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Party leaders should not hold elected office

It’s often difficult to tell which hat Dan Polivka is wearing — his hat as Trumbull County Democratic Party Chairman or his other hat as Trumbull County Commissioner.

That’s why we think it’s always a bad idea for any political party leader to simultaneously hold an elected post.

Consider: it wasn’t that long ago that ‘Democratic Party Chairman’ Polivka helped to orchestrate his party’s backing of Democrat Lisha Pompili Baumiller in her attempt to defeat longtime Trumbull County Commissioner Frank Fuda for the Democratic nomination.

It likely wasn’t a coincidence that leading up to the party’s endorsement of Pompili Baumiller, ‘Commissioner’ Polivka was frequently at odds with Fuda when it came to decisions on county matters.

In the end, Pompili Baumiller’s attempt to unseat Fuda in the Democratic primary was unsuccessful, and Fuda went on to defeat both Republican and independent challengers this month to retain his seat for another four-year term.

Now Trumbull County is being sued by the city of Warren over terms of a contract in which Warren treats sanitary waste generated by some Trumbull County sanitary engineer customers. City Law Director Greg Hicks has been involved in the talks to the extent that his department has hired outside legal counsel to handle the negotiations that ultimately fell short, leading to the city’s decision to file suit.

Also at the helm in the city of Warren and no doubt involved in the decision to file suit against the county is Warren Safety-Service Director Enzo Cantalamessa.

Cantalamessa, an attorney, has expressed his intentions to run next year against Hicks, a fellow Democrat, for his post as Warren Law Director. In addition, it’s worth noting that Cantalamessa also is the brother of the third Trumbull County Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa, who often closely aligns with Polivka in his decisions on county matters.

Yes, it’s confusing.

Now we are curious to see which Democratic candidate for Warren Law Director the local party (headed by Polivka) will choose to back — Greg Hicks or Enzo Cantalamessa — as the Democratic primary nears next May. Whichever one wins favor with the local party, it will be virtually impossible for the conflicts of interest to be avoided under the current party leadership.

Frankly, it’s bad business all around.

We urge the Democratic Party membership to consider the ethical concerns and the appearance of impropriety that exist when an elected leader like Polivka serves as party chairman.

We would raise the same concerns with all local political parties, but frankly, no other major political party in Trumbull or Mahoning County is headed by someone holding elected office.

It’s time for this practice to end in the Trumbull County Democratic Party.

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