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ST. CLAIRSVILLE - The Belmont County Board of Commissioners announced the termination of longtime Department of Job and Family Service Director Vince Gianangeli's employment on Tuesday.
The decision was made after an executive session from last week that extended through Tuesday. The commissioners decided Monday to terminate Gianangeli.
J.P. Dutton and Jerry Echemann voted in favor of termination. Josh Meyer abstained.
Dutton released a statement on behalf of the board.
"The board had determined that Mr. Gianangeli disregarded a prior vote by the board and then undertook another course of action. Because of this, the board of commissioners has lost confidence in Mr. Gianangeli to effectively lead the department. We fully appreciate the importance of Job and Family Services to our residents and community. We know that our Job and Family Services' team will continue to provide superior service and operate smoothly as we navigate through the next steps."
"We don't really want to get into all the details of a personnel matter," Dutton said Tuesday. "We had some discussions over the past few days via executive session."
Dutton said an interim director will be named and a new director decided on.
"We're not going to rush through the process by any means. We'll take a very thorough approach," he said. "It's an important county position."
He said the commissioners do not anticipate a disruption in services.
Gianangeli released a statement Tuesday, saying the commissioners gave him an opportunity to resign Monday.
"I respectively declined. My termination involves a personnel matter that I thought I handled properly. Two commissioners voted to terminate an individual that I had already accepted a resignation from prior to their termination. This action on their part was unprecedented in our agency, as we have always accepted resignations in lieu of termination, so I sought a legal opinion. My legal opinion states I had the authority to accept the resignation, and in the attorney's opinion, the commissioners cannot terminate someone that has resigned," Gianangeli said. "Regardless, two commissioners thought I abided by their motion and terminated the individual. They recently found out otherwise.
"At the end of the day, I have to take ownership of my actions. I would not do anything differently than what I did in this matter. I tell staff when we receive praise, it is because of them. It is a team effort. When something negative like this happens, it is not because of them. It is on me. I worked for a human services agency. I loved my job. It was the best one in my 36 years as a public servant. The staff are kind, caring and loving souls. They have families. I made a decision that was in the best interests of the agency and the former employee."
He said the staff would continue to serve as a safety net for families, children, the elderly, and those less fortunate in Belmont County. He thanked the last two boards of commissioners and said he fulfilled a goal in maintaining the solvency of the agency.
Gianangeli had worked for the county since 2004 and has served as director for five years. Last spring, Gianangeli retired and was re-hired by the board at a cut in pay, while drawing from his retirement.