Former Youngstown finance director David Bozanich, right, with his attorney Ralph E Cascarilla at his side, stands before Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Maureen Sweeney during his sentencing...by R. Michael Semple

YOUNGSTOWN — Some members of city council strongly objected to ex-Youngstown Finance Director David Bozanich getting a one-year prison sentence, which they described as too lenient.

“Justice wasn’t served; it wasn’t,” said Councilwoman Anita Davis, D-6th Ward, and a retired city police officer. “Bozanich violated the public trust and should have gotten more prison time.”

Bozanich was sentenced Thursday by Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Maureen Sweeney to one year on felony counts of bribery and tampering with records and two misdemeanor counts of unlawful compensation of a public official.

Also, downtown developer Dominic Marchionda was sentenced Thursday to five years of probation and 1,250 hours of community service for four felony counts of tampering with records. He falsified $260,625 in invoices to the city for work that was supposed to be done for his Erie Terminal downtown-housing project when it was actually to pay companies for previous work on the Flats at Wick student-housing complex.

“A year in prison is no walk in the park, but I don’t know if that sends the kind of message that needs to be sent to public officials who violate the public trust,” Davis said. “Actually, I know it isn’t.”

Also, Davis said, Bozanich could get out of state prison in less than a year.

“Bozanich should have had a more severe penalty, and Marchionda should have gone to prison,” she said. “I’m disgusted.”

Bozanich’s convictions included accepting free golf from a vendor, $10,000 in free legal services from an attorney, and working a scheme to give $1.2 million from the city’s water fund to Marchionda if the developer would give $1 million back to the city’s general fund in December 2009 to buy the Madison Avenue fire station property. This was done to balance the city’s general fund.

Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th Ward, said: “It’s disappointing. They violated the public trust. (Bozanich’s) profession deals with ethics. I’m pleased with jail time for violating the public’s trust.”

Ray said Bozanich’s prison sentence is “in line” with what the area has seen from other public officials committing crimes in office.

As for Marchionda, Ray said: “These were successful projects that will forever be tainted by people’s personal greed.”

Councilman Jimmy Hughes, D-2nd Ward, and a former police chief when Bozanich was finance chairman, said of the sentences: “I can’t believe it. I’m astonished. I expected both would get more time. It’s unreal.”

When he worked with Bozanich, Hughes said he “had a lot of attitude and was always pointing fingers. He violated the public trust. For the judge to give him just a year is wrong. That’s not a real punishment for his crimes.”

Hughes said Bozanich often talked about reducing costs and “he was gobbling up money illegally. Taking bribes and taking kickbacks are illegal. He should have been punished more. He got away with it. He should have gotten more time.”

Councilman Julius Oliver, D-1st Ward, said: “This is the outcome for two men who have done so much for the city of Youngstown in a positive way. But it shows we need to change how we do business. They helped Youngstown move forward, but the way we do business has to change. A lot of those behaviors are part of the old guard. That culture is there. You’ve got to be a strong individual not to fall prey to how things are done.”

Without Bozanich’s “innovations,” Youngstown “would have been bankrupt a long time ago. It’s hard to praise it, but it’s hard to condemn it. Anybody doing wrong has to pay the piper.”

Councilwoman Samantha Turner, D-3rd Ward, called the sentencing “a joke. They should have gotten more time for what they did with taxpayer money. I’m honestly surprised Bozanich got any jail time. I am happy about that, but it’s not enough for what he did.”

She also said if Bozanich or Marchionda were minorities “they would have put them in prison and not given any type of consideration. They’re part of the good old boys club and they got a slap on the wrist.”