The newly elected leader of Ohio's largest county is firing four high level county employees, including the coroner.
Cuyahoga County Executive Ed Fitzgerald says he's replacing county coroner Frank Miller and county engineer Robert Klaiber Jr. Both of those positions are no longer elected under the new county charter that went into effect in January.
Fitzgerald is also replacing the heads of the county departments of Senior and Adult Services and Children and Family Services - which have always been appointed.
Fitzgerald declined to give reasons for the firings, saying it's all part of the transition of power.
"When there is a new administration, when you have a new form of government, when you're trying to have a changing of the guard," he says, "you have to strike a balance between individuals that you keep because you want some continuity, but you also have to clean house in various departments and have a changing of the guard."
In addition, four civil service employees are being laid off after their union voted to turn down mandatory furloughs.