Dr. Thomas James will remain Trumbull interim coroner

WARREN

In a surprise vote, Dr. Thomas James, who did not attend tonight's vote by the Trumbull County Democratic Party Central Committee, received the party's vote to remain as interim Trumbull County coroner.

The vote was 64 for Dr. James and 31 for Dr. Phillip Malvasi.

Dr. James did not attend because of a previously scheduled Boy Scouts gathering Dallas.

There was a great deal of discussion prior to the vote about the voting method to be used, with several people expressing concern that the balloting method includes paper ballots with the name of the voter on them.

Some voters wanted the ballots destroyed immediately after the votes are tallied to allow people's votes to remain private.

Zachariah Germaniuk, son of the former coroner, Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk, who died April 20, was a surprise speaker.

Shelley Mazanetz, a longtime but recently retired investigator at the coroner's office, took the podium briefly for what was believed to be an endorsement for Dr. James, but instead she introduced the younger Germaniuk, an attorney, who urged the precinct committee people to "stay the course."

He noted that his father had appointed Dr. James as his deputy coroner "as the opiate crisis in the county reached a fever pitch, and I consider my father to be a casualty of that crisis."

"My father and I had many conversations about the need to stay the course," he said. "I simply urge you at this time to respect my father's memory, his legacy, and to vote with your conscience in the best interest of the county."

Dr. Malvasi gave a short talk, talking about his four children and being a lifelong Democrat.