Signatures invalidated in Hazel St. challenge

Residency, registration and address problems plagued the petition.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A referendum to allow city voters to repeal city council legislation extending Hazel Street to connect the downtown to the university failed to obtain the required signatures to get on the Nov. 7 ballot.
A group opposed to the extension project submitted petitions with 1,273 signatures. The referendum needed 1,088 valid signatures before it could be considered for placement on the ballot.
The Mahoning County Board of Elections on Friday determined 599 of the signatures, 53 percent of the signers, were valid.
A variety of problems with the signaturescaused them not to be considered valid, said elections board staff.
The problems included signers' not being city residents, not being registered voters, not having an address listed, being registered at a different address than what is on their voter registration cards and giving printed names instead of signatures.
The referendum documents will go to the city law department. The department was supposed to determine if the proposal's language complies with city law, but that's a moot point at this time.
Line-by-line review
Terry Escarco, a community activist who was one of the referendum's main circulators, said he wants to meet with elections officials for a review.
"I want to meet and go over each signature and challenge some of them," he said. "It doesn't seem possible" that almost half of the signatures were disqualified.
City council approved a plan last month to link downtown to Youngstown State University by extending Hazel Street. The plan for the 38-acre development project also includes the construction by YSU of a $30 million College of Business Administration on Phelps Street.
Some business owners in the area object to the project's Hazel Street extension aspect.
To extend the street, the city has to obtain property, including Grenga Machine & amp; Welding Co., an assembly and manufacturing facility.
Joseph Grenga, its owner, said he won't sell his property to the city and would sue if Youngstown tried to take the land through eminent domain.
skolnick@vindy.com