Officials’ La. trip prompts criticism

The city will spend close
to $13,000 for the outgoing officials’ expenses.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

CITY HALL REPORTER

YOUNGSTOWN — Five lame-duck city councilmen are heading to the Big Easy on Monday at taxpayers’ expense to attend a five-day National League of Cities’ conference.

The councilmen say they are attending to learn about better ways to govern the city even though they’ll have about six weeks left on their terms when they return from New Orleans.

“I’m still working,” said Councilman Mark Memmer, D-7th, who was defeated in the May Democratic primary. His term ends Dec. 31.

“Like everything else in my life, I work until the very end,” he said.

Memmer said he hasn’t stopped serving his ward and the city even though he’s known since the May defeat that his term would be over at the end of the year.

The city will spend $12,709.50 for the five outgoing councilmen to attend the conference that begins Tuesday. The five are flying Monday to New Orleans.

Besides Mem-mer, the others attending are: Artis Gillam Sr., D-1st; Rufus Hudson, D-2nd; Richard Atkinson, R-3rd; and Paul D. Pancoe, D-6th.

Councilwoman Carol Rimedio-Righetti, D-4th, is the only council member who will remain on the legislative body next year. She was originally going to attend the conference, but family commitments led her to cancel the trip.

“I have no issue with them going,” she said. “The last day on the job for them is Dec. 31, so why shouldn’t they go?”

Councilman Michael Rapovy, D-5th, isn’t going because of work commitments. His council term also is over at the end of the year.

If the five opted to stay here, they could watch the conference on the Internet — nlctv.org — for free.

The councilmen say they go to the conference to not only attend the seminars, but to talk to officials from other cities and learn how to improve Youngstown.

While in New Orleans, some of the councilmen plan to volunteer their time to help rebuild the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

“I definitely plan to work a full day with Habitat for Humanity,” Pancoe said. “People are going to criticize you no matter what you do. But I’ll be down there helping people.”

Joseph Koken, a Democratic precinct committee member in the city’s 7th Ward for the past dozen years, is so upset about the councilmen’s spending city money to attend the convention that he will resign Monday. Of the five councilmen, all but Atkinson are Democrats.

“I’m embarrassed and ashamed that Democrats are doing this to our city,” he said.

The resignation, Koken said, is the best way he can publicly express his disgust with the councilmen.

“How could they think this is the right thing to do?” he said. “Go buy a street lamp or something to benefit the city. I can’t understand how they can logically go.”

Councilman-elect Jamael Tito Brown, D-3rd, said he doesn’t see a problem with the city paying for the outgoing councilmen to go to the conference.

“They’re still councilmen,” he said. “There’s still business to be done. ... I know it’s a big controversy with the money, but they have the rest of their term to represent their wards. They may learn something at the conference they can share with the incoming members.”

Brown speaks from experience.

Even though his term on the Youngstown Board of Education ends Dec. 31, Brown is planning to attend the Ohio School Boards Association conference in Columbus that starts Sunday. Brown said he will share what he learns at the conference with the incoming school board members.

skolnick@vindy.coma