Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains has asked the Democratic Party to rescind its endorsement of his opponent in the March 6 primary based on comments he said were made by Youngstown City Prosecutor Jay Macejko about one of Macejko's employees.
However, the attorney who released the documents, Scott Cochran, could be facing a contempt hearing over the release. Cochran represented the Islamic Society of Greater Youngstown in a civil lawsuit filed by Assistant City Prosecutor Basil Ally. Cochran also is a Gains supporter.
Attorneys for the City of Youngstown filed a "show cause" motion in U.S. Federal Court on Tuesday as to why Cochran and the Islamic Society should not be held in contempt for violating the court's Feb. 13 order that before the documents pertaining to the case were released, both sides were to submit the documents with certain information redacted so the court could make the documents part of the official court record.
On Tuesday, Gains sent out a media release stating "unsealed Federal Court files reveal text messages between City Prosecutor Jay Macejko and his assistant prosecutor, where President Obama's Stimulus Package is defined as 'three pieces of chicken, a pack of Kool-Aid and a dime bag (drugs).' Macejko also refers to a minority as a [obscenity.]"
Gains has called for the immediate firing of Macejko and the assistant prosecutor, Brett Hartup, to whom the alleged text messages were sent. He also said the Democratic Party should rescind its endorsement of Macejko based on the documents, noting the documents were sealed at the time of the party endorsement.
The documents were brought up during a Gains interview with a local newspaper last week.
Though Macejko denies ever seeing these messages, Gains called his excuse "lame and ludicrous."
"There is no question that the attorney representing Macejko and the City of Youngstown would have had to discuss all the evidence with Macejko before agreeing to a $100,000 judgment in December, 2011," Gains wrote in his press release.
The $100,000 is the amount of a settlement reached between the city and Ally.
Later in the day, Macejko responded to what he called "Gains' lies and misstatements."
"When I announced my intention to run for this office, we were warned that my opponent and his media firm would attempt to smear me and would eventually make unfounded accusations. I was also told that we should expect Mr. Gains and his media firm to employ these tactics two weeks before the election. So, I was not surprised when I learned of my opponent's mudslinging this morning. But, I am saddened. Mahoning County is facing serious issues of crime and finances and we must move forward. Gutter politics and the politics of hatred and division have no place in 2012. Unfortunately, Mr. Gains remains in the past," Macejko wrote in an emailed response.
"I am not a racist. I have never discriminated against an employee or anyone else for that matter. I was not raised to hate and I am not raising my children to hate. As a prosecutor, I have treated everyone fairly and never made a decision based upon race, religion, or any other improper factor. To again correct Mr. Gains' misstatements, I was dismissed by Bassil Ally (the plaintiff) last October and the case closed after that. The text message referenced was not a part of the judge's decision," Macejko continued.
Macejko said Gains was practicing the lowest form of politics and said it was "despicable" that a candidate would make race a part of his campaign.
