Tribune Chronicle
YOUNGSTOWN - Mahoning County commissioners on Thursday eliminated the county administrator position, and the contract of the man who held the job, in favor of creating two new positions to do more "day-to-day" "hands-on" work.
Commissioners John A. McNally IV and Carol Rimedio-Righetti said Thursday they authored a letter to county Administrator George J. Tablack telling him his contract, which expires Sunday, will not be renewed. Commissioner Anthony Traficanti did not sign the letter and was absent at Thursday's commissioner's meeting.
He said the commissioners discussed eliminating the position in the last few months but ultimately made the decision last week.
McNally said the commissioners will not look to hire a new county administrator. He said they wanted instead to hire a human resources director and a budget director, two of the main areas Tablack dealt with as administrator.
Tablack did not attend Thursday's meeting and was unavailable for comment.
At their April 28 meeting, commissioners approved hiring Rachel Livengood at a $67,500 salary to be the human resources director.
They also are interviewing candidates for the budget director position.
Tablack made $103,809 last year as administrator.
McNally said salary had nothing to do with the decision.
''His salary is what it is. To me, it doesn't enter into the equation,'' McNally said. ''The fact is we can do some things with the budget director and HR director, and we're looking forward to that.''
Both Rimedio-Righetti and McNally said they wanted more specialized employees to handle the duties.
''We need to be more hands on, which we are now,'' Rimedio-Righetti said. ''We're just moving in a new direction with Mahoning County.''
The first-year commissioner said she also believes the commissioners don't ''need anybody to tell us what to do.''
''We don't need anybody to tell us or direct us,'' she said. ''We need to be there to do that. If we're right , we're right, and if we're wrong, we admit it and go forward.''
Tablack was elected Mahoning County auditor in 1986 and served five terms until he stepped down in 2005 in order to become the chief financial officer of the Clerk and Comptroller Office of Palm Beach County, Fla. He returned to work for the county less than two months later, after being hired as the Office of Management and Budget director.
In May 2006, he was hired as the county administrator. That year, Tablack was one of the major supporters of the county's purchasing the Oakhill Renaissance Center, formerly the Forum Heath South Side Medical Center, and the moving of the county's Jobs and Family Services Department from the Cafaro Co.-owned Garland Plaza to Oakhill.
McNally said Thursday that his decision to vote against renewing Tablack's contract for the second consecutive year had nothing to do with the move to Oakhill and the subsequent prosecution.
The charges claim that they conspired to stop Mahoning County from purchasing Oakhill instead of continuing to pay rent at Cafaro-owned property.
"The commissioners want to move forward in a new direction," McNally said.