IS THIS ANY WAY FOR COMMISSIONERS TO RE-ESTABLISH TRUST OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT?

Apparently, the SCPR has missed something at Stark County commissioner meetings, of late.

At the commissioners' December 1st meeting, one of the attendees was interim Stark County Engineer Jim Jones.

So?

In the brief colloquy between commissioners and Jones, it came out that the county sanitary engineer function is no longer a part of the county engineer's office, but rather back to its old stand alone status of pre-May 2009.

Before she left office in 2008, Jane Vignos argued with Commissioner Todd Bosley as to whether or not it would save the county any money to place the sanitary engineer office function with the county engineer. Bosley won the argument and the change took place under a much ballyhooed "saving the county money" promotion by Commissioners Bosley and Harmon.

Save money?  Not likely!

Former Sanitary Engineer Mike Armogida was hired by commissioners (interesting enough, Bosley dissenting, but not on the need for a consultant; rather Armogida being the hiree) at $30,000 for a period of six months as a consultant from new job at Me Company.

The idea was for the consultant to help ease the transition from the stand alone status to the integration into the county engineer's office.

Well, it must not have worked because, as stated above, the separate Stark County sanitary engineer's office is on its own once again.

What is particularly interesting about this apparent "shell game" or "sleight of hand," whatever one wants to call it is that it appears that as late as October 29th Commissioner Bosley in his election campaign to unseat Republican state Rep. Todd Bosley (Ohio's 50th House District) Bosley thought that Jones was still with the engineer's office.  For in the October 29th edition of The Hartville News appears a full page ad by the Bosley campaign entitled:  TODD BOSLEY GETS THINGS DONE - IN ONLY 4 YEARS WHILE SERVING AS COUNTY COMMISSIONER, HE STREAMLINED GOVERNMENT TO SAVE OUR MONEY.

One of three instances listed in the advertisement included:  "Combined County Engineer and Sanitary Engineer Department for efficiency and significant cost savings."

Hmm?

Perhaps yours truly went to sleep during that space in the commissioners meeting in which commissioners voted to return the sanitary engineer function to stand alone status in meetings that have been held during the period of October 29th through December 1st?

Of course, newly seated Commissioner Tom Bernabei was not part of the "between us guys?" switcheroo.  

Whether or not The Report missed the change back, it is this sort of political gamesmanship that fuels the public's distrust of government. 

New commissioners Janet Creighton (taking office in January) and Bernabei have a ton of repairing to do of the public perception of county government.

The legacy that has been left to them is going to be difficult to overcome!!!