Williams, O'Brien unite on challenges

Job cuts make working together even more important, Jay Williams said.
By AMANDA GARRETT
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The city will lose about $1.4 million in income tax revenue because of buyouts and retirements from Delphi Packard Electric, Mayor Michael J. O'Brien said.
The amount of revenue to be lost is more than he had expected, O'Brien said Tuesday. "I knew the numbers were going to be high, but they were more staggering than I thought."
Delphi plans to reduce its local work force from 3,800 to 1,033 and has offered buyouts to entice workers to leave or retire.
Warren levies a 2 percent income tax. The income tax revenue would spike when the workers receive their buyouts -- but that would affect the revenue for only one year, O'Brien said.
Tempering the impact somewhat is recent news that Leedsworld Inc. is expected to bring in about $210,000 of income tax revenue in its fifth year of operation. Leedsworld is a promotional materials factory that will begin operations in Warren this July. This, however, is not nearly enough to offset the income tax losses from Delphi workers.
O'Brien made the tax announcement after his second summit with Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams. They met in the morning at city hall.
The news from Delphi makes it even more important for the cities to work together, Williams said. "A significant amount of people who live in Youngstown work at Delphi," he said.
The mayors discussed economic development and ways to combat blight. Specifically, they discussed ways to reduce the costs of demolition and how to demolish structures more quickly.
Warren is on track with its goal of demolishing two houses per week, said Safety-Service Director William Douglas Franklin, who also met with the mayors.
Warren officials will continue to demolish homes until they catch up with the work. "Some of the houses on the list have been there for six or seven years," O'Brien said.
Meeting regularly
The mayors' first summit was Feb. 9 in Youngstown. They decided to hold regular summits after O'Brien suggested the idea at Williams' inaugural ball.
At that first meeting they discussed the dredging of the Mahoning River, what could be done to overturn a recent state law that bans residency requirements for city employees, and President Bush's budget plan to significantly reduce federal Community Development Block Grants to cities.
Williams said the increasing partnership between the two cities benefits the Mahoning Valley.
"What's good for Warren is good for Youngstown, and what's good for Youngstown is good for Warren," he said.
The mayors plan to meet quarterly, and they would like future meetings to revolve around specific issues and include officials from both cities. For example, a summit on safety issues would include the police chiefs of both cities.
agarrett@vindy.com