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Some government jobs are like being an offensive lineman. Those performing well often do not get noticed until or unless a mistake happens.
The quarterback gets sacked? The replay might show a missed block. But you rarely see replays of the successful blocks he made. Maybe that's because they're expected.
A county auditor also likely won't get noticed unless a county employee doesn't get paid, or as we saw in neighboring Trumbull County in 2024, someone gets paid who shouldn't have.
That hasn't been an issue here, where Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham has been as valuable to the county's finances as legendary Pittsburgh Steelers center -- and Pro Football Hall of Famer -- Mike Webster was to those 1970s Super Bowl-winning teams.
Nothing seems to get past Meacham, nor the staff he has assembled since first taking office in 2014, after Mahoning County Republicans asked him to challenge then-Auditor Michael Sciortino and he won election.
Meacham has quietly built what he considers a professional, reliable and talented staff and has modernized how the auditor's office operates. The result? A smooth-running office that other county departments should be trying to emulate.
We're looking at you, Mahoning County Clerk of Courts Office, now under the (mis)direction of Michael Ciccone. But that's a different editorial for another day. This one is an endorsement of Meacham for another four-year term as auditor in the Nov. 3 general election.
Meacham is challenged by Democrat Dalton Bosze, a 2012 Canfield High School graduate who earned degrees in political science and history from the University of Evansville in Indiana in 2016.
Bosze worked in county and municipal government in Evansville, administering federal housing grants and connecting residents with public services. After returning to Mahoning County, he worked on Tim Ryan’s 2022 U.S. Senate campaign, at Giant Eagle and for the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. He now works for Associated School Employees Credit Union.
Bosze said he wants to hire more employees and establish traveling office hours throughout the county to serve residents who face lengthy trips to downtown Youngstown. He also wants to hire more weights-and-measures inspectors. Bosze said he would ask the Mahoning County Commissioners for the money to make those hires and create satellite offices.
It's an ambitious proposal, but unnecessary and "just not feasible," Meacham said.
“I have really good people here, and I’ve taken this time to build my staff,” he said, adding that many of the auditor's services to county residences can be handled by telephone, online and video conference calls.
Meacham said John Kennedy, his lone inspector, has a new truck and approximately $25,000 in equipment that substantially reduces the time required to inspect gasoline pumps. Inspections, he said, occur as required by state law.
“We got weights and measures covered,” he said.
We trust Meacham is correct and are confident in his leadership with regard to the auditor's office's other responsibilities, which include property valuation, payroll for approximately 1,600 county employees, financial reporting, and property transfers.
Meacham, a Warren native and certified public accountant, holds an economics degree from John Carroll University and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University.
His career includes positions with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Ernst & Ernst and Mellon Bank. He also served as chief financial officer of the Pittsburgh Steelers -- so he knows something about all-pro linemen -- and held financial management positions with Butler Wick and Packer Thomas.
Meacham's credentials and job performance seem to be the standard for county officers and, as the old adage goes like this: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The Mahoning County Auditor's Office has been under the direction of a strong leader since 2014 and we see no reason for that to change.
SCRIPTURE
No power in the sky above or in the earth below--indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39 NLT