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Mahoning County judges are not being reasonable
TweetWhat part of “economic re- cession” don’t the judges of the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court general division understand?
How difficult is it for educated people to see that the revenue stream for county government is just a trickle because of the national and global economic slowdown, which has necessitated across-the-board cuts in departmental budgets?
And, do the five general division judges of the common pleas court, James Evans, R. Scott Krichbaum, Maureen Sweeney, John Durkin and Lou D’Apolito, not realize that with the criminal justice system grabbing almost 70 percent of the general fund, there isn’t money to meet their latest demand for more?
Yet, not only have the judges slapped the county commissioners with a court order seeking $260,013 more than the $2,030,000 that was allocated, but Evans, Krichbaum, Sweeney, Durkin and D’Apolito have threatened to sue in the Ohio Supreme Court.
Let them. Commissioners David Ludt, Anthony Traficanti and John McNally aren’t magicians. They don’t have supernatural powers to create money out of thin air.
Indeed, we wholeheartedly agree with Traficanti that any meeting between the judges, the commissioners and Administrator George Tablack, who also serves as the county’s budget director, should be public.
It’s time the private sector taxpayers of Mahoning County, who have had to deal with the reality of pay freezes, givebacks, layoffs and even job eliminations, found out just how well government employees have fared. The guarantee of a lucrative pension, complete with taxpayer-funded health care, remains intact for all public workers and has not been affected by the economic contraction.
We aren’t impressed when the judges say that their employees have had to forego raises and that they have shifted many operating costs from the general fund to other court funds.
It’s called the real world — which many in the public sector have a difficult time understanding. The idea of doing more with less is still foreign to them. The reason is simple: Government operates with taxpayer dollars and, in the past, when those dollars failed to meet growing expenses, taxpayers were asked to give more.
But those days have long gone. The passage of a new tax, which is rare, or the renewal of one comes with a clear message from the voters: We expect you to not only live within your means, but to make government cost effective.
Unreasonable
The demand by the five common pleas court judges for more money is not only ill-timed, it is unreasonable.
And while they might think that going to the Ohio Supreme Court will guarantee success, we would remind them of two things: One, the justices will ask these questions as they come up with a ruling: Is the demand for more money reasonable? Is the money necessary for the proper administration of justice?
We would also remind the common pleas judges of the late Chief Justice Thomas Moyer’s public statements regarding the judiciary’s attitude that its demand for money cannot be challenged by the funding authority.
Moyer made it clear that judges have a responsibility to look at the big picture and can no longer operate on the belief that they are untouchable.
It would be interesting to see how the Supreme Court deals with a lawsuit filed by the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court against the commissioners.
Comments
Is there enough money to run the Courts? And what should be priority spending for county government?Those should be the questions.Answers:there is enough money and the Courts are a priority.
If you eliminated Tablack's position, with salary and benefits, that would get you half of what the judges are asking.
Oak Hill is eating up lots of county revenues. Between that and Tablack's salary you could easily fund the courts.
And where was the Vindicator's lack of criticism of a judge who decided to remodel their Court in the middle of a recession to the tune of over a half a million dollars?
These Judges are taking a cue from Probate Judge Mark Belinky who sued and won big bucks for his moronic pencils to be given out at the Canfield Fair. If you remember, Probate Judge Belinky won his case right before last years fair; so he would have those taxpayer paid pencils to hand out. The other Judges want taxpayer funded goodies to hand out and thus the real reason for the lawsuit!
Belinky really is a trend setter!.
This is turning into a vicious circle, as the less money the court receives, the more felons are allowed back on the streets.
You would think by sending all felons to prison for 30 years it would slow the repeat offenders as well as send a message to others considering turning to crime for income.
If we created a socialistic state, where everyone shared in equal pay and benefits, would we even need judges and court systems? For that matter, we would not even need police protection, as everyone would live in absolute perfection and our world would be nothing but flowers and roses. Turn in your guns, redistribute your income and pick up your ration cards. Lets get with it folks, give them what they want and we all will be better off. All we need is an army to protect us from other states - Stalin.
Let us set the record straight for my friend Judge Belinky who represented our family as a lawyer and because Author 50 is an idiot.
Judge Belinky did not sue the commissioners because he needed to buy pencils. The incompetent commissioners cut his budget 25% when they cut the other judges 10-15%. This was a political vendetta by Traficanti, Tablack, Ludt and their friends Andy Hamady, Sam Moffie, Casey Malone and the other political wackos.
Belinky won easily because he was right and they were wrong. That why the Commissioners BELINKED. And this year they funded his whole budget because Judge Belinky asked for less than his predecessor's budget in 2005 which was the benchmark the commissioners used in their allocations. How about crediting the Judge for running the court for less money then the court was run 5 years ago?
And to demonstrate how idiotic Author 50 is, although it probably needs little more demonstration, the pencils the Judge gives to children are not paid from the general fund or taxpayers' money. Before you shoot your mouth off you ought to have some clue what you are talking about.
So Burford, Belinky paid for the pencils himself? No, he's to cheap to do that. All money that is generated by his court is taxpayer money isn't it? Then again, maybe not. Belinky, like most other elected officials, see it as THEIR money. Maybe that is why he accepts CASH only for marriage licenses. Imagine that cash ended up buying those pencils, but it's Belinky's money not the TAXPAYER'S MONEY.
btw: At last years Canfield Fair, I saw a lot of adults with Belinky's pencils!
So you admit you do not have a clue.First you said Judge Belinky sued for general fund money to pay for his pencils. Now you admit you really don't know. Idiot.
No government office takes personal checks.They take cash or cashier's checks or money orders so they don't have to chase people like you who bounce checks. Idiot.
Are you suggesting Judge Belinky is taking cash (see above comment about personal checks) to use for himself? If you don't want to be sued for slander you better be able to back that up. Idiot.
Did it ever dawn on you that adults at the Fair hold the pencils given to their kids and grandkids for safekeeping? Idiot.
You call yourself an author.Look at the misspellings and bad grammar. It is "too" not "to." It is "sees" not "see." It is HIS not THEIR. It is TAXPAYERS' not TAXPAYER'S. It is "year's" not "years." Idiot.
Idiot.
Here is the best item of the day. I didn't need Probate Judge Mark Belinky's chief investigator Don Gaudio Jr. to figure out who Burford is.
How interesting,..
See when is the " Public " hearing that was previously alleged to had been scheduled?
I do not understand these attacks against Judge Belinky. This is an editorial about the 5 common pleas judges and their budget. The editorial names the judges and Judge Belinky is not one of them
author50 should stop being obsessive about Judge Belinky and respond to the editorial. If he has nothing to say move one. Quit stalking the Judge.
Wonder what Belinky will be handing out at The Canfield Fair to promote his neverending campaign this year with? Of course HE will not pay for whatever cheap trinket he decides upon, WE the people will.
Exposed -- tell the Judge to stay off the message board and I'll quit engaging with him!
As an occasional visitor to this board it is obvious that you post stuff about Judge Belinky even when the article is unrelated to him. That can hardly be called engaging. Seems like you are obsessed.
Exposed... amazing that many of your posts seem to praise the little tyrant.
Just another old trick that Czarlinky learned from his days of running the Dems 17th/6th Message Board -- the trick? Answering his own posts.
burford/exposed = Judge Belinky
author50 = Sam Moffie
First, why is a sitting judge posting during working hours???
Second, who put Sam Moffie in charge of watching Belinky???
Judge, get back to work and stop violating the Rules of Judicial Conduct and Sam, get a life!
Exposed, most of these discussions drift alittle - kind of like having a conversation.
Please try and keep up.
While we're on the Belinky topic, he handled a legal matter for a family member (before becoming Judge), and completely dropped the ball. The word "incompetence" comes to mind.
I had previously met him because the same family member required having a witness signature for some paperwork. He did not impress.