YOUNGSTOWN State gives $1.5M for cultural centers, incubator

Lawmakers still say the Valley got shortchanged.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Some Mahoning Valley representatives say they're glad the area got $1.5 million in community-project funding in the two-year $1.2 billion capital appropriations bill.
But some are upset that Trumbull and Columbiana counties got nothing in the proposal.
Lawmakers and legislative records say the capital bill, introduced Tuesday in the Ohio House, contained funding for these Mahoning County projects:
* $1 million for the Youngstown Business Incubator.
* $200,000 for the Edward W. Powers Auditorium renovations.
* $200,000 for Stambaugh Auditorium renovations.
* $100,000 for Western Reserve Ballet improvements.
The bill may come up for a possible vote on the House floor today.
Reaction
"I'm so very pleased we're getting some of the money," said state Rep. Kenneth A. Carano, an Austintown Democrat. "But we're getting shortchanged."
The Mahoning Valley delegation had sought about $5 million in funding in the capital bill, Carano said, adding it sought more money for each of the projects that got funded.
Carano said Powers and Stambaugh auditoriums are two of the biggest cultural and entertainment centers in the Youngstown area, and the funding would only be a small portion of the money required.
"Both of them need serious renovations," Carano said. "It would only be a beginning."
State Rep. John Boccieri, a New Middletown Democrat, said he was pleased to see capital funding for the business incubator.
"But there are things we are disappointed are not going to get funded," he said, referring to projects to jump-start industrial parks in the Youngstown area as well as a proposal he made to help fund a water-sewer project in Springfield Township.
'It isn't fair'
Other representatives were upset with the capital bill, including state Rep. Charles Blasdel of East Liverpool. His county, Columbiana, got nothing in community-project funding.
"It's very disappointing. You look at an area of the state where, economically, we need all the help we can get," said Blasdel, a Republican.
State Reps. Timothy Grendell, a Republican from Chesterland, and Dan Sferra, a Warren Democrat, who represent different parts of Trumbull County, also were upset.
"It doesn't provide adequate economic development funding to Northeast Ohio, including the Mahoning Valley," Grendell said.
"We were trying to work together," Sferra said. "The way it worked out, it certainly isn't fair."
Mahoning Valley representatives and senators have pledged to work together as a bloc to advocate for capital and economic development dollars.
After Trumbull County received nothing in the current proposal, however, Sferra said he anticipated county representatives and senators going it alone next time.
Tight finances
House Speaker Larry Householder, a Glenford Republican, said tight state finances meant little money in the capital bill, the state's bricks-and-mortar funding.
An analysis by the Governor's Office of Budget and Management shows that the largest portion of the $1.2 billion capital bill -- $504.4 million -- went to the board of regents, which oversees higher education.
The next largest portion -- $249.2 million -- went to the Ohio School Facilities Commission, which provides funding for public school construction projects.
A Republican lawmaker said community projects accounted for $90 million in the bill.