Warren’s law director has earned support of voters

Holding elected office for a long time is not a bad thing so long as the officeholder is still passionate about the job and has not violated the public’s trust by playing fast and loose with his authority.

Greg Hicks is in his 27th year as the city of Warren’s law director and is eyeing another four-year term. There’s nothing to suggest that Hicks has overstayed his welcome or has squandered the goodwill he has built over the years.

That said, the law director must overcome a strong challenge from another well-known Warren public official before he can achieve his re-election goal.

Enzo Cantalamessa, the city’s director of public safety and service for the past seven-plus years, has pulled out all the stops in his bid for the Democratic nomination in the May 7 primary.

Cantalamessa’s central argument for opposing Hicks’ re-election has to do with the law department’s hiring of outside lawyers to represent the city rather than handling the cases in-house or giving preference to area lawyers or law firms.

During his meeting with The Vindicator Editorial Board, the co-owner of Enzo’s Restaurant claimed the law department under Hicks has spent $2.1 million on outside counsel since 2004.

“It’s a matter of routine that the current law director outsources most, if not all, legal work,” he told Vindicator editors and writers.

He was especially critical of the fact that lawyers in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati are paid a premium for their services.

Not surprisingly, Hicks strongly rejected his challenger’s claims about the amount of money the city of Warren has shelled out in legal fees over the past 15 years.

“Those numbers are false,” he said in reference to Cantalamessa’s $2.1 million claim.

The law director contended that the only time he looks to the outside is when his office has a conflict or the case demands lawyers with specialized knowledge of the issues.

For instance, the city hired the Columbus firm Frost Brown Todd to fight a lawsuit filed by the environmental group Freshwater Accountability Project over contaminants the city’s waste-treatment plant discharged into the Mahoning River.

Cantalamessa contended there was enough expertise in city government to assist a local law firm in building a defense in the case.

But Hicks pointed out the Columbus law firm, with its extensive support system, negotiated a settlement with Freshwater that saved Warren a lot of money.

When we asked the public safety and service director why he thought the law director was so eager to hire outside counsel, Cantalamessa speculated that Hicks had become complacent. It’s another word for lazy.

The incumbent denied that after 27 years in office he’s just sailing along.

“I have as much enthusiasm for the job as day one,” he said, adding that he isn’t in it for the paycheck.

Because Cantalamessa has made the financial outlays by the law department the centerpiece of his campaign, we are not convinced that the Democratic voters in the city will be swayed.

Why? Because there isn’t a wow factor in what the challenger is saying.

Had he come to us and demonstrated that the incumbent was funneling legal business to certain laws firms and was personally benefiting from those arrangements, we would not only have urged his defeat in the May primary, but might well have called for an independent investigation.

But that’s not what Cantalamessa’s pitch is about. All he is saying is that the law department is spending too much money on outside lawyers.

Insurance claims

Indeed, Hicks sought to clarify how insurance claims are handled. He said the city’s board of control, made up of the mayor and public safety and service director, awards the insurance contracts and sets the terms.

The law director is obligated to follow the language of the contact.

Here’s the bottom line: In order for voters to decide that an incumbent officeholder has overstayed his welcome, the challenger must provide a compelling reason.

Cantalamessa has fallen short in that regard.

The Vindicator endorses Hicks for the Democratic nomination.

There’s no Republican candidate and the chances of an independent or write-in candidate winning in the general election are slim to none.