YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Written warnings have been handed out to some employees of the Youngstown City Health District.
The state says the department failed to inspect some eating establishments.
A state investigation found the city health district didn't perform all of its required food-service inspections in 2011.
By no fault of their own, seven establishments weren't checked; something four health district employees are taking the fall for.
Monday morning the city health board, including its president Mayor Chuck Sammarone, voted to approve letters of reprimand for the acting health commissioner, Erin Bishop, environmental health director Cicero Davis and two sanitarians.
"It's a policy I've been following since I've been mayor and if you make a mistake, you do something wrong that shouldn't have happened, then you have to suffer the consequences," Mayor Sammarone said.
Since the state's report, all seven establishments left unchecked in 2011 were inspected in 2012. Each were found to have either minor or no violations and deemed safe for patrons.
The Ohio Department of Health reports that routine inspections at eateries on Youngstown State University's campus were also missed over a period of time.
YSU Spokesman Ron Cole tells 21 News that the inspections were completed in November with only a few minor violations that have since been handled.
But not performing the inspections in the first place is a problem the state mandates the city find a solution for.
Bishop says she hand-delivered a corrective plan to the state detailing each violation and the steps that will be taken to accomplish the plan. While she took the leadership position in December of 2011, she acknowledges that it was her responsibility to make sure inspections didn't slip through the cracks.
"Things like this happen sometimes and it's unfortunate, but I always look at it well, it's a good thing, because now, we're going to do it the right way and it won't happen again," Bishop said.
The state says it plans to follow up with the city on a routine basis three times a year and Bishop says her department will be ready.
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