YOUNGSTOWN — Anthony Traficanti, who has the longest tenure among the three Mahoning County commissioners at 20 years, also may have the most colorful political history, having worked for former Valley Congressman James Traficant Jr.

Traficanti is up for re-election Nov. 5 and is opposed by Republican Jennifer Ciccone, an attorney who served as Struthers Municipal Court judge from Oct. 6, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2023, after being appointed to the position by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.

Ciccone also served as an attorney in Trumbull County Probate Court and as a public defender in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. She also served as prosecutor for the village of New Middletown, according to an Ohio Supreme Court news release at the time she was appointed judge.

Traficanti is a lifelong Poland resident who has worked in his family’s trucking company and real estate business and is now owner.

Traficanti worked about 11 years in the office of Traficant, becoming congressional liaison, then district director and chief of staff during the later part of Traficant’s career as a U.S. House member. Traficant died in September 2014 after a tractor accident at his farm in Greenford. The two men are not related.

“I am very proud of the work I did in the congressman’s office. I learned unimaginable skills of how the federal government works, all of the federal grants, dealing with the IRS, Social Security, the veterans. We were involved in so many projects. Downtown Youngstown was transformed from many of the policies I was working along with the congressman on — two federal courthouses, three VA clinics,” Traficanti said.

Traficanti added that Traficant brought back “billions of dollars” of infrastructure projects. “I had a front seat to all of that from his perspective,” he said during a candidate interview.

After Traficant went to prison, people asked Traficanti to run for county commissioner. He said people asked because “people liked dealing with me.” He said his work for Traficant taught him about Mahoning County and its problems.

“We were very successful on a lot of the things we did because at the time if you called an agency in Washington and said you are from Congressman Traficant’s office, there was always a sort of pause, ‘Oh, how can we help the congressman?’ Jim kind of made things a little easier during that time to help people.”

When he ran for commissioner the first time in 2004, Traficanti “had never run for anything in my life. I had always worked in the family business. I always kind of stayed in the background,” he said. His opponents in 2004 were current fellow commissioner David Ditzler and two others. Traficanti won.

Though Ditzler’s Republican opponent in the Nov. 5 election, Geno DiFabio, has been critical of the three-Democrat board of county commissioners always voting 3-0 on legislation, Ditzler and Traficanti say they do disagree with each other. They just do it during their “staff meetings” instead of during their video-recorded weekly meeting in the basement of the county courthouse.

“It isn’t always agreeable, but I have always personally tried to keep the decorum. I don’t want to have any animosity, any screaming or yelling. If we have disagreements, we get it out, then go out to the public and do the people’s work. I’m not a confrontational individual at all. I take more than I give. I guess that is just the way I was raised,” Traficanti said.

He said one of the most important things the commissioners did in the past four years was allocate $44 million in American Rescue Plan funds that came from the federal government to various community organizations and government entities.

“We have never had funds like we did this time. We reinvested all of that money back into the community in various social service programs, business support, crime and justice, a whole litany of things,” he said.

“When the crisis hit, especially with COVID, we had funds to help those who were very needy, who couldn’t get out, the shut-ins. We gave United Way over $600,000 because they have other subsidiary agencies under them they fund. So United Way was a perfect fit to give them that type of money. We helped Second Harvest Food Bank. They helped out with food for shut ins and other things where pantries were starting to dry up,” he said.

Another achievement was the work done to take over the former Youngstown Developmental Center on Countyline Road on the border of Austintown and Weathersfield and turn it into the Campus of Care, which provides social services. “Some people don’t want to believe this, but we have a lot of people who are hurting in this community,” Traficanti said.

“Now we have everything on one campus. It’s being managed through the Western Reserve Port Authority. Now all of those properties are turned over to those agencies, but we did get it off the ground,” Traficanti said.

Among the important ongoing issues was the renewal of the county’s three quarters of one percent sales tax for justice services earlier this year. It funds the operation of the sheriff’s office and jail, prosecutor’s office, coroner’s office and 911 system. The sales tax was first approved in 2014.

He remembers the financial challenges he and the other commissioners faced when Traficanti was first elected county commissioner in 2004. “I had a $14 million deficit I had to eat. It was a nightmare. People were being laid off. I was going to Akron federal court, and (Cleveland federal court) because of the volatility of losing the sales tax,” Traficanti said.

The county borrowed $7.5 million, and a Cleveland federal judge told the commissioners if they did not pass a sales tax, the county would have to look at sending the county’s inmates to other jails at double the cost, Traficanti said.

He calls the county’s finances and bond rating now “good,” in part because the county has “stabilization funds” it can maintain “on the side.” The county’s health care fund has about $10 million “put aside,” he added. “If we have a downturn in the economy, we have that buffer.”

He said the quarter-percent, five-year sales tax for Mahoning County roads approved in November of 2021 is also important. It generates about $9 million per year for roads and bridge work. “People are happy,” Traficanti said of having additional road and bridge work taking place each year, though they are not happy with the additional hassle of road construction.

That sales tax comes up for renewal in November 2026. When that time comes, “We’re going to have to sit down and say ‘Are we going to renew this?'” Traficanti said.

CICCONE

Ciccone emailed the Vindicator recently to provide some comments regarding her goals as county commissioner if elected.

“The reason I am running for Mahoning County commissioner is simple — change. I believe that I can bring the much-needed change, fresh leadership, and new energy to a role that has been held by the same individual for the last 20 years. Mahoning County can only benefit from a new perspective, one that reflects the evolving needs of its residents. I am dedicated to making local government more responsive, transparent,and innovative, ensuring that decisions made today lay a strong foundation for future generations.”

During her campaign, she has recommended that voters ask themselves these questions:

“Is the status quo working for Mahoning County? Is your or your family’s life better than it was five years ago? 10 years ago? 20 years ago? Is Mahoning County life better than it was five years ago? Ten years ago? Twenty years ago? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then it is time for a change,” she said.

Ciccone’s email mentioned the petition filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Oct. 9 by attorney Martin Desmond asking for a special prosecutor to be appointed to investigate allegations made by Steve Zawrotuk, estranged husband of Mahoning County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova.

Zawrotuk alleges that when county maintenance worker Ricky Morrison was fired and then rehired in late 2022, he overheard DeGenova speaking to Mahoning County Commissioner Carol Rimedio Righetti about. Desmond’s filing. lleges that Zawrotuk alleges that Rimedio Righetti and Commissioner David Ditzler “wanted to fire Ricky Morrison because he voted for Geno DiFabio against Carol Rimedio Righetti in the 2022 election.”

The petition alleges illegal conduct by the county commissioners, as well as by DeGenova, who Desmond said tried to cover up the commissioners’ misconduct after lawyers for Morrison contacted county officials demanding that Morrison be reinstated. Desmond was part of Morrison’s legal team.

DeGenova has denied Zawrotuk’s allegations, calling them a “smear campaign against me in an attempt to undermine my campaign for county prosecutor.” DeGenova said she left Zawrotuk and filed for divorce, and now Desmond “has chosen to turn my divorce into a political issue.”

Ciccone’s email states that Desmond’s allegations “only corroborate my assertion that Mahoning County is in desperate need of new leadership and change. If even half of the allegations are true, then all of the current commissioners are guilty of dereliction of duty and gross neglect of their fiduciary duties owed to the county and its residents.

“I am running to provide change — to deliver dynamic leadership that will tackle issues such as economic growth, infrastructure improvements, and community development, with a focus on making Mahoning County a better place for all its residents. The choice in this election is clear: continue down the same path or embrace change that looks toward a brighter future.”

Ciccone told another local news outlet that she is running for commissioner because “I am vested in the community, my husband has been a law enforcement officer in the community for almost 18 years.” She said she is the only candidate for commissioner “that has young children that I am raising in this community.”

She said, “I want them to grow up in the Mahoning County that I grew up in. We had GM back then, and we had jobs.” She said every area “has its issues, but I really want Mahoning County to be a place people are proud to call home.”

She said being a lawyer will help her serve the county. The commissioners have lawyers through the county prosecutor’s office. And they can hire outside counsel, “but it’s nice to have someone with a background in the law so you can expedite things, especially when they matter.”

She said she has two bachelor’s degrees — one in communications and one in business marketing. After college she worked for an advertising agency, “and I did all of their communication and crisis management,” she said.

Ciccone, who told the other news outlet she had never met Traficanti, said her focus is on educating “Mahoning County on why I think I would be the best person for this position.” She said that with two commissioner positions open this election, there is the potential “and I think a very good potential, that for the first time in almost 100 years, that Republicans could have a majority in the commissioners office.”

She said that if candidates’ focus is on making “Mahoning County great, then we need to put our political differences aside. Whoever wins the election is here because they said they want to make Mahoning County the best county in Ohio, the best county in the country, and we need to work together and put differences aside.

“We don’t need to be making drama and putting Mahoning County in a false light. Work together for the common good.”