YOUNGSTOWN 2010 | Part 3 of 4 Direction, priorities are crucial to vision for city

Currently, officials often tackle problems as they come without clear priorities, one planner says.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Leaders already know how they want to tackle improving the city's image and quality of life.
Their vision outlined in the Youngstown 2010 comprehensive plan has been talked about for years. Clean up blight. Improve safety. Use new strategies to re-energize downtown.
The important part of the vision is recognizing that each issue needs a single, specific direction, said Bill D'Avignon, city deputy director of planning.
"That's where we fail. We fail in addressing those issues in a systematic way," he said.
Improving the city's image and quality of life is the third of four segments in the vision for the future.
There never is -- and probably never will be -- enough money to fully address all the needs at once, he said.
So a plan that most people agree on which outlines specific priorities should be more productive, he said.
Scattershot approaches
Now, city officials often function under what D'Avignon calls the "alligator theory." That is, they address problems as they come -- the "alligator" threatening at the moment -- regardless of where the topic ranks as a priority.
The comprehensive plan that emerges from the vision should clarify a single direction on major issues, said Jay Williams, director of the city Community Development Agency.
For example, several groups are focused on improving downtown. Despite those efforts, little is accomplished because the work is scattershot, Williams said.
rgsmith@vindy.com