The Perfect Example

Trumbull County Commissioner Frank Fuda is a perfect example. He is a perfect example of what’s wrong with Trumbull County. Fuda is smooth. I will give him that. I’ve seen him in action as the consummate politician- nicely dressed, the big toothy smile, glad handing, campaigning every place imaginable. I’ve been told he is quite charming, but the charm is a veneer. The veneer is thin in some places, and if you look closely, you can see what Frank Fuda really is-guardian of the status quo of arrogance, corruption and ineptitude that is Trumbull County government.


I got a glimpse of this about a year ago when I attended the public hearings on the court consolidation. I questioned the commissioners about the fact that they had delayed recommending the consolidation knowing there was a small window of opportunity to accomplish the consolidation. I pointed out that they had been asked to consider the proposal back in October and waited until April to have public hearings. Mr. Fuda became quite angry and insisted, in spite of documentation to the contrary, that he not known until February that Judge Rice would not be seeking another term at Eastern District Court thereby opening a window for consolidation without displacing a sitting judge. Aside from the fact that Central Court Judge Tom Campbell had relayed this information to the Commissioners in his initial proposal for consolidation in October, Judge Rice had also filed petitions to run for Common Pleas Court in December 2011. When Mr. Fuda doesn’t like the facts, I guess he creates his own.

Mr. Fuda’s background is in education. I think sometimes that he forgets that we are citizens and thinks, instead, that we are children to be controlled. Those who attended the Board of Health hearing on the revocation of Berry Meadows’ septic installer’s license also got a front row seat to Mr. Fuda’s real personality. The hearing was held in the County Administration Building. When the hearing was abruptly halted, it became somewhat heated. Things were calming down when Mr. Fuda reportedly entered the room and shouted that he wouldn’t have yelling in HIS building. Mr. Fuda apparently doesn’t realize that the building doesn’t actually belong to him, but it does belong to the tax payers who are his employers. Later, when a constituent tried to talk to him about the Health Board, commenting that although he didn’t have governance over the board, he could have some influence on them. He brushed her off, telling her to talk to his attorney.

One of the most disturbing things that I’ve heard any public official say is something Mr. Fuda reportedly said to Attorney David Engler. Attorney Engler was talking to Mr. Fuda about the inordinate number of murdered children in Trumbull County’s foster care system. Mr. Fuda’s response was “these sorts of things happen to kids in Children’s Services.” This quote not only betrays an acceptance of the status quo, but it also demonstrates Mr. Fuda’s true callousness and indifference to the most vulnerable in our community. How a society treats those who are the “least of these” is an indication of its character. Mr. Fuda’s comments reveal his character as well. Mr. Fuda, children in foster care are not expendable simply because their parents can’t or won’t take care of them. They deserve public officials who will fight to make sure they are safe, not accept the status quo of ineptitude and corruption in the agency charged with protecting them.

Mr. Fuda is a very good politician, but he is certainly not a very good public servant. I’m not so sure he’s a very good person, either.