Trumbull commissioners agree to hire administrator

WARREN

The Trumbull County commissioners approved three items Wednesday that were recommended to them by the Citizens Budget Review Committee, the group of 12 people who studied county operations earlier this year.

One was hiring a qualified and trained county administrator who would oversee daily operations. The committee said the administrator would “carefully review all new potential hires for all county departments” and “oversee annual employee performance evaluations.”

The county has not had a full-time administrator since Tony Carson left in 2006.

It has three part-time administrators now — clerk/interim administrator Paulette Godfrey; Atty. James Misocky, working on special projects; and Human Resources Director Richard Jackson.

The commissioners agreed Wednesday that Jackson would prepare a job description for county administrator/purchasing director and research salary guidelines.

Committee member attorney Jeff Goodman, who attended Wednesday’s commissioners meeting, said he envisions an organizational structure in which the full-time administrator will be like the CEO and the commissioners will serve as the board of directors.

Guy Coviello, vice president for government affairs with the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce, said that structure will make the administrator the “one person to report to.”

The three part-time administrators and the rest of the people who report to the commissioners would report to the administrator.

Commissioner Dan Polivka said purchasing is important because it is the second largest expense in county government behind payroll.

Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa said it would be welcome to have an administrator to hold department-head meetings and coordinate services among departments.

“Sometimes department heads don’t know who to answer to,” Polivka said.

Commissioners also hired Geostar Consulting of Canfield to conduct money-saving audits and recommend savings on telecommunications, electricity, gas, insurance and office supplies, and authorized spending no more than $18,135 to send up to 13 county officials and department heads to the Lean Ohio Boot Camp for public-sector employees offered at Kent State University.

Read more about the matters in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.