Lien Forward to hire director

The county has about 14,000 abandoned lots, the treasurer said.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Lien Forward Ohio -- a partnership between Youngstown and Mahoning County to return abandoned real estate to productive use -- will soon hire an executive director and open rent-free headquarters in the city-owned former Phar-Mor Centre.
John B. Reardon, county treasurer, said the partnership's five-member board of directors will meet in executive session at 9 a.m. Friday in city hall, after which he expects the board to offer the executive director's position to one of four finalists for the job. There were eight applicants for the post, he said. The four finalists are:
William G. Addington III of Poland, former chief operating officer, Ohio North East Health Systems Inc.
James R. Bolchalk of Boardman, senior project electrical engineer in the facilities service group at Delphi Corp.
The Rev. Sharon R. Carson of Dalton, Ohio, pastor, East Ohio Conference, United Methodist Church, North Canton.
Patrick V. Kerrigan of Youngstown, interim executive director, Lien Forward Ohio.
Kerrigan, a former Youngstown Municipal Court judge, was sentenced in March 1998 to 21/2 years in prison for extortion related to his office. He served 13 months.
Partnership
The partnership, founded last year and funded by fees from negotiated tax lien sales, expects to open its office in Suite M-5A on the mezzanine of the former Phar-Mor Center, 20 Federal Place, in mid-July, said Lisa Antonini, chief deputy county treasurer.
The office will be on the same floor as the city's economic development office and one floor below the newly opened Economic and Community Development Institute, creating a potential one-stop shop for those inquiring about potential land reuse, Reardon said.
"We've had real good success in the treasurer's office returning vacant land to productive use in the past couple of years, but now, we want to take this thing to the next level," Reardon said.
What they can do
Lien Forward Ohio's goal is to return 5,000 vacant, abandoned parcels of land to productive use within five years by helping interested parties buy delinquent tax liens against the parcels at low cost.
There are about 14,000 vacant, abandoned lots in Mahoning County, of which about 12,000 are in Youngstown, Reardon said.
Buying the lien isn't the same as owning the land, but it is a first step toward owning the land, Reardon said. Lien Forward Ohio seeks to shorten the time and reduce the cost of transferring ownership of abandoned properties.
"We can help them buy the tax lien and then use the tax lien as a facilitating tool to take legal title to the property itself," Reardon explained.
The message of Lien Forward Ohio is: "We can help you take ownership of the lot next to you. We can help you to put together a neighborhood revitalization committee," he said.
The plans
Reardon estimated personnel and overhead costs for the new office at $200,000 to $250,000 in its first year of operation.
The treasurer's office has provided the program with $300,000 in startup capital from fees collected in tax lien sales and hopes to leverage more money from federal and state grants, foundations and bank community reinvestment funds.
Initially, the Lien Forward office will be staffed by the executive director and an administrative assistant, but Reardon said an attorney and possibly a planner may later be added to the office to facilitate the transactions.
In the past two years, the treasurer's office has transferred liens to homeowners, businesses, churches, non-profit organizations, schools and local governments, returning hundreds of parcels to productive use, Reardon said.