Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti says this is one purchase order he doesn't understand.
The request, received late last month, is to buy 5,000 number-2 pencils for Mahoning County Probate Court stamped with Judge Mark Belinky's name, at a time when the Judge says he'll have to lay-off two thirds of his staff unless he gets his budget fully funded. Traficanti asks, "Why would you be ordering $2,400 in pencils when you're gonna lay off 14 people?"
The Judge quickly responded saying Traficanti was "talking about apples and oranges," adding, "This is what I refer to in the law as a 'red herring'."
The judge tells us money to buy the pencils comes from a fund supported with fees on various court services, such as marriage licenses, and not the County's General Fund, claiming they help "educate the public," about the court and its services.
But how does a pencil, shaped to look like a gavel, educate someone? The Judge says they're used to lure families into stopping at the Court's display at the Canfield Fair and elsewhere.
The Judge insists there's nothing improper about it, arguing other office-holders make similar purchases for trinkets.
Regardless, Traficanti thinks it doesn't look right. The Judge says the same fund used to buy the pencils also pays for pamphlets explaining different court services, calling Traficanti's actions a "political stunt."
As for that lawsuit between Belinky and the Commissioners over the budget, all sides are to give sworn statements this week in advance of a court hearing set for late next month.
Both sides still insist they'd just as soon settle this before then.
