ARENA BOARD Member rips officials

Strike three for the arena board is expected Wednesday.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
and ROGER G. SMITH
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
YOUNGSTOWN -- A prominent priest and member of the near-dead civic center board is professing his lost faith -- in the mayor and city council.
The Rev. Edward P. Noga, pastor at St. Patrick Church on the city's South Side, concludes a stinging letter written Monday to Mayor George M. McKelvey and council members with this:
"For this grant money to be used wisely now, I will pray that the government takes it back."
Those are the harshest public words yet from anybody directly involved as council moves to end the board's involvement with the proposed downtown project and the $26.8 million federal dollars secured for it. Father Noga is one of McKelvey's three appointments to the board.
The two sides are at an impasse over who gets final authority over the project.
As expected, by a 5-2 vote, city council gave second reading in a special meeting Monday to a series of ordinances repealing the creation of the 13-member arena board and authorizing the city's board of control to do feasibility studies and seek requests for project proposals.
The dissenting votes came from Councilmen John R. Swierz, D-7th, and Ron Sefcik, D-4th. Several arena board members sat in the audience.
Councilmen did not discuss the ordinances on the floor at Monday's meeting, which lasted only a few minutes. Council's final vote on these ordinances is expected Wednesday, at which point they'd need just four votes to pass.
"We did what we had to do. We gave the board money -- $100,000 -- without any contract. We've done everything that we said we were going to do," said Councilman James E. Fortune, D-6th. He added that time is of the essence in getting the proposed arena built and he thinks the board has done little besides complaining about council.
"We're going to build it, and it's going to be built right. They [members of Congress] give that money to the city of Youngstown, Ohio, through council, and it's council's responsibility to make sure that money is spent the right way," Fortune said.
Letter: Father Noga's letter says he has lost his confidence in the mayor's direction for the project. People have been pitted against each other instead of coming together, he said.
Most of council has worked to erode the expertise being assembled to make a project that would draw people to Youngstown, he said. Cutting the board will only drive those types of people away, he said.
"The words cronyism and patronage keep ringing in my ears instead of the words collaboration and inclusiveness," Father Noga said.
Council is shutting out the community at large, he added. Meanwhile, many, including him, preach suburban cooperation to help the city, Father Noga said.
The priest said he first worried his words would alienate people he has worked with on community issues, such as council members. The past year or so, however, most of council hasn't had the time to work with the arena board or his neighborhood on issues of real concern, the letter continues.
Calls to meet: The board was made to look like it wouldn't negotiate a contract with the city, he said. In fact, the board's repeated calls to meet in person with city officials were ignored or postponed, he said. Now, during one of the busiest times of year, council is meeting three times in a week, he added.
"This is a sad, sad commentary and speaks to me of trying to railroad something in the name of the community, without their important input," the priest said.
Robert VanSickle, chairman of the arena board, said his board sought, but was unable to obtain, a meeting with council to discuss the project, and he thought they could work out their differences in the community's best interests. "They have never sat down face to face and met with us," he said of the councilmen.
Saying he hadn't yet read Father Noga's letter, the mayor declined to comment.
rgsmith@vindy.com