Welcome to Valley politics, Dr. Sweet

In the movie "The Natural," when Roy Hobbs, played by superstar Robert Redford, finally takes his turn at bat as a big-league baseball player, the first pitch he faces whizzes by him. It's a strike. Hobbs glares at the umpire in disbelief, prompting this quip from the play-by-play commentator: "Welcome to the majors, Mr. Hobbs."
That poignant moment in the movie came to mind recently when reading a copy of a letter state Sen. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-33rd, sent to Youngstown State University President Dr. David Sweet.
The following paragraphs amounted to a verbal strike.
"As has been made public knowledge, your Administration and several of your cohorts, including former Senator Harry Meshel, were able to transfer Capital Improvement dollars, totaling $1.5 million, originally appropriated two years ago to the proposed Youngstown Arena project, into a new line item for Youngstown State's computer system upgrade project. While I support and applaud this new influx of state dollars to Youngstown State at a time when state government support of our state universities is rapidly dwindling, I must admit I am more than a little perplexed at your attempts and those of Mr. Meshel's at circumventing the normal political process here in Columbus.
"Specifically, I am the elected member of the Ohio Senate from Mahoning County. Furthermore, I am one of four Senate Democrats assigned to the Senate Finance and Financial Institutions [Committee] and therefore, have considerable discretion as to how state dollars are to be allocated to universities and specific projects within my district.
"I can assure you that my staff and I would have gone to great lengths to assure the reallocation of this $1.5 million to Youngstown State as per your wishes and those of Youngstown State University's Board of Trustees. I regret that you were not able to recognize this and hope that your Administration has learned from its mistakes."
Strrrriiiiike! Welcome to Mahoning Valley politics, Dr. Sweet.
Meshel's pitch
Sweet had been president for a year and eight months this March when his right-hand-man, John Habat, had a conversation with Meshel, former long-time senator from Youngstown, about the $1.5 million. Meshel told Habat that Zoldan, who owns B.J. Alan Fireworks and conceived the idea of a sports arena for Youngstown, wanted to give the money to YSU since he was no longer involved in the project.
Zoldan had secured the $1.5 million state grant from the state legislature using his close ties with the Republican leadership in the House and Senate. Although the money was earmarked for Youngstown, the local businessman had the political clout in Columbus to dictate how the dollars were spent.
But the conditions that Meshel attached to YSU's getting this unexpected gift should have alerted Habat and Sweet to the subplot: He did not want Hagan to know about Zoldan's offer to YSU and he did not want the $1.5 million to be used for the proposed second high-technology business incubator that Gov. Taft has publicly endorsed.
Indeed, two years ago when Zoldan secured the money for the arena by going directly to the legislative leadership, the governor, at the urging of local officials involved in the redevelopment of downtown Youngstown, approved a $1 million down payment for the $4 million incubator project.
Bloody clash
Had Habat and Sweet been around in January 1997, they would have been witness to a bloody Meshel-Hagan clash. It was over the Senate seat that had been vacated by Joseph J. Vukovich III after he had won a judgeship in the 7th District Court of Appeals.
Hagan was serving in the House at the time, and Meshel had all but retired from politics. There was a tremendous amount of pressure on Hagan not to seek the appointment by the Democratic caucus in the Senate.
Nonetheless, he refused to back down and won the support of the Democrats in the Senate.
Political enmities in the Valley die hard, as Sweet found out in March.
Hagan concluded his letter to the YSU president thus:
"Lastly, contrary to popular opinion, the $1.5 million allocated two years ago to the proposed Youngstown Arena project did not belong to the city of Youngstown nor anyone associated with the project including Mr. Meshel and Bruce Zoldan. This money like all dollars appropriated by the Ohio General Assembly, belongs to the taxpayers of the state of Ohio."