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MVSD probe finds no substance to employee racial claim
By Jordan Cohen
MINERAL RIDGE
The president of the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District Board of Directors told The Vindicator on Wednesday that minority employees’ claim of receiving racist material from the Ku Klux Klan at the district office earlier this year was not “legitimate” – and that one of the complaining employees has subsequently resigned.
The board, meeting Wednesday, dealt with another major personnel issue, however: It unanimously voted to change the status of Anthony Vigorito, plant operations manager, to unpaid administrative leave.
Vigorito had been placed on paid administrative leave last month after his indictment on six counts including forgery and tampering with records.
The board had a nearly 100-minute executive session before voting on its scheduled agenda. It did not reveal what was discussed.
The racial allegation was not on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting, but Atty. Matt Blair, board president, responded when The Vindicator inquired about the status of the probe after the session concluded.
“We have not found anything that would substantiate this was a legitimate claim,” said Blair. Blair declined to divulge additional details other than a comment, in response to a question, that he “would not call it a hoax.”
Blair did not say if the ex-employee fabricated the material or what the motive may have been.
Last January, Blair told The Vindicator that “two employees of color [found]Ku Klux Klan posters slipped under a door and on a desk.” The KKK is a white supremacist organization and responsible throughout its history for violence against minorities, particularly blacks.
The board subsequently hired Akron attorney William Evans II, who is a certified polygraphist, to investigate at a rate of $275 per hour. Evans is the founder of a polygraph firm whose lie-detector services have been used by prosecution and defense attorneys.
Atty. Thomas Wilson, MVSD legal counsel, also declined further comment, but indicated there may be more information forthcoming as he reviews the case.
The Vigorito vote at the end of the meeting followed the lengthy executive session. The vote to place him on unpaid leave was unanimous. Blair said the board acted in accordance with Ohio statutes.
Vigorito had been earning $77,000 annually before his indictment on charges that he falsified the records of 25 Youngstown Water Department employees who were taking continuing education courses he taught on behalf of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. State investigators claim the workers either never completed the courses or in some cases never took them.
Blair would not rule out the possibility of the board firing Vigorito before his case is adjudicated.
“We’re looking at the entire situation,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “It would be possible.”