YOUNGSTOWN Director aims to keep department's autonomy

The setup lets common sense, not politics, dictate priorities, the director said.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A parks system is hard enough to run without swimming through politics.
That's why Parks Director Joseph McRae doesn't want to see his department lose its autonomy and be folded into other city operations.
McRae told the city's charter review commission Thursday that freedom from politics sets his department apart.
Decisions on recreation, which have citywide impact, would turn political if the department and the parks commission lost its autonomy, he said.
Framers of the charter thought of that, which is why the parks department has more authority than most others do, he said.
Last week, the charter review board pondered moving parks staff and operations under the public works department to streamline contract issues.
Selecting board members
Four entities pick the five park board members. Common pleas court judges get two appointments, and the mayor, council and school board each get one. That setup lets the commission decide spending priorities based on common sense, not politics, McRae said.
Parks remain tied to the city in two main ways, anyway, McRae said. The department follows the city's contract procedure and council must appropriate any money spent on parks projects.
McRae said he doesn't see any money savings by merging parks with public works.
Finance Director David Bozanich also asked the review board to consider two changes.
One would make payroll dates for the board of control -- the mayor, finance director and law director -- the same as other city workers.
The charter forces the city to do a special payroll each month just for those three, he said. Meanwhile, the city pays all other workers every two weeks. The item is a vestige from when the city paid all workers monthly.
Budget timing
Bozanich also wants the section on budget timing to be changed. The charter calls for a pair of six-month budgets. The city, in practice, does just one annual budget.
The charter review board also delved into the issue of how many council members the city needs. Board members, however, pushed that topic to their next meeting. The review board has invited city council members to offer their thoughts on the charter.
The seven city wards were set in 1920, said Bill D'Avignon, city deputy director of planning.
Each ward had about 20,000 people in 1970. Population loss since then leaves each ward at about 11,700 people, he said.
Trimming two council seats would bring that profile back to about 20,000 people per ward, D'Avignon said.
One plan would have the 1st Ward include downtown and the immediately surrounding neighborhoods. The four other wards would each cover the remaining segments of the North, South, East and West sides, he said.
rgsmith@vindy.com