COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY McKelvey appoints temporary director

Jay Williams stepped down to focus on running for mayor as an Independent.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mayor George M. McKelvey appointed a temporary director of the city's Community Development Agency to replace Jay Williams, who is running to succeed the mayor.
Mary June Tartan, who's worked at the city agency for about eight years, can serve on a temporary basis for up to six months.
Tartan held the position of temporary director for about six months in 2000 after the former director, Kevin M. Kralj, left the job and before McKelvey hired Williams in October of that year.
The city's civil service commission will set a date for a written examination for the CDA director position sometime during the next six months.
The commission would then give McKelvey a list of the top candidates, and the mayor would choose the next CDA director.
Williams resigned the position April 22 to run as an independent candidate for mayor.
Classified civil service employees are prohibited under the federal Hatch Act to run for a partisan office such as mayor, according to a legal opinion from Atty. Donald J. McTigue, hired by the city to research the issue.
Williams is among four independent candidates running for mayor in the Nov. 8 general election along with Democrat Robert F. Hagan and Republican Robert C. Korchnak.
Budget needs to be OK'd
City council needs to vote on the CDA's $5.26 million budget, and a special meeting is expected to be held sometime next week to approve it.
Council was to vote on the budget April 20, but postponed a decision primarily because of questions raised about eliminating $325,000 for the salary and benefits of code enforcement officers from the spending plan.
The city typically funds the salaries and benefits of the officers, but council wants to focus the federal money on programs to provide assistance to low- and moderate-income residents.
There is no money in the general fund to pay for the officers, so cuts to the program would be likely without the CDA money, city officials say.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the agency that administers the Community Development Block Grant program, needs the city's CDA budget by May 15. Council's next scheduled meeting is May 18, so a special meeting is needed to approve the budget.
skolnick@vindy.com