Youngstown mayor candidates present optimistic views

Candidates share ideas on attracting business to the city.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The six Youngstown mayoral candidates say it's a challenge to attract business to the city, but there are ways to succeed.
The Vindicator asked the mayoral candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot to answer a series of written questions on important city issues.
The issues include attracting business to the city, making it safer, rehabilitating neighborhoods, the economic impact of the downtown arena, and the mayor's role in improving the Youngstown school system.
Incentives
In response to a question about attracting business to the city, particularly to brownfield spaces and downtown, state Sen. Robert F. Hagan, the Democratic mayoral nominee, listed several options.
The city needs to continue offering tax abatements to entice companies to move to Youngstown. Also, the mayor can streamline city regulations by having a one-stop licensing and permitting process, connect owners of struggling properties to developers, and provide infrastructure improvements and installations such as water, sewers, bridges and roads, Hagan wrote.
Republican Robert Korchnak would compile a list of city incentives and mail them to out-of-state companies that pay high property costs comparing the price of land. Also, the city needs to continue to offer tax abatements and waive permit fees to entice businesses here, he wrote.
Jay Williams, who resigned in April as the city's Community Development Agency director to run as an independent mayoral candidate, wrote that the city must continue to offer incentives until private investment comes into Youngstown.
Williams proposes the use of joint economic development districts, a partnership between cities and adjoining townships, that would attract investment and "facilitate a more collaborative development approach."
Maggy Lorenzi, another independent, wrote she would partner with companies to attract business to the city.
Joe Louis Teague, also running as an independent, wrote he would make companies agree to stay in Youngstown for 10 years in order to get financial assistance from the city.
Brendan J. Gilmartin, an independent candidate, said making the city attractive by focusing on arts and entertainment would naturally draw businesses to Youngstown.
Income tax
The newspaper asked the candidates if the city's 2.75 percent income tax, the highest of any municipality in Ohio, makes it more difficult to get businesses to move here.
Gilmartin, Korchnak and Lorenzi agree that the tax rate adversely impacts businesses coming to the city.
Korchnak wants to lower the income tax by 0.25 percent by 2007 by adjusting employee salaries to "peer city standards," requiring employees to pay 10 percent of their health care premiums, and conducting a performance review of each department to find cost savings.
Teague wrote the tax "could be a disadvantage."
Williams wrote the tax rate makes it more challenging to attract businesses to the city. It is fiscally possible to incrementally adjust the income tax rate, but the city must aggressively manage its cost of doing business. Salaries and benefits for city workers should be competitive but "must also reflect the realities of private sector trends of the national and global economy in which we must compete."
It wasn't the income tax that chased away businesses; "Poor planning of past administrations also sped the demise of our manufacturing base," Hagan wrote. Hagan can't commit to reducing the income tax because each 0.25 percent equals $3.5 million to $4 million, and he's not willing to cut the tax because it would mean a reduction in safety services.
Improving downtown
The newspaper asked the mayoral candidates what specific downtown buildings or streets they would target to remove blight and asked how the city should pay for it.
Williams pointed to the Paramount Theater on West Federal Street, and strongly supports plans to build the Youngstown Technology Center next to the Youngstown Business Incubator. He suggests the city using capital funds for downtown projects with a mix of private dollars.
Korchnak also mentioned the Paramount Theater as a building in need of repair. The city needs to continue its focus on West Federal Street, he wrote, listing several structures on and near that street. Also, Korchnak would hire a grant writer and seek state and federal funding to pay for the improvements.
Teague said the city should have forced downtown property owners to pay for improvements.
Hagan said he would consult with city officials and residents before targeting certain areas. He would also hire a grant writer to seek more state and federal dollars for the projects.
Lorenzi listed the buildings between the incubator and Home Savings & amp; Loan building on West Federal Street, much of which would be used by the technology center, and the northeast corner of West Federal and Hazel streets. However, she is more concerned about the Stambaugh and Commerce buildings.
Gilmartin said he would seek state and federal money to improve the Spring Common area of Mahoning Avenue, the lower part of Market Street, and Wick Avenue.
About the arena
The candidates were asked about the city's downtown arena and inheriting a long-term debt, as high as $12.1 million, to make up a funding gap for the facility.
Hagan said in July he wouldn't hesitate to close the arena if it became a financial drain on the city. But on his questionnaire, Hagan wrote only: "I can't predict what impact the [arena] will have. As mayor, my job is to do everything I can to make it work. At best, it can be a pivotal factor for economic growth and revitalizing downtown."
Teague said in July that city officials let the cost of the facility spiral out of control. On his questionnaire, he wrote that the facility "will make it," and will help the city's economic condition.
The other candidates were consistent with what they said in July.
Williams wrote that he wouldn't "allow it to become a financial boondoggle for the city." The facility should be considered successful, he wrote, if it breaks even after the first few years.
Gilmartin wrote that the facility "has many challenges ahead of it," and there was no reason for the city to be required to borrow money to pay the shortfall.
The project "was mishandled, and massive amounts of money were wasted," Lorenzi wrote.
Korchnak would give the center three years to make a modest profit. If it doesn't succeed by then, he'd sell it.
The candidates' answers to questions about rehabilitating neighborhoods, making the city safer, and the mayor's role in improving the school system will appear in Monday's edition.
skolnick@vindy.com