Trumbull County Commissioners have voted 2 to 1 to allow non-essential employees to get off work early on April 8 for the solar eclipse.

Commissioners Dennis Malloy and Mauro Cantalamessa both voted for the early day, while Commissioner Niki Frenchko voted against it. 

Malloy tells 21 News the county came to this decision after discussing what other counties within the line of totality were doing for the eclipse. Malloy says at least 30 counties were either closed completely or had their employees get off work early for the eclipse.

Commissioners ultimately decided to allow non-essential employees to get off work at 2:00 p.m., which is two and a half hours earlier than usual. Malloy tells 21 News the county came to this decision for a few reasons.

Firstly, Malloy said the eclipse is a historic event that everyone is going to want to participate in and spend time with their families.

On top of that, Malloy brought up safety concerns for both travelers and employees in regards to traffic. With the amount of tourism the eclipse is expected to generate, the roads will be very busy creating a potential traffic risk for those attempting to use certain county services.

Additionally, Malloy told us Trumbull County recently had two of its employees get struck by cars in the past few months and does not want that to happen again with the influx of eclipse traffic.

This early closure will apply to non-essential employees and entities in the county such as courts, the auditor's office, the county recorder's office, children's services, etc.

Meanwhile, essential employees such as 911 dispatchers, corrections officers, sheriff's deputies and maintenance workers will still work their normal hours on eclipse day.

However, Malloy says he's encouraging employers to allow for their employees to still see the eclipse by allowing employees to go out and look on a rotating basis while keeping others in the building in order to maintain service while ensuring everyone gets a chance to see the eclipse.

Malloy also addressed those against the early day claiming that there is a "jealousy factor."

"It's unfortunate that you have some naysayers who think this is a waste of taxpayer money. We're releasing employees early. It's not the end of the world. This is an act of God and we're encouraging people to see this event God created," Malloy said.

Malloy also addressed the argument that employees who want to see the eclipse should just take a vacation day stating that vacation requests are based on seniority and it's not fair to allow some employees to have the day off to see the eclipse but not others.

He's also reminding naysayers that Trumbull County is not the only county doing this and wasn't the first county to implement this for eclipse day.

"We're not setting precedent here. We're following suit," Malloy said.

Meanwhile Commissioner Frenchko tells 21 News that the reasons she opposes this decision is that county workers already get a paid hour-long lunch break and two paid 15-minute breaks.

Frenchko says this means county employees receive a full eight hours' pay while only working six and a half. Frenchko provided us with the following statement:

"Our duty is to protect taxpayer funds, not find creative ways to waste it. This is similar to the other two deciding to allow comp time for going to the fair and sitting at festivals. What's next, Christmas bonuses? County employees enjoy up to four times more vacation time than the private sector worker and already work 6.5 hour days and get paid for 8."

Frenchko also addressed Malloy's argument regarding vacation time stating that Commissioners could have came up with an agenda item that would have approved all requested vacation time for non-essential employees who wanted the day off for the eclipse.

This would have allowed those who didn't want to take the day off for the eclipse to still work. Frenchko tells us she's heard from at least one employee who was opposed to the decision who said she'd have rather had the full work day.  

21 News also reached out to Mahoning and Columbiana Counties to see if they're giving their employees an early day or an off day for the eclipse.

Mahoning County Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti tells us no decision has been made yet, but commissioners have discussed the possibility.

Meanwhile Columbiana County Commissioner Tim Wiegle tells us as of right now, it's business as usual for eclipse day and no discussions regarding an early or off day have taken place at this time.