Trumbull Endorses Three In Primary

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN — The Trumbull County Democratic Party’s central committee has endorsed Joseph Consiglio for Trumbull County sheriff, David DeChristofaro for county engineer and Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk for coroner.
Consiglio, of Weathersfield Township, police chief there since 2002, won the endorsement over incumbent Sheriff Thomas Altiere of Howland 122 to 86. Consiglio lost to Altiere in the 2004 primary.
DeChristofaro, of Niles, has been vice president of engineering and development at the Cafaro Co. since 2002 and part-time Niles city engineer since 1995. He outpolled Randy Smith, of Hartford, the chief deputy engineer under Engineer John Latell, 114 to 97.
Dr. Germaniuk of Warren, the county’s forensic pathologist, received 180 votes for the endorsement for county coroner, while Dr. Gary Kraker of Howland earned 24 votes.
The endorsement voting took place Monday night at DiVieste’s Banquet Hall.
Kenneth Kubala received the highest vote total among four candidates for 32nd District State Central Committee, with 106. The others seeking that post were Rokey Suleman, the deputy Trumbull County Board of Elections director, with 51; present committeeman state Rep. Thomas Letson, 32; and Dennis Gartland, 19.
Meanwhile, the party nominated its chairman, Christ Michelakis, and its vice chairman, Ralph Infante, to serve on the county board of elections.
Michelakis has been nominated to serve the remaining two years of Barbara Katzenberger’s term, while Infante, the Niles mayor, has been nominated a second time to serve a four-year term on the board. The final selection is made by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat.
Infante would replace Sherron Platt, who chose not to seek the position a second time. Platt, a retired schoolteacher from Newton Falls, was appointed to the board in October 2004.
Platt took the position the party originally had recommended Katzenberger for in 2004, and then recommended for Infante. Platt got the nod after a secretary of state’s opinion said Katzenberger was not able to serve on the board of elections while her boss, Michelakis, was on the ballot running for re-election as county treasurer. Katzenberger later served the board for two years, but resigned last week because her current boss, Treasurer Sam Lamancusa, will be on the ballot this year.
Infante never served as a board of elections member in 2004 because then-Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican, refused to appoint him because of a 13-year-old elections violation, a day-late campaign finance report and failure to report the violations on an application form.
Infante was re-elected to a four-year term as Niles mayor last November and would have to run for re-election to the position in 2011. Ron Masullo, a regional representative for Brunner, said Infante would have to quit his position on the elections board in 2011 to run for Niles mayor or certain other positions.
Infante said Monday he doesn’t plan to run for Niles mayor again when his term expires.
Meanwhile, Trumbull County Republicans met last week and selected their party’s chairman, Craig Bonar, to serve another four years as an elections board member. Bonar is in the final months of his second four-year term on the board.
runyan@vindy.com