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WARREN -- The Trumbull County director of human resources withdrew his name from consideration as the new administrator for the county and the Trumbull County commissioners have formed a committee to help them select the right candidate.
Richard Jackson, the HR director, developed the job description and set the pay range for the position, and Commissioners Dan Polivka and Mauro Cantalamessa questioned if it was appropriate for him to apply for the job. Commissioner Frank Fuda is at odds with his counterparts and does not want to fund the position.
Jackson said he removed his name from consideration in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety, but he worked on the job description and salary range before he decided to apply.
The job will pay about $67,000 to $95,000 annually, depending on the experience of the person selected. Jackson is paid about $80,000 per year.
In order to make the hiring process transparent, Polivka and Canatalamessa said they are asking three people to join a hiring committee and their meetings will be public.
The commissioners are asking Dennis Blank, author of Warren Expressed and a former candidate for mayor of Warren; Col. James Dignan, the former commander of the Youngstown Air Reserve Station and the man taking over the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber; and Darlene St. George, Howland Township administrator, to serve on the hiring committee.
With Jackson's withdrawal, there are 12 candidates, including Mike Matas, who was the chairman of the Trumbull County Citizen Budget Review Committee, which recommended the county hire an administrator and a purchasing director.
The commissioners voted to combine the position, but Fuda raised questions about Matas' application, calling it borderline unethical for the Lake County budget director to apply.
Cantalamessa and Polivka defended Matas' right to apply for the job.
"Volunteering his time to help us with the budget shouldn't disqualify him," Polivka said.
Fuda, who initially voted to seek resumes for the job, has since changed his stance and said hiring another person isn't going to help the county's general fund. The county will have to find ways to cut spending or increase revenue over the next few years as payments from the state continue to decline and the county is no longer able to collect sales tax on Medicaid services.
"We need to come up with $2.9 million by 2019," Fuda said. "We don't have money in the short term to save money in the long run by hiring an administrator. And how do we know he will really save us any money?"
"We will just have to keep spending tight, like we've been working on," Polivka said.
Cantalamessa said the new administrator will have to prove to them how he or she is saving money or the position will be eliminated.
Other applicants for the job include several local people working for public offices. They are Karen Massari, bookkeeper at Warren G. Harding High School; Bernadette McElroy, a supervisor in the Child Support Enforcement Agency, a division of the Trumbull County Department of Job and Family Services; and Daniel Sferra Jr., project manager for Warren City's Utility Services Department.
Several others work in private industry, including Gina Angle, a human resources and management consultant; Jim Brutz, an equipment buyer for AVI Foodsystems Inc.; Shelley Dolgae, an office manager and accountant with PVP Industries Inc.; Richard Harkinsman, operations and construction professional with RDC Design-Build Inc.; Colleen Malloy Logero, an assets manager at Acura of Boardman / Boardman Mitsubishi; and Rocky Tondo, chief operating officer of EDL North America, a landfill gas to electricity provider.
Applicant Warren Brown has served as administrator for Sandusky County and is now director of human resources, loss prevention and revenue enhancement for Huron County. Larry Collins is the fire chief in Ann Arbor, Mich. and has been an assistant city manager.
The hiring committee will narrow the field to three candidates and then turn its results over to the commissioners, who expect to make a choice in the new year, Polivka said.
"What takes us three months to get done now, an administrator will be able to get done immediately," Polivka said.
rfox@tribtoday.com