Council postpones by a week the final vote on arena board

Arena board members plan to discuss their next move today.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Councilman James E. Fortune Sr. considers the coming week the civic center board's chance to reconsider its position toward the city.
He was among the five council members who voted Wednesday to postpone final votes on the board's future for a week. A special meeting will be at 5 p.m. next Thursday. Artis Gillam Sr., D-1st, and Rufus Hudson, D-2nd, voted against postponing the vote.
At issue are a half-dozen ordinances repealing creation of the civic center board and authorizing the city's administration to do feasibility studies and seek requests for project proposals.
Fortune, D-6th, assembled the 5-2 coalition that already voted twice the past week to approve the board's demise. He said after the meeting that he agreed to the vote to give the arena board as much consideration as possible.
"We're trying to be as graceful as we know how," Fortune said.
He and other council members will talk with board members if that's what they want, he said.
Sticking point: Fortune, however, doesn't see council's majority changing its position that the city must have final decision-making authority over the proposed downtown project and its $26.8 million in federal funds. The arena board also wants that authority.
"If they want to stick with us, fine," Fortune said of the arena board.
Nonetheless, the Rev. Kelvin Turner, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church and an arena board member, views the reprieve as an opportunity to negotiate. Both sides need to reconsider their positions, he said.
"We can do better as a team than apart," the Rev. Mr. Turner said.
Leonard Schiavone, another board member, said he was just grateful for the extension.
Board members plan to talk about their next move today.
Mayor George M. McKelvey said he supported council's move to postpone the vote. He referred to the axiom of "politics as the art of compromise" and said he hopes the two sides work out a productive arrangement.
Richard Atkinson, R-3rd, made a motion to postpone the votes to give the council time to gather information. Besides Fortune and Atkinson, Ron Sefcik, D-4th, Michael Rapovy, D-5th, and John R. Swierz, D-7th, agreed. Previously, Sefcik and Swierz were alone in opposing the arena board's elimination.
Pleaded board's case: Before the council meeting, several arena board members successfully pleaded their case for more time.
The hourlong gathering, primarily among a half-dozen board members and Sefcik and Swierz, established recent internal strife within city council.
Talk swirled about confusion over whether the mayor or council, and who on council, should be handling negotiations.
Schiavone said it would be tragic if internal city or council problems lead to the board's demise.
Criticizing the press: Meanwhile, Fortune and Hudson blasted talk radio and the press.
Fortune said they are tearing down the city. Hudson decried derogatory comments on "hate radio" made about council, from references to members as clowns, fools and idiots to racial slurs. Personal attacks on council members have been worse than what the dozens of corrupt public officials sent to jail in recent years have endured, Hudson said.
He challenged anybody to produce evidence of impropriety on council.
Hudson complained about lies and unbalanced and inaccurate news coverage. Rapovy, too, said he was disgusted with talk radio and newspaper coverage.
rgsmith@vindy.com