Leaders spur renewal

Two men are being honored for their work in the demolition of the neighborhood.
By AMANDA C. DAVIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- John Taylor and Clyde "Skip" Cole liken their urban renewal efforts to the more than two-year expedition undertaken by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, sent to explore the Pacific Northwest.
Taylor and Cole are being recognized for planning that began more than four years ago to tear down a crime-ridden neighborhood on the city's southwest side.
Tonya S. Short, program associate for the Washington, D.C.-based Points of Light Foundation, said the foundation gives national recognition to individuals and organizations that help meet critical needs in a community.
The two are being honored by the organization as the Daily Points of Light for Monday, which Short said means they will be profiled all day on the foundation's Web site, www.pointsoflight.org.
The nonprofit foundation was established by former President Bush to encourage volunteer service to help solve serious social problems.
Each weekday, a different organization or individual is recognized. Judges sort through 100 to 200 nominations and choose honorees every three months.
Accomplishments: Taylor and Cole are being recognized for their efforts to spur demolition of the former Westlawn neighborhood, built in the 1940s as temporary housing for Ravenna Arsenal workers.
The two formed the Warren Development Association and used personal lines of credit to borrow money to buy the lots. The city then borrowed money through the sale of bonds to buy the properties.
Taylor, past president of Trumbull 100, a group dedicated to revitalizing the Warren area, is president of Paige & amp; Byrnes Insurance Agency Inc. on Franklin Street S.E. He lives on Country Club Drive with his wife, Sally, and their three children.
Cole, president of Trumbull 100, is chairman of Cole Valley Pontiac-Cadillac on Elm Road N.E., and lives on Howland Wilson Road N.E. in Howland. He and his wife, Mary, have four sons.
They were nominated by Chuck Johns.
Local dentist Ralph Snelson, also a Trumbull 100 member, said he understands why the two were nominated.
"These two men took it upon themselves to get that neighborhood cleaned up," Snelson said. "They gave from their hearts; They did what nobody else could do; They weren't looking for any personal accolades."
Showed compassion: Taylor's daughter, Shelley, 25, said the two men accomplished their goal without putting people on the street. "They made sure everyone had a place to live," she said.
Schools Superintendent Betty J. English said Taylor, in his role as a Trumbull 100 member, helped spearhead an initiative to raise about $360,000 to renovate libraries in each of the district's 12 elementary schools.
Cole said the area is much safer without Westlawn. "Parents were afraid to let their kids walk to school," he said. "Now that's not a problem."
Taylor, who moved here in the 1970s from Marion, Ala., said the project would not have gotten off the ground if it weren't for Terry Nicopolis, the city's director of environmental service; Jack Foley, the city's former community development director; Trumbull Savings and Loan, which loaned them money to buy the properties; and Albert J. Timko Jr., the city's former police chief.