BY JOHN A. DARNELL JR.
      associate editor
      Upwards of 200 persons attended last week’s grand re-opening of Mahoning County Republican headquarters at 8381 Market St. in Boardman where the Clarence R. Smith Jr. Young Republican social center was dedicated.
      Among those attending the event were Mahoning County Prosecutor Lynn Maro and current State of Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, who is seeking the office of Ohio Secretary of State in the November general elections.
      In brief remarks, Maro explained some challenges in assuming the position, noting “When I took office, it was a free-for-all. Every lawyer, every prosecutor pretty much set their own hours.
      “Nobody was accountable to anybody.”
      So the new prosecutor said she implemented some changes to create “consistency and uniformity in our prosecutor’s office.”
      Among those changes, Maro said, is requiring employees of the county prosecutor’s office to be on the job eight hours a day.
      When taking office Maro said “I heard things like ‘I have a juris doctorate degree. I am a professional and should be able to come and go as I please.’”
      That didn’t sit well with the new prosecutor who noted “I implemented a policy that [employees] have to be there from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. because that’s what the taxpayers are paying for.’
      “So yes, I’ve been a little bit of a control freak...because I am the one accountable to all of you.”
      Atty. Maro said during her term she is trying to bring accountability and provide consistency so “when we walk out of the courtroom, everyone should have confidence in the outcome of the case. That comes from providing guidance, leadership, directives, setting down some rules to follow.”
      She said that she didn’t think those concepts were “foreign, but after taking office, that really wasn’t how government was being run.
      “So yes, I am a bit of a control freak because I want the people of Mahoning County to have confidence in their prosecutor’s office.”
      Maro said her office will take calls from anyone.
      “Sometime they don’t like our answers, but the public has a right to have their government officials respond to their concerns,” the prosecutor said.
      Sprague opined that secondary schools were designed to create good citizens.
      “But now the school system is framed to create workers.
      “We have to bring the emphasis on citizenship back to our children.
      “If I am elected secretary of state, I pledge to bring civic education back to our kids in the great state of Ohio,” Sprague said.
      Of note, not attending the dedication event was newly-elected county clerk of courts Michael Ciccone.
      Upon assuming the office as clerk of courts, Ciccone hired another Ciccone, Jennifer, as his deputy clerk of courts at a whopping salary of $120,000. Then in late April, the woman Ciccone was given a $36,000 pay raise setting her pay at $156,000 a year.