Youngstown mayoral contest demands thoughtful debate

In December 2002, community and political leaders and social activists participating in one of the focus groups involved in "Youngstown 2010 -- Sharing a vision for a better tomorrow," the city's long-range planning document. were confronted with this question: "Is Youngstown relevant?"
The question wasn't designed to elicit a response. Rather, it was meant to get participants thinking about the city in a way they had not done before.
For years, the view that "Youngstown is the heart of the Mahoning Valley and if the heart fails, the region fails" drove the debate in mayoral elections. Implicit in the statement was the belief that every community in the Valley viewed the city and its survival as crucial to the well-being of the tri-county area.
But when the issue of relevance was raised in December 2002, it appeared to challenge the old assumptions about Youngstown as the largest community in the region.
Our response to the question, in an editorial published Dec. 8, was as follows:
" ... we say it is. Youngstown State, St. Elizabeth Health Center, state and county governments, Powers and Stambaugh auditoriums and Mill Creek Park make it so.
"But Youngstown cannot exist in a vacuum. Suburban communities must be sold on the idea that a revitalized city is in their best interest."
How do you sell the suburbs on that idea?
We hope the fall campaign for mayor of Youngstown will provide the answers.
State Sen. Robert F. Hagan, whose 18 years in politics have been served in the General Assembly, won the Democratic nomination in last Tuesday's primary election. In November, Hagan will face Republican Robert C. Korchnak, a political newcomer, and four candidates running as independents, Jay Williams, Brendan Gilmartin, Maggy Lorenzi and Joe Louis Teague.
It should be an interesting campaign given that Williams until recently was the director of Youngstown's Community Development Agency. Lorenzi is a community activist. Gilmartin, who ran unsuccessfully for state representative more than a decade ago, is the son of former state Rep. Thomas P. Gilmartin, who had served 24 years in the House before being defeated by Hagan in the 1986 Democratic primary. Teague is a prennial candidate.
Thoughtful debate
While the primary election focused on the predictable issues of job creation, crime, neighborhood blight, the city's highest-in-the-state municipal income tax rate and downtown revitalization, there was virtually no thoughtful debate about Youngstown and its place in the region. Threatening to annex suburban communities that buy drinking water from the city doesn't cut it. Given Youngstown's declining population, the Water Department would not be able to sustain itself at its current level if its only customers were within the city limits.
We would urge the candidates for mayor to spend the summer thinking about issues in complete sentences, rather than in soundbites.
As to the question, "Is Youngstown relevant?", we note that it was asked by Williams, who was actively involved in the development of the city's long-range planning document.