Judge rebukes council for city's condition

The city doesn't hold accountable those who fail to pay taxes or follow the law, the common pleas judge said.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Judge Maureen Cronin blasted away at city council for the condition of its neighborhoods -- and council members blasted right back.
The two sides agreed Wednesday about being unhappy with how Youngstown looks. Whose fault? That was the question.
Judge Cronin, of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court and a former city prosecutor, has lived on Canfield Road for 15 years. She said she is the only countywide elected official living in the city.
The judge isn't sure how much longer that will last.
"I've had it. I've just had it," she said after the meeting. "I want to know what direction we're going."
All the talk is about a downtown arena and economic development, but neighborhoods should be the priority, Judge Cronin said.
"We've gone out of balance in the city of Youngstown," she said.
Fifth Avenue is nice because it was redone, she said. But then there are Market Street, Mahoning and Wick avenues and U.S. Route 422.
"Not one is free from graffiti," Judge Cronin said, passing out pictures of defiled bridges and buildings that she called a street gang's means of communication. "Graffiti is the downfall of any neighborhood."
Losing patrons, business: Season tickets for the symphony and theater are low or dropping because people don't want to come here, she said.
She derided council for its inability to keep people in the city.
"Not one word from this body," the judge said.
The city doesn't hold accountable those who fail to pay taxes or to follow the law, such as zoning regulations, Judge Cronin said.
"I can't maintain my neighborhood by myself," she said.
Other residents of her neighborhood complained about the condition of Idora Park, owned by Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church, and said taxpayers shouldn't have to pay to clean up the ballroom's fire-damaged remains.
Council's response: It's not fair to blame council for everything, said President Charles P. Sammarone. Enforcement falls to the administration, he said. There is little council can do to force the issue, Sammarone said.
"Anyone sitting here will agree with you. We complain just like taxpayers do," he said. "The enforcement comes from there."
City workers very often do their jobs, said Rufus Hudson, D-2nd. But municipal court magistrates and judges usually throw out the cases and leave the city with little recourse, he said.
"Have them do their jobs," he said of city judges.
Council spends lots of time, unpublicized, working out neighborhood problems, said James E. Fortune Sr., D-6th.
"We're not deaf and we're not blind. We understand the problem, believe me," he said. "It ain't about downtown or the convocation center. It's about the neighborhoods."
Work being done: One eyesore Judge Cronin pointed out, graffiti and trash along Interstate 680, already is being addressed, said Richard Atkinson, R-3rd. The Ohio Department of Transportation will clean up the highway within a few weeks. Council started working on that weeks ago, he said.
Michael Rapovy, D-5th, said he's been trying to work quietly with the church for months about Idora Park without much luck. Rapovy said he needs resident support to hold the church accountable for the cleanup.