 2 Democratic primary, questioned why Brown sent the letter rather than making the request at the MVSD board meeting. McNally, who defeated Brown by 142 votes four years ago in the Democratic primary for mayor, appointed his opponent to the MVSD board.
But McNally said Wednesday: “I’m not going to criticize Mr. Brown on this particular case. He heard the attorney’s advice and decided to act on it.”
Vigorito pleaded innocent Tuesday to six felonies alleging he falsified the training records of 25 Youngstown water employees and a former city worker by giving them credit for taking a full class when they didn’t actually complete it.
Vigorito is charged with two counts each of forgery, tampering with records and falsification of training documents.
McNally’s statements are in contrast to Brown, who criticized the mayor for not revealing details about the criminal investigation into water department employees.
Last month, McNally disciplined 25 water employees found guilty of falsifying their credentials including reducing the salary of 24 of them. Brown said at the time that McNally should have taken action against the workers during the investigation. McNally said it was inappropriate to discipline the workers until the matter was resolved in court.