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YOUNGSTOWN -- Republican Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham is seeking another four years in office. His opponent wants to expand staffing and make county services more accessible.
Meacham, first elected in 2014, points to his financial experience and improvements in efficiency and transparency. Democrat Dalton Bosze, of Austintown, said the office should do more to reach residents, particularly seniors, disabled residents and those in rural areas.
Bosze graduated from Canfield High School in 2012 and earned degrees in political science and history from the University of Evansville in Indiana in 2016.
He 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.
“Making it easier for people to actually access those services” would help ensure that vulnerable residents receive the assistance available to them, Bosze said.
Meacham said his administration has modernized technology and increased financial transparency while controlling staffing and spending. He said residents can receive assistance by telephone, online or through video conferences without the expense of satellite offices.
“It’s just not feasible,” Meacham said of Bosze’s proposal. “I have really good people here, and I’ve taken this time to build my staff.”
He said the auditor’s office performs approximately 14 functions, including property valuation, payroll, financial reporting and property transfers. Employees assigned to remote locations would need to be familiar with those responsibilities.
Bosze also wants additional weights-and-measures inspectors. He said relying on one inspector risks interruptions in inspections if the position becomes vacant. He would seek additional funding from county commissioners to expand staffing.
Meacham said inspector John Kennedy has a new truck and approximately $25,000 in equipment that substantially reduces the time required to inspect gasoline pumps. He said inspections are conducted at or near the frequency required by state law.
“We got weights and measures covered,” he said.
Meacham said the office processes payroll for approximately 1,600 county employees every two weeks and handles 700 to 1,000 payment vouchers weekly without additional staffing.
EXPERIENCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY
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 and held financial management positions with Butler Wick and Packer Thomas.
Recruited by Republicans to challenge then-Auditor Michael Sciortino, Meacham won election in 2014 and took office after Sciortino’s removal.
Meacham said his financial management experience has prepared him to address problems in county government. He cited ongoing difficulties in the Mahoning County Clerk of Courts office under Michael Ciccone.
Meacham said Ciccone’s office has failed to provide financial reconciliations this year, leaving seven bank accounts whose balances the auditor cannot verify.
“I haven’t got a financial reconciliation this year from him yet,” Meacham said. “He has seven bank accounts that I can’t look at, I can’t see, I can’t do anything with.”
Meacham said the clerk’s office previously misplaced approximately $1 million for six weeks after depositing it into the wrong account. He also cited problems with checks being issued from accounts that had not been properly reconciled.
An outside accounting firm reconciled the clerk’s bank accounts for the end of 2025, allowing the county’s financial records to be prepared for an audit. However, Meacham said problems remain with current reconciliations, which makes it impossible to determine whether financial irregularities have occurred.
“I don’t know if there’s any defalcation there or misfeasance or malfeasance,” he said. “I don’t know.”
Meacham warned that the county could be unauditable at the end of 2026 if the problems are not corrected.
Ciccone has declined to speak with the news media about the controversies surrounding his office.
Meacham said his staff previously spent several months reconciling the county treasurer’s bank accounts after that office encountered similar difficulties so the county could complete its financial audit.
He said the problems illustrate the importance of financial experience in elected office.
“These are professional jobs for professional people,” he said. “There shouldn’t be any politics involved in this.”
Meacham said elected county offices operate independently, limiting their ability to compel one another to correct problems.
Bosze said the auditor should take a more active role in advocating for residents. He acknowledged that some changes would require legislative action but said the officeholder can encourage reforms.
“It’s not just about fulfilling all of the functions of the auditor’s office,” Bosze said. “It’s [about] what are you doing with that knowledge, and having also the megaphone of being an elected official.”
PROPERTY TAXES AND TECHNOLOGY
Meacham said his office has worked to help residents understand rising property values and taxes, including seven public presentations at libraries during the past year.
He said valuations are subject to review by the Ohio Department of Taxation, which examines sales data and can require adjustments.
“We’re not the final arbiter of what the values are,” Meacham said. “The state has a lot to say about it.”
Residents who disagree with their valuations can seek assistance from the auditor’s office or file complaints with the county Board of Revision.
Meacham also cited his work examining county spending and school finances, including studies of county facilities and the financial challenges facing local school districts.
His administration introduced a property records system that allows residents to review property values, tax histories and where their taxes go. The office also is preparing to implement new real estate software to manage the county’s approximately 163,000 parcels.
Meacham highlighted two property deed protection programs intended to alert homeowners to potentially fraudulent transfers or prevent unauthorized transfers. He said more than 1,000 residents have enrolled.
Bosze also wants to address property deed fraud and would explore making participation in protection programs more automatic rather than requiring homeowners to enroll individually.