YOUNGSTOWN CIC has trouble making quorum

A CIC member says those who can't attend meetings should resign.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It's often a struggle to get enough members to attend downtown redevelopment agency board and committee meetings.
On numerous occasions, the board and committee meetings are delayed as calls are made to get members to show up. On other occasions, the board and its committees cancel meetings or are unable to take action because of a lack of a quorum.
The 25-member Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp. is a volunteer board. Its members are professionals, and sometimes more pressing matters arise and they can't attend CIC meetings, said Jason Whitehead, the agency's executive director.
"Rarely does anyone miss two meetings in a row," he said. "We've never removed anyone from the board for not attending meetings."
No quorum
The inability of the CIC to conduct business because of a lack of a quorum was evident Tuesday.
The agency couldn't approve change orders to the 7th District Court of Appeals construction project because not enough members attended the board meeting.
Also, the CIC's nine-member property committee that would have recommended the change orders to the board failed to attract enough members Tuesday.
Because of that problem, the agency's executive committee had a Friday meeting to pass the change orders. Five of the executive committee's seven members attended the meeting and approved them.
If the full committee cannot take action, the executive committee can act in its place, and the full committee would later ratify the decisions at its next meeting, Whitehead said.
City Water Commissioner Charles Sammarone, a longtime CIC member who serves on the property and executive committees, said he is at a loss to explain why the agency continuously struggles to get enough members to meetings.
"I don't know why members don't show," he said. "That's a good question. I don't know if people lose interest or something else happens. If you're not interested, resign."
Complaint
Councilman Rufus Hudson, D-2nd and a CIC member, complained in July that the agency was conducting business through its property and executive committees while canceling meetings of its full committee.
At the time of Hudson's complaint, the full CIC board had not met in three months, and the councilman said CIC members who fail to attend meetings should be removed from the board.
The CIC nominating committee will have its annual meeting sometime this month to recommend board appointments, Whitehead said. The full CIC board must take action on the nominations.
skolnick@vindy.com