KILCAWLEY CENTER PBS, WYSU broadcast 2010 forum

The forum addressed questions about 2010 that have emerged in recent months.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Despite years of planning and months of public outreach, there are still many questions about Youngstown 2010.
An hour-long, townhall-style meeting broadcast live Wednesday touched on some of them.
About 50 people gathered in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center at Youngstown State University for the meeting, broadcast on PBS 45 & amp; 49 and simulcast on WYSU-FM.
Jay Williams, director of the city Community Development Agency and a primary 2010 organizer, moderated the discussion. Williams updated viewers on the first three of 11 neighborhood meetings. Residents are to give specific ideas they want to see in the final 2010 plan.
The first two meetings, downtown and on the North Side, drew more than 100 people. A meeting for a small West Side neighborhood Tuesday drew about 75 people, triple what organizers had expected, he said.
Focusing on questions
Williams also used the forum to address questions surrounding Youngstown 2010 that have emerged in recent months:
UHow will the city pay for the priorities outlined in the 2010 plan?
Williams explained that city officials will be expected to redirect spending in the city's $100 million annual budget. The spending should instead go to the priorities that citizens outline in the plan, he said.
New money also may become available once the plan is in place, he said. The city misses out on state and federal grants because a clear plan is required to tap those funds, he said.
UWhere in the city will spending be redirected?
Williams said the idea is that money will be spent fairly -- but not necessarily equally -- on each side of town. For example, some sections of the city need far more capital improvements than others, he said.
UWill new investment push out less wealthy residents and gentrify neighborhoods?
Williams said 2010 is about "managed gentrification." The city of 82,000 people has space for three times that, he said. There is plenty of room for residents of all economic levels, he said. "There's a place for everyone at this table," he said.
UAre the city and suburbs working together?
Officials in surrounding Austintown, Boardman, Struthers and Liberty are contributing to 2010, Williams said.
Those who remain skeptical about 2010, its motives and what it can accomplish need to get involved to satisfy their questions, Williams said. "The best cure for suspicion is involvement," he said.
The next 2010 event is a neighborhood meeting from 7-9 p.m. May 18 at Mary Haddow Elementary, 2800 Oak St. on the East Side. The meeting specifically is for residents who live in the Lincoln Knolls neighborhood.
rgsmith@vindy.com